ICC World Cup 2011: India vs Australia warm-up match tomorrow

IN THE sixth warm-up match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, two of the strongest teams India and Australia will take each other at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Sunday, February 13.
In the last ODI series between India and Australia in October 2010, India won the series of three ODIs by 1-0. Two matches in Kochi and Margao were abandoned without a ball bowled due to bad weather. India had won the Visakhapatnam ODI by five wickets.
Team India, which is being considered as one of the strongest contenders of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, lost ODI series against South Africa by 3-2 in January this year. Three key players of the country, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir missed that series due to injuries.
Defending champion Australia have reached India to take part in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 with a morale boosting 6-1 victory over England this year. However, prior to the World Cup 2011 Australians faced a big blow in the form of Michael Hussey, who along with spinner Nathan Hauritz has been ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup due to injury.
Captain Pointing, who missed just concluded ODI series against England due to injury, would be desperate to get some runs under his belt. All-rounder Shane Watson is one of the biggest weapons of Australia from the last couple of years. He is performing equally well with both bat and ball.
Australia has won three world cups in a row from 1999 to 2007. Since 1987 Cricket World Cup, Australia has every time reached in the final of this mega cricket show except 1992 Cricket World Cup and won four times. In 1996, Australians lost to Sri Lanka in the final.
India and Australia warm-up match on February 13 in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will start from 02:30 PM IST and will be telecast live on Star Cricket, ESPN, Star Sports.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: Sri Lanka, West Indies batting first

THE BIGGEST cricketing event, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is one week to go but the warm-up matches are starting from today, February 12. Millions of Cricket fans are keeping a close eye on these matches as these will reveal the status of their preparation. On the first day of the warm-up match schedule, five matches are going to be held today.
In the first warm-up match on Saturday at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, West Indies have to play against Kenya. During the 1996 Cricket World Cup in Pune, Kenya shocked two-time World Cup champions West Indies by 73 runs in a group match despite scored 166 runs after being put in to bat. According to the latest news Kenya won the toss and elected to field.
Host Sri Lanka is taking on Netherlands at Singhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Sri Lanka is one of the strongest contenders of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. In 2006 ODI series between Sri Lanka and Netherlands, Sri Lanka won both the matches. According to the latest news, Sri Lanka has won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Upul Tharanga lost his wicket for 47 runs.
In the third warm-up match on Saturday, February 12 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, two African test playing nations, South Africa and Zimbabwe will clash with each other. In the last three ODIs between these two countries, South Africa won all the three matches.
New Zealand will take on Ireland at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur in the fourth warm-up match on February 12. In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in West Indies, New Zealand thrashed Ireland by a huge margin of 129 runs in a Super Eights match.
The fifth warm-up match between Bangladesh and Canada will be played at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. Bangladesh is the co-host of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, whereas Canada is the qualifier team of the tournament.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: Sri Lanka, West Indies batting first

THE BIGGEST cricketing event, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is one week to go but the warm-up matches are starting from today, February 12. Millions of Cricket fans are keeping a close eye on these matches as these will reveal the status of their preparation. On the first day of the warm-up match schedule, five matches are going to be held today.
In the first warm-up match on Saturday at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, West Indies have to play against Kenya. During the 1996 Cricket World Cup in Pune, Kenya shocked two-time World Cup champions West Indies by 73 runs in a group match despite scored 166 runs after being put in to bat. According to the latest news Kenya won the toss and elected to field.
Host Sri Lanka is taking on Netherlands at Singhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Sri Lanka is one of the strongest contenders of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. In 2006 ODI series between Sri Lanka and Netherlands, Sri Lanka won both the matches. According to the latest news, Sri Lanka has won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Upul Tharanga lost his wicket for 47 runs.
In the third warm-up match on Saturday, February 12 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, two African test playing nations, South Africa and Zimbabwe will clash with each other. In the last three ODIs between these two countries, South Africa won all the three matches.
New Zealand will take on Ireland at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur in the fourth warm-up match on February 12. In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in West Indies, New Zealand thrashed Ireland by a huge margin of 129 runs in a Super Eights match.
The fifth warm-up match between Bangladesh and Canada will be played at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. Bangladesh is the co-host of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, whereas Canada is the qualifier team of the tournament.

