Hayden’s career hinges on Oz win in Boxing Day Test

Melbourne: Australia’s struggling opener Mathew Hayden’s career can be finished in just four days if his team fails to win against South Africa in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

Hayden’s cricket future now hinges on the result of the second Test after he sliced a loose drive to backward point and fell to his nemesis Makhaya Ntini for just eight runs on Friday, the Courier Mail reported.

The prospects of the opener batting on past the South African series appear bleak as he has a grand total of just 56 Test runs at 9.33 this summer.

Hayden’s immediate future will be decided in four days because if Australia goes 2-0 down in Melbourne he will almost certainly be axed or retire ahead of the SCG Test.

Prolific left-hander Chris Rogers and New South Wales young gun Phillip Hughes are the replacement candidates, with Rogers leading the race because of his vast experience of more than 10,000 first-class runs.

Former Australian opener Phil Jaques will also be waiting in the wings next year after recently returning to the practice nets following a back operation.

If Australia wins the current Test, or if Hayden makes big runs in the second innings, he is likely to cling on to his baggy green cap for the SCG Test on January 3.

Former captain Mark Taylor, who was Hayden’s opening partner during the 1996-97 tour of South Africa, believes the Queenslander has dropped out of touch with alarming speed.

“Matthew Hayden in good form would have hit that ball through the covers. It’s a cruel game batting at the top of the order. Four or five Test matches ago that ball would have whistled through the covers. Now his confidence is down and there is discussion about whether he should be in the side or not,” Taylor said.

Hayden’s latest failure was his lowest score at the MCG in six years, since he scored one against England during the 2002-03 Ashes series.

Source: ANI

Foreign ministry gives go ahead, Lanka to tour Pakistan

Colombo: Sri Lanka on Friday decided to go ahead with its cricket tour of Pakistan to fill in for a cancelled Indian trip, putting an end to the uncertainty on the fate of the series.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday discussed the issue with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollgama, who recommended that the tour should proceed as scheduled from January 20 to February 25.

The series, which has been arranged only because India called off its tour in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, will feature three Tests, as many ODIs and a Twenty20 match.

Before giving his nod for the tour, Bogollagama contacted the Minister of Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge and sought his views.

Lokuge had earlier stated that since the series in Pakistan would be taking place under the aegis of the International Cricket Council, it should be subject to security clearance of the ICC.

With Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in two minds on whether to tour or not, the acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in Colombo FazalUr-Rahman Kazi had also spoken to the Foreign Minister on Wednesday on the issue.

The Minister said since SLC had already accepted the invitation from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the tour should proceed as agreed, a Foreign Ministry statement said.

Minister Bogollagama was of the view that sport was an effective means of promoting connectivity between nations and thereby enhancing friendship and mutual goodwill between countries. Shunned by most visiting teams because of the volatile security situation there, Pakistan were desperate to host some international cricket after India cancelled their tour in the wake of the Mumbai carnage.

The Sports Minister had earlier made it clear that the cricket team would require a clearance from the Foreign Ministry before going ahead with the tour. "We also need the foreign ministry clearance for the cricket tour to Pakistan and will be discussing the matter soon," Lokuge said.

The Sports Minister discussed the issue with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who took up the issue with the Foreign Minister today.

The interim committee headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, which was dissolved recently, had accepted the PCB invitation to play a full series in Pakistan.

India emerge as cricketing superpower in 2008

Delhi: India emerged as the cricketing world's new superpower in 2008 making top-ranked Australia bite the dust while also exhibiting its financial might with the launch of the highly successful Indian Premier League which revolutionised the sport.

The year also marked the end of an era with Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble bidding adieu to international cricket even as 35-year-old Sachin Tendulkar continued to sore high, making it clear he had no plans to retire in the near future.

As Ganguly and Kumble made an exit, a new era heralded in Indian cricket under the charasmatic captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni who cleverly camouflaged the vacuum created by the departure of the two veterans and led the team to a series of triumphs during the year.

After India defeated the mighty Australia at Perth, the Dhoni-led team inflicted more humiliation on Ricky Ponting's men by defeating them 2-0 at home.

It was Australia's worst series loss since a 3-0 setback against the West Indies in 1983. As India prevented Australia from a record 17-match winning run for the second time, the signs were clear that the balance of power was finally shifting away from Ponting's men.

India also humbled South Africa and England in the year which proved to be annus mirabilis for the team.

India, placed second in the ICC Test rankings, and South Africa, just a point adrift on third, are now in race to topple Australia from the number one slot.

Australia, struggling in the post-Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath era, failed to prevent South Africa from completing the second-highest successful fourth-innings run chase in Test history. Apart from their heroics on the field, the Indians also found themselves in various controversies such as the racial row involving Indian off spinner and Australian all rounder Andrew Symonds who clashed in the acrimonious Sydney Test.

Harbhajan was charged with racially abusing Symonds for which he was slapped with a three-Test ban, which was overturned on appeal. Harbhajan got off with just 50 per cent of his match fees as India threatened to go home unless they received a satisfactory verdict.

The bitterness was, however, forgotten as Symonds fetched the second highest bid after Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the players auction for the year's biggest cricketing extravaganza -- the Indian Premier League.

Indian bowler of 2008: Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan as been the spearhead of the Indian pace bowling attack since his matchwinning display at Trent Bridge in 2007, as India won only its fifth Test match on English soil. Zaheer has been hit by injuries in 2008, and as a result though he played only nine Test matches and 10 one-day internationals this year, his performances in these matches were awe-inspiring and mind-boggling to say the least.

