India Lead 2-0 with youngsters well played !!!

When India's confidence was rattled by the drubbings in Australia and England over the past two years, they took solace in their outstanding home record. Even that bit of relief had been taken away when Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann outspun India earlier this season, but India's belief at home has come surging back with two thumping victories over Australia.

Though it was widely expected that Australia would go down on the fourth day, few thought it would happen with the embarrassing rapidity that it did. Australia's batsmen were once again nonplussed by the turning ball to subside to 131 all out, handing India an innings-and-135-run victory and a 2-0 series lead.

If Australia's chances were slim at the start of the day, they vanished with two deliveries of vastly contrasting quality. Ishant Sharma got his first wicket of the series with a harmless ball sliding down the leg side which Shane Watson guided through to the wicketkeeper. Ravindra Jadeja, usually the butt of derogatory jokes from Indian fans despite a stellar first-class record, then produced the ball of the match, a delivery that drifted onto middle stump and spun back to beat Michael Clarke's forward defensive to crash into off.

From then it was only a matter of time. Ed Cowan had gritted it out for nearly three hours, forgetting the deliveries that ripped past his outside edge to concentrate afresh. Jadeja, with his tail up after that magic ball to Clarke, ended Cowan's resistance on 44 as an edge ricocheted off MS Dhoni's gloves deflected to Virender Sehwag at slip.

It got even better for Jadeja soon after as he lasered in a throw from cover to run out Moises Henriques, who was yards out despite Jadeja fumbling the ball before collecting it.

Then the man who started Australia's slide on Monday evening, R Ashwin, took over. He has kept his Twenty20 variations to a minimum this series, and cleverly used them against the lower order. Glenn Maxwell was looking towards square leg after attempting a flick only to be confounded by the carrom ball that was heading for the off stump. There was time left for Ashwin to complete his eighth five-for in 11 home Tests.

While the capitulation on Tuesday morning was painful viewing for Australia fans, much of the damage had been done by the batting failure on the first day, when the pitch was at its best. Just three months ago, the much-coveted No. 1 Test ranking was within Australia's grasp and Clarke and the team management seemed to be able to do no wrong. After the two defeats, he will be assailed by questions, just as Dhoni has been over the past couple of years.

The result will be a major source of relief for Dhoni, who after settling doubts over his Test batting in Chennai has now become India's most successful Test captain with 22 wins.

The next match is in Mohali, typically a swing-friendly surface, but given Australia's ineptness against spin, the curators are likely to work overtime to produce a turning track there as well.

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Cricket's future in doubt at Asiad

Guangzhou: With India's no show making cricket's debut in the Asian Games a tame affair, the sport's future in the event seems in doubt and desperate efforts were on to save it from being left out of the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea.

The Indian Cricket Board's refusal to send teams for the 16th Asian Games, where the sport would make its debut in the Twenty20 format, has now created doubts over whether it would be a part of the 2014 roster.

The doubts over cricket's axing have grown after 2014 hosts Incheon kept cricket out of the list of events they proposed on Thursday.

Sources said the Asian Cricket Council is making last-ditch efforts to retain the sport on the Asian Games schedule.

The BCCI had cited prior international commitments as the reason for not sending the team here for the Games starting on Saturday.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) had last year stated that a maximum of 35 sports -- 28 Olympic and seven others -- would be part of the Asian Games roster.

Incheon wants to include baseball, bowling, kabaddi, sepaktakraw, softball, squash and wushu apart from the 28 from the 2016 Olympics roster.

Cricket's last appearance at a multi-sport event was at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

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Australia will be without key duo Doug Bollinger and Mike Hussey for the third and final one-day international

Pace bowler Bollinger, who has missed the last two competitive matches, is struggling with a minor abdominal injury, while Hussey has been rested.

Both players will now return home and rest ahead of a crunch Ashes series with England.

Cricket Australia physio Kevin Sims said: "Doug reported some minor discomfort to his abdomen during his rehabilitation from a previous injury.

"We do not think the new issue is serious however it will prevent him from achieving the workloads necessary for him to be available for selection in the third one-day match in Goa.

"Therefore we have decided it is in his best interests to return to Australia for further assessment and to outline further rehabilitation. Doug's return-to-cricket date will be finalised following this assessment."

The absence of both men leaves Australia facing an uphill battle if they are to square the ODI series 1-1 on Sunday.

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India in the driving seat with a mountain lead of 333

In the fourth over of the day, Muttiah Muralitharan got one to dip on Virender Sehwag. For a change Sehwag played in front of his body and scooped it back to Murali, who took the catch after a juggling act. Having added nine to his overnight 284, Sehwag became the fourth man to be dismissed in the 290s. And just after the standing ovation, the cricket came out of a trance. The ball started turning again, the bowlers bowled to a plan again, the scoring settled to a more human rate, and India moved - albeit slowly - to a big first-innings lead. Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid missed out on centuries, but MS Dhoni scored his third, and then left Sri Lanka just three overs to negotiate in the evening. Despite Dhoni's late hitting, India scored only 283 runs today - Sehwag alone scored 284 yesterday.

By the time Sehwag got out, he had put India 63 ahead. Dravid, after surviving an edge that the umpire missed, followed him, edging Chanaka Welegedara to the keeper having added 12 to his overnight 62. In between those wickets, though, Tendulkar played his shots, vertical-sweeping Murali twice just to the left of the keeper and pulling and driving against the turn for two other boundaries. By the time Dravid got out, Tendulkar had reached 22 off 26 but he slowed down after that, knowing he needed to make sure India batted just once.

The slowing down was also because Rangana Herath and Murali found some rhythm. Murali even bowled a maiden - his first in 75 overs from the second innings in Ahmedabad. He kept VVS Laxman quiet by bowling from round the stumps, with a strong leg-side field, and India scored 49 runs in 18 overs between Dravid's dismissal and lunch. In the last over before lunch, there was reason to cheer for Sri Lanka: the innings run-rate came below five.

Post lunch, Tendulkar crossed 50 for the 97th time in Tests. Laxman opened up after a dry spell, taking 12 runs off one Welegedara over that included the drive from outside off to wide of mid-on. In the next over, though, Nuwan Kulasekara breached Tendulkar's defence with an offcutter.

Laxman continued punishing Welegedara and went from 27 in 64 balls to 50 in 79. But soon, looking for a big shot off Murali, he was done in by a doosra.

The story of the first two sessions, though, was Herath. Easily the pick of Sri Lankan bowlers, he had the batsmen guessing, mixing his offbreaks and straighter ones to good effect. The carrom ball stayed in the batsmen's minds too, but it seemed everyone - the umpires, his own keeper and slip fielders - had conspired against Herath.

First the umpire had missed that edge off Dravid. Then Herath had a close lbw shout against Tendulkar when the batsman was 35. The umpire thought it would have missed leg, Hawk-Eye said it would have just hit. Then he had Yuvraj Singh groping as if blindfolded. When Yuvraj finally stepped out and missed another arm ball, Prasanna Jayawardene, arguably the best keeper to spin, couldn't collect it. That miss cost them only 15, though, as Yuvraj sliced the same bowler to deep mid-off. But that wasn't the end of Herath's rotten luck: two balls later he got MS Dhoni to edge one and Mahela and Dilshan - at slip and second slip - saw it go through that little gap. And then, when looking to dismiss the tail early, he saw Prasanna drop Zaheer Khan.

Murali, who was bowling with an injured right hand and using his feet to field, representing very much the beaten figure his team had been reduced to, enjoyed better luck. Harbhajan was bowled when going for a reverse-sweep, Kulasekara took a good tumbling catch to dismiss Zaheer.

But again, Herath remained instructive of how the day went. Dhoni was on 50 when No. 11, Pragyan Ojha, walked in. Ojha contributed five to the unbeaten 56-run stand. Dhoni hogged the strike, choosing to score mainly in sixes. And he whiplashed Herath for five of them, three straight, one over midwicket, and the final one over long-on and out of the stadium. He also hooked Welegedara for one. In the whole record-breaking spree, the last one belonged to India: they scored their highest Test total, beating the 705 for 7 against Australia in Sydney.

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Sreesanth gives India total control

India v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Kanpur, 3rd day

The Indians keep a moment's silence before the start of play



Pragyan Ojha celebrates his maiden Test wicket

Sreesanth thanks the powers that be for a five-for in his comeback Test

Sreesanth had Prasanna Jayawardene caught-behind for 39

Indian cricket's prodigal son Sreesanth returned in style with a five-for to leave Sri Lanka staring at defeat in the second Test in Kanpur. Sri Lanka were forced to follow on after tea and were tottering in the second innings, still 356 runs adrift with only six wickets standing. For nine successive overs in the first session, and for seven on the trot in the second, Sreesanth ran in hard, hit the deck and found life in a slow pitch. He led the way in the second innings too, removing Tillakaratne Dilshan with a leg cutter, before Sri Lanka started to disintegrate against spin.

Mahela Jayawardene and Prasanna Jayawardene offered some resistance with a 60-run partnership in the first innings but Sri Lanka threatened to implode without much fight in the second. Tharanga Paranavitana was trapped by an arm-ball from Virender Sehwag and Kumar Sangakkara chopped a topspinner from Harbhajan on to the stumps. However, the decisive moment of the collapse, and something that perfectly caught the mindset of the visitors, was the run-out of the first-innings top scorer Mahela. Sangakkara had pushed the ball to the right of the straightish midwicket and called for a suicidal run, but Mahela had no chance to beat the throw from Yuvraj Singh. Perhaps, the fact that they had lost nine wickets in just over two sessions and yielded the biggest lead to India, had sapped all the fight out of them. They can't blame the pitch, for it hadn't disintegrated, but Sreesanth was on a mission to prove a point on his comeback.

Green Park was where Sreesanth played his last Test 19 months ago before he disappeared from the sports pages and became an occasional feature on Page 3. Today, he stormed back, lifting India with spells that read 9-2-28-3 in the first session and 7-2-18-2 in the second. His bowling was sublime through the day but the high point of his redemptive journey was the delivery that gave him his fifth wicket, a peach that cut away from the middle stump line to take out the off stump of the clueless Rangana Herath. The celebration was muted: a folding of palms in prayer and gratitude, the right hand raised to accept the high-fives from his team-mates and the face slowly creasing into a smile. It wasn't dramatic, it wasn't the usual Sreesanth theatrics that make him perhaps the most complex cricketer in this side. Today, those signature self-exhortations at the top of the run-up were rarely seen, as was any special celebration after a wicket.

It was all about the bowling. If he troubled the batsmen with seam movement in the morning, he found some reverse swing post-lunch with the old ball and continued to harass the batsmen. He got the big breakthrough of the second session when he terminated the fighting partnership between the two Jayawardenes. Prasanna had taken an aggressive route, slog sweeping and driving the spinners and, though he faced Zaheer Khan, he didn't have to play Sreesanth till he reached 35. Sreesanth probed Prasanna with 11 testing deliveries that included leg cutters, inswingers and a lovely inswinging yorker but Prasanna stood firm. However, Prasanna chased the 12th, a short and wide one, and got a thin nick through to the keeper.

That was a recurring theme. Sreesanth would severely test the batsmen with a cluster of good deliveries and would invariably pick up a wicket with one slightly wide from the stumps. His pace wasn't frightening (135 kmph was the average), there were no fiery bouncers and he didn't swing it around corners, but what he did was land each ball on a probing line and length, and cut it either way just enough to test the batsmen. He had his share of luck too - two batsmen played on off the inside edge - and Sri Lanka's batsmen didn't tailor their techniques to the demands of the pitch.

Instead of playing as close to the body as possible on a pitch with variable bounce, the batsmen erred by playing away. Tharanga Paranavitana was set up by a bouncer that crashed into his shoulder before he pushed at one cutting away from him. Sangakkara, who faced 24 deliveries from Zaheer Khan today, fell in the first over he faced off Sreesanth. Sangakkara played out three straight deliveries but was lured into a cover drive by a full and wide one, and ended up dragging it on to his stumps. Thilan Samaraweera was the next to go, pushing hard and early at a length delivery cutting away from him.

Not everything went Sreesanth's way though. He produced