Buchanan takes blame for Kolkata's exit

Press Trust of India

Saturday, May 24, 2008 (New Delhi)

John Buchanan, who coached Australia to two World Cup wins, has owned up responsibility for the Kolkata Knight Riders' failure to make the semifinals of the Indian Premier League.

Buchanan rued the fact that he could not motivate the Knight Riders' players to perform consistently.

"Motivation should come from within. If I am not able to talk and get it from my players, which I indeed could not do at the IPL, I should be under review," he said.

"As a coach, I work on providing them with an environment to help them achieve their desires, the desire to try and improve. If I can change it fine, or else it would be time to go," he said on the occasion of the release of his book, 'If better is possible,' last night.

The 55-year-old said he is in no mood to return to take charge of any national side as he is not in a position to make "much impact" anymore.

"I don't want to go back to coaching a national team. A coach is the buffer to support and protect the players. I don't have the energy level to match it and I would not have much impact on the team," he said.

Buchanan, however, disagreed with Australian spin wizard and his strong critic Shane Warne's views that a national team did not need a coach.

"Of course, it (a coach) is needed," he said. "It is a huge task even if some people boast and have you believe the otherwise. Preparations are individualised. Take Matthew Hayden. If he had his way like he would just turn up on the day of the match, ready to play. Ready tactically, mentally, technically. You would find him spot on. But then there are other players as well who are different," he added

Warne quits first-class cricket for IPL, kids and business

Fri, Mar 28 11:35 AM

London, Mar 28 (ANI): Former Australian cricketer Shane Warne has decided to retire from all first class cricket and will not return to play for Hampshire this season, to spend quality time with his kids, focus on his growing business activities and spare time to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

He played for Hampshire for eight years, and now captains the IPL's Jaipur franchise "Rajasthan Royals".

"Unfortunately I am retiring from all first-class cricket but will participate in the IPL with the Jaipur franchise as captain and coach. This was not an easy decision to make but due to some exciting business opportunities and wanting to spend more time with my children, I had to make this call," The Times quoted Warne as saying while announcing his retirement.

"My eight years involved with Hampshire have been a wonderful experience. Memories that will last with me forever and likewise the friendships that have been formed at the club. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rod Bransgrove, Paul Terry and Tim Tremlett for their ongoing support and the opportunity to captain the club, and I wish them all the best for the coming season," Warne said.

Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove showered praises on the Australian bowler, saying his contribution to the side was immense and would be missed but not forgotten. "I am sure that all our supporters will join us in, firstly, thanking Shane for his dedication and commitment and, secondly, wishing him and his family the best of wishes for the next phase of his life. Warnie will be sorely missed, never forgotten."

He added: "The most effective and entertaining bowler of all time, Shane Warne was also a brilliant leader and strategist. As our captain, his influence was instrumental in the development of Hampshire into one of the country's top sides and he enriched the game wherever he played."

Paul Terry, the Hampshire team manager, said he was disappointed but not surprised by Warne's decision. "He has been fantastic for the club with his incredible enthusiasm, drive and skill as captain," Terry said, and added: "He will be missed considerably on the field as there has never been anyone better but most importantly he will leave behind a host of friends that he has made through his kindness, generosity and loyalty. He will be missed, but certainly never forgotten, and I personally thank him for the experience and wish him fantastic success in all his future endeavours."

Warne finished his Test career at the end of last year's Ashes series in Australia with a then world record 708 wickets at an average of just over 25 apiece from 145 matches. His record was later surpassed by Sri Lanka's extraordinary off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. (ANI)

Sreesanth dances to impress Priyanka

The shocking news about the telephonic conversation between a lovestruck cricketer (Sreesanth) and a Bollywood actress (Priyanka Chopra) finally turned out to be a publicity stunt carried out by the Anglo-Dutch Unilever group.

In the audio clip, Sreesanth expressed over the phone how he was crazy about Priyanka and how his knees shook and palms got sweaty whenever he thinks about the diva.

David Beckham Biography!

I really thought I knew everything there is about the midfielder, but reading a David Beckham biography I found out more about the man behind the superstar. That’s why I decided to write my own biography of David Beckham, to share to you the player behind the million dollar endorsements.

David Beckham Biography – Manchester United
David Beckham’s story starts out near London, where he was born to a family of Manchester United fans. Despite being so close to clubs like West Ham United, Arsenal or Chelsea, Beckham’s aim was always the Red Devils club. As luck would have it, on his fourteenth birthday, he was taken in the Manchester youth program, and he even starred next to the senior team…as a mascot.

Just 4 years later, he went on to play for Sir Alex Ferguson’s senior squad, but his performance still needed fine tuning, so he was loaned to Preston North End for a year, returning to Manchester with some match experience. He quickly gained his place in the squad, despite his young age and became one of Manchester’s most preeminent players during the following decade.

His most successful season with Manchester is undoubtedly 1999, when the club achieved the Treble (League, Cup and Champions League in the same season) and with David Beckham playing soccer like never before.

It’s around then that he “trademarked” his famous free kicks and crosses and seeing some footage of David Beckham in action during that period will shed all doubts as to whether or not his superstardom status has a solid basis in his playing style, or just his good looks.

David Beckham Biography – 1998 World Cup Incident
His career did have a few rough moments, the most notable one being in 1998 with the English national side, at that year’s World Cup. In the Second Round, where England would play Argentina, Beckham was taunted by Argentinean midfielder Diego Simeone and he responded with a swing towards the player, which earned him a red card for bad behavior on the pitch.

With England losing the match and being knocked out of the tournament, all blame fell on David Beckham, as the English newspapers put him against the wall and fired up some poisonous articles. Any other player would have stayed low, or even quit soccer, but David Beckham’s ambition brought him back to the top. His performance with Manchester the following year, earned him back the respect of his fans and the entire world.

David Beckham Biography – Real Madrid
By the time David Beckham moved to Real Madrid in 2003, he was already a well-known star on the international stage. In his four years with the Madrid club he managed to win the Spanish league once, but his performance was deemed poorer than what he was playing at Manchester.

Many attributed this loss of form due to the new system found at Real and the fact that at Madrid he wasn’t the “star” of the team anymore, since he was playing next to other internationally famous soccer players like Zinedine Zidane, Raul or Roberto Carlos.

David Beckham Biography – Los Angeles Galaxy
Moving to play in the United States for the Los Angeles Galaxy as of 2007 earned him one of the biggest contracts in the history of soccer and it was an offer David couldn’t have refused, despite the fact that the soccer level in the United States is not as high as the one practiced in Spain.

Tendulkar recommended Dhoni as ODI captain: Pawar

New Delhi: It was Sachin Tendulkar's great idea to make Mahendra Singh Dhoni captain of India'a one-day cricket team, BCCI president Sharad Pawar disclosed today.

Pawar recalled how the Indian team plunged into a crisis in England last year with the then captain Rahul Dravid dropping first hints of his reluctance to lead the team.

"By that time, Rahul had told me he could not concentrate on his game and requested me to find someone else. Some of the selectors wanted Sachin to lead and I conveyed it to him. But Sachin said, 'please don't do this.' I asked then who should lead the side and he said 'give it to someone like Dhoni'."

"He said 'give Dhoni the opportunity. He has excellent relation with the teammates'. I told him I would not interfere but would definitely convey it to the selectors," the BCCI chief told PTI here.

Pawar also hailed Tendulkar and fellow senior players Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble for paving way for the youngsters in the Twenty20 team.

"I was in England when we were playing them. Sachin met me and suggested 'I know you don't interfere with the team selection but you please tell the selectors not to include players of my generation in the Twenty20 squad. He said 'my generation is not fit for Twenty20, so give opportunity to the youngsters."

"Now who would come and say 'don't induct us', when that means losing a few lakh rupees? I think we are fortunate to have players like Rahul, Sourav and Anil. Their commitment is unquestionable," Pawar said.

Pawar praised Dhoni's leadership qualities after the swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman led India to Twenty20 World Cup and the tri-series triumph in Australia.

"Dhoni as the captain has done extremely good. He can motivate and has a good equation with other players. He is also cool (under pressure)."

He, however, seemed more impressed by Test captain Anil Kumble, especially after the veteran spinner handled the Sydney racism row with great maturity.

"I would say Anil Kumble has been remarkable as captain. He is a good motivator and his behaviour was impeccable both on and off the field. In true sense of the term, he was an ambassador of the country and we are proud of the way he handled the entire issue," Pawar said.

During the racism row featuring Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh, Kumble's composure drew rich praise from all quarters.

Amid all the allegations and counter-allegations, Kumble's lone observation was that of the two teams fighting a no-holds-barred battle in the acrimonious Test, only one team played in the true spirit of the game.

© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved.

India vs SA -- Test matches in numbers

Lowest totals
South Africa: 84 all out in 25.1 overs at Johannesburg.
India: 66 all out in 34.1 overs at Durban.

South Africa's lowest total in India is 105 all out in 38.5 overs at Ahmedabad.

Largest victories
By an innings: South Africa -- an innings and 71 runs at Bangalore.
By runs: South Africa -- 329 runs at Kolkata; India -- 280 runs at Kanpur.
By wickets: South Africa -- 9 wickets at Port Elizabeth; India -- 8 wickets at Kolkata.

Smallest victories
By runs: South Africa -- 174 runs at Durban; India -- 64 runs at Ahmedabad.
By wickets: South Africa -- 4 wickets at Mumbai; India -- 8 wickets at Kolkata.

BATTING RECORDS

Most Runs

Span Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 0
SR Tendulkar 19 35 2 1202 169 36.42 3 5 2
G Kirsten (SA) 10 19 1 720 133 40 3 3 1

High scores
South Africa: H Gibbs (196) at Port Elizabeth.
India: S Tendulkar (169) at Cape Town.

Most hundreds
South Africa: G Kirsten (3)
India: M Azharuddin (4)

Most ducks
South Africa: M Ntini, S Pollock and H Gibbs (3 each)
India: J Srinath (4)

Most runs in a series
South Africa in India Test Series, 1996/97

Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 0
M Azharuddin (India) 3 6 1 388 163* 77.60 2 1 0

G Kirsten (SA) 3 6 0 322 133 53.66 2 0 0


BOWLING RECORDS

Most wickets
Span Mat Overs Mdns Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 5 10
A Kumble (India) 1992-2007 19 1040.2 246 2430 80 6/53 8/113 30.37 2.33 78.0 3 0
A Donald (SA) 1992-2000 11 415.4 121 987 57 7/84 12/139 17.31 2.37 43.7 3 1

Best bowling figures in an innings
South Africa: L Klusener (21.3-4-64-8) at Kolkata.
India: Harbhajan Singh (30-3-87-7) at Kolkata.

Best bowling figures in a match
South Africa: A Donald (55-15-139-12) at Port Elizabeth.
India: V Prasad (44-10-153-10) at Durban.

Most five-wickets-in-an-innings
South Africa: A Donald (3)
India: J Srinath (4)

Most ten-wickets-in-a-match
South Africa: A Donald and S Pollock (1 each)
India: V Prasad (1)

Most runs conceded in an innings
South Africa: M Ntini (39-0-135-3) at Kanpur
India: A Kumble (68.4-15-143-6) at Bangalore

Dhoni defends his insistence on young players in tri-series

New Delhi: India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday defended his insistence on young players at the cost of veterans like Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly during the recent tri-series in Australia and said that he had got the team he wanted.

"I was pretty clear about the players I wanted in the side. That's what I said to the selectors as well. You can see the kind of team I got," he said.

Without naming the dropped players, Dhoni said, "It's very important because the process and the timing (of the selection) were criticised a lot. But sometimes it is very important to send the message across, because sometimes people neglect the answer," Dhoni told cricinfo.

The young captain said he told his ODI team-mates to perform in view of the questions being raised about their ability to handle demanding conditions and majority of them having not played in Australia.

"What now? Why are people not asking the same questions now? Because if the result was not in our favour, what would have happened? Would the people have been really behind this side or behind individuals?" an apparently hurt Dhoni said.

"You (the critics) questioned this side but now that it's performed you need to back it," he said of India's first one-day series triumph in Australia in 23 years.

"We all knew, and you all knew, what would have happened if this side didn't do well in Australia. Now that it has done well, why don't you appreciate the performance?"

Dhoni made it clear that the aggressive tactics against Australia in the tri-series were premeditated and not fake. "In the CB Series you hardly saw any conflict between India and Sri Lanka. If your are playing against an aggressive side, you need to play an aggressive game. Especially against Australia, you can't just look to play and win -- it's batting, bowling, fielding, aggression, everything," he said.

"Fortunately this side has got a few players who can speak and do well at the same time and won't get disturbed by it ... You need to identify those who can be pepped up and do well while they're speaking. In a way I'm fortunate to have those players in the side, rather than ask those who are not comfortable doing it ... I won't name names but there were individuals who were saying things, within the boundaries."