Zaheer took 27 wickets in nine Test matches with best bowling figures of 5/91 at an average of 36.85 and a strike rate of 68.8, and 17 wickets in 10 ODIs with best figures of 4/21 at an average of 19.52 and strike rate of 30.4. He may not have been the highest wicket-taker for India either in Tests or ODIs, but we are naming Zaheer the Indian bowler of 2008 for leading the pace attack admirably and for being an expert at the art of reverse-swinging.

Source: Akshay Iyer, India Syndicate
Images: AFP, AP, Cameraworx

The cricketing comeback of 2008: Virender Sehwag

Making a statement

Virender Sehwag raised quite a few eyebrows when he was named in India's Test team to tour Australia in late 2007 and early 2008 as he had not been named in the initial list of probables for the tour Down Under. Sehwag had disappointed with a string of low scores in 2007 and was dropped from India's Test squad to Bangladesh and was not picked for the Test or one-day international series in England last year.

However, Sehwag made a strong return to the Indian team during the Test series in Australia and hasn't looked back since as he has gone from strength to strength and reclaimed not only his place in the Indian line-up, but has also regained the vice-captaincy role that he had lost due to his inconsistent performances in the past. Sehwag may not be looking to answer his critics, but his performances with the bat is his response to the detractors who are of the opinion that he doesn't have the technqiue to succeed in international cricket.

Well, technique or no technique, Sehwag has had phenomenal success in 2008 not only because of his talent but also due to his terrific hand-eye co-ordination. In 2008, Sehwag became only the third batsman after Sir Don Bradman and Brian Lara to make two triple centuries in Test cricket history and his half-century in Chennai in December 2008 laid the foundation for India successfully chasing one of the largest targets to win a Test match. Sehwag also had one of his better years in one-day internationals as his average of 49.61 in 2008 indicates.

In all, Sehwag scored 1,462 runs with a highest score of 319 at an average of 56.23 and strike rate of 85.84 in 14 Test matches. He also hit three centuries and six half-centuries in the 27 Test innings he played in the year. Sehwag also had a good 2008 in one-day internationals as he scored 893 runs including a century and eight half-centuries with a highest score of 119 and an average of 49.61 and strike rate of 120.02 from 18 matches. It should be no surprise then that there was no looking beyond Sehwag for our 'Cricketing comeback of the year' title.

Source: Akshay Iyer, India Syndicate
Images: AFP and AP

Indian Cricketer of 2008: Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir made his international debut way back in 2000, but it took him seven years to cement a place in India's one-day internationals team, and it wasn't until 2008 that he also became a permanent fixture of the Test team.

Dream year

Gautam Gambhir made his international debut way back in 2000, but it took him seven years to cement a place in India's one-day internationals team, and it wasn't until 2008 that he also became a permanent fixture of the Test team. He was always a prolific scorer on the domestic circuit, but his technique and temperament were always under scrutiny when he donned national colours in the initial phase of his career. However, Gambhir turned things for himself by being one of the stars of India's Twenty20 World Cup winning team in South Africa in 2007.

The success in the T20 World Cup also made Gambhir more confident as he went from strength to strength with each match. Gambhir had become a permanent member of India's ODI team last year, but he had to wait until India's tour of Sri Lanka in July 2008 to establish his place in the Test team. Gambhir and his opening partner Virender Sehwag were the only two Indian batsmen to make an impression in the Test series in Sri Lanka, and there has been no holding the feisty southpaw in the traditional format of the game as well after that tour.

It wouldn't be an understatement to say that Gambhir had a dream year in 2008, for he made more than 1,000 runs in both Tests as well as in ODIs. Gambhir made 1,134 runs including three centuries and six half-centuries in 8 Test matches this year at an average of 70.87 with a highest score of 206. He also had a prolific year in one-day cricket and was the highest run-scorer in the world in the 50-overs format of the game in 2008 scoring 1,119 runs including three centuries and seven half-centuries in 27 matches with a highest score of 113 and average of 46.62.

After the England series, Gambhir jumped 10 places in the ICC Test rankings to be ranked No. 10 -- the highest for an Indian batsman. It is little wonder then that when it was time to decide MSN's Indian Cricketer of 2008, there was no looking beyond Gautam Gambhir, because he has been the most consistent Indian batsman this year.

Source: Akshay Iyer, India Syndicate
Images: AFP and AP

Dhoni stays atop ODI batting chart, Yuvraj at six

Dubai: Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni extended his stay at the top of the ICC ODI Rankings for the batsmen, which has his flamboyant teammate Yuvraj Singh at the number six position.

According to the latest chart issued today, Dhoni has 779 points and is closely followed by Australian Mike Hussey, who is just three points adrift of the The Jharkhand marauder.

Yuvraj has 744 rating points for his sixth place and the next best Indian in the ranking chart is Sachin Tendulkar, who stands 12th with 708 points.

Among the Indian bowlers, paceman Zaheer Khan (660) and spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh (617) feature in top 20 at 11th and 20th positions respectively.

India (119) remains third in the ODI ranking for the teams, behind table-toppers Australia (131) and South Africa (119).

Meanwhile, New Zealand can now rise to the fourth place but could slip to as low as eighth as well, depending on the outcome of their five-match series against West Indies.

Daniel Vettori's side currently sits in fifth place on 113 ratings points and a 5-0 series win will put it ahead of Pakistan in fourth place on 118 points.

However, a reversal would mean Kiwis conceding 11 ratings points to the West Indies. This will put both the teams level on 102 ratings points but Chris Gayle's side will be placed higher than the Black Caps in seventh place when ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.