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ICC World Cup 2011: Group 'A' match schedule

TEAM AUSTRALIA under the captaincy of Ricky Ponting has landed in India, aiming for a fourth consecutive Cricket World Cup victory. The Australians have not lost even a single Cricket World Cup match since 1999. After West Indies great Clive Lloyd, Ricky Ponting is the second captain in the Cricket World Cup history, who has hold Cricket World Cup trophy two consecutive times. Under the captaincy of Ponting, Australia won ICC Cricket World Cup in 2003 and 2007.

Australia, which is in Group 'A' of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, will play against co-host Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya during the Cricket World Cup.

The Australians will start their Cricket World Cup 2011 campaign against Zimbabwe on February 21 at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad. Prior to the World Cup 2011 match Australia will play two warm-up matches against host India and South Africa on February 13 and 15 respectively.

Here is the schedule of Group 'A' matches of ICC Cricket World Cup tournament 2011

Match No.	Date	Group	Teams	Venue	Time
2	20 February	A	New Zealand vs Kenya	M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai	09:30 AM
3	20 February	A	Sri Lanka vs Canada	International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota	02:30 PM
4	21 February	A	Australia vs Zimbabwe	Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad	02:30 PM
6	23 February	A	Pakistan vs Kenya	International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota	02:30 PM
8	25 February	A	Australia vs New Zealand	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur	09:30 AM
10	26 February	A	Sri Lanka vs Pakistan	R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	02:30 PM
13	28 February	A	Zimbabwe vs Canada	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur	02:30 PM
14	1 March	A	Sri Lanka vs Kenya	R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	02:30 PM
17	3 March	A	Pakistan vs Canada	R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	02:30 PM
18	4 March	A	New Zealand vs Zimbabwe	Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad	09:30 AM
20	5 March	A	Sri Lanka vs Australia	R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	02:30 PM
23	7 March	A	Kenya vs Canada	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	02:30 PM
24	8 March	A	Pakistan vs New Zealand	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy	02:30 PM
26	10 March	A	Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy	02:30 PM
30	13 March	A	New Zealand vs Canada	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai	09:30 AM
31	13 March	A	Australia vs Kenya	M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru	02:30 PM
32	14 March	A	Pakistan vs Zimbabwe	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy	09:30 AM
35	16 March	A	Australia vs Canada	M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru	02:30 PM
37	18 March	A	Sri Lanka vs New Zealand	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai	09:30 AM
39	19 March	A	Australia vs Pakistan	R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	09:30 AM
41	20 March	A	Zimbabwe vs Kenya	Eden Gardens, Kolkata	09:30 AM

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World Cup Warm-Up Matches Moved From Pallekele

Two warm-up matches ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 have been moved from Sri Lanka's Pallekele stadium due to heavy rain.

Sri Lanka were due to take on the Netherlands on 12th February and Kenya were also due to play the Dutch on 15th February but those games will now be held elsewhere.

The decision was taken by local officials and the International Cricket Council after pitch inspector Andy Atkinson's recommendation following an inspection on 9th February.

The ground is due to host three matches in the World Cup 2011 - New Zealand against Pakistan, Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe and Pakistan against Zimbabwe in early March - and these games are still scheduled to be held at the ground.

"The ground staff at Pallekele have had to contend with an extremely high volume of rainfall over a number of weeks, far in excess of what is normal for this time of year," tournament director Prof. Ratnakar Shetty said.

"This has proved to be a significant handicap in their efforts to produce pitches for the forthcoming warm-up matches.
"The decision to switch the warm-up matches away from Pallekele is common sense and is one that is fully supported by all stakeholders as it will allow the ground staff the time they need, following those recent heavy rains, to produce excellent pitches for the tournament matches that will take place there.
"At the same time, the switch will also ensure that the teams involved in the warm-up matches get a high level of quality preparation ahead of tournament matches."

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Banned Salman Butt to give expert opinions during 2011 Cricket World Cup

Pakistan cricket can hardly stay away from controversies and there is another one brewing at the moment, with banned Test captain Salman Butt having entered into an agreement with a private television channel to give expert opinion on the World Cup.

Sources confirmed to PTI that Butt had entered into an agreement with the channel five television for giving comments on the World Cup.

"He is being paid an undisclosed amount for the entire World Cup, said to be around half a million rupees," a source said.

"Butt will be giving expert opinions on some matches of the World Cup particularly those involving Pakistan in the tournament," the source added.

Butt was last week banned for 10 years by an anti-corruption tribunal of the International Cricket Council on charges of spot-fixing. His teammates Mohammad Asif was banned for seven years and Mohammad Amir for five years by the tribunal.

"Clearly if Butt does appear on a television channel as an expert during the World Cup, many people are going to question the ethics of having a banned cricketer comment on the mega-event and Pakistan team," the source said.

He added that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was not aware of this development yet and might be in a shock since they are also waiting for the detailed judgment of the ICC tribunal, which they should get 'unofficially' this week.

"It remains to be seen how the International Cricket Council will react to having a banned player work as a cricket expert during the World Cup as the ban does cover a lot of areas."

The source noted that since Butt would technically be employed by the channel that might cause the ICC to react as under the ban, the trio cannot take part in any sanctioned and official cricket activity or event.

A similar controversy had erupted in India when the banned former captain Mohammad Azharuddin appeared on a television show, leading to strong reactions from the ICC, cricket followers and experts.

But the source pointed out that Ajay Jadeja, another former Indian player, who faced sanctions for his role in the match-fixing scandal was now a regular expert on many Indian television channels. Though another source said that Jadeja had already completed his ban period.

A PCB official said that once the detailed judgment came, the board would know where the players stood "but there is a fear that the trio might also lose their jobs with their departments as they can't even play domestic cricket during the ban period."

source:(PTI)

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Cricket World Cup 2011 Top 5 Wicketkeeper Batsman !

An all-rounder role is always very important in the cricket. Not only the test matches but also in the shorter version of the game like T20 and ODI and not many teams have the luxury of having a all-rounder in their line-up.

When it comes to name all rounders , mind strikes the names of Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Ian Botham, Gary Sobers and great Jacques Kallis.   But we can’t ignore the names of Adam Gilchrist or Mark Boucher or Romesh Kaluwitharana. This is the pity, that no wicketkeeper batsman with exceptional batting talent make up the list of great all rounders.

So, lets checkout which team is going into the 2011 cricket world cup with the best available wicket-keeper batsman?  

Here is the list of 5 top Wicketkeeper batsmen to watch out in action during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011:

5.  Brandon McCullum/Matt Prior – Their records are almost looking identical.  McCullum though have better reputation whereas Matt Prior is trying to fit in the role of batsman. His decent performance against the Australian side is a example of this.On the other hand Brandan McCullum is going through a rough patch, we still remember his batting during the 1^st IPL season, and he too loves to bat on subcontinent wickets.

4. Brad Haddin – Young wicket keeper who got his chance after the retirement of Adam Gilchrist is making bowlers work hard for his wicket. Not so long ago he shifted to the role of opener and has some decent form before Cricket World Cup 2011. He can be dangerous as he got the ability to hit the ball a long way and play some unorthodox shots to make the front liners to think about their line and length while bowling.

3. AB DeVillers – He is the Successor of wicket keeper batsman Mark Boucher and fill in the shoes super fit!  We can compare him with any of the good batsman round and with powerful hitters. I have seen him hitting ball long way and changing the course of the game in few overs. Except keeping the wickets you can put this guy anywhere in the field and he is just brilliant in out fielding too. South Africa do have a lot of expectations from him, he could be the guy to help them win their first ever cricket world cup.

2. Kumar Sangakara – Sri Lankan skipper  Sangakara is a true star and his batting figures are consistent during his cricketing career till now.Though when he breaks through to the highest level his wicket keeping skills were under a lot of talks but as he got exposure and experience of international cricket he has done a really great job.Extra responsibility of captaincy may hurt a bit during the upcoming mega cricket event but we all hopeful to see him in his best.

1. MS Dohni – Indian cricket team found their long hair guy from Ranchi when a lot of experiments were going on with a lot of wicketkeepers to find a wicketkeeper batsman with decent batting ability. With his smashing starting ODI career helped him gain a permanent place in the Indian cricket side.Since then he has not looked back, his batting has improved over the period of time along with his wicket keeping skills.He took over the captaincy role and he delivered more than what selectors and Indian cricket fans would have demanded, today he is one of the most successful captain in Indian cricket history .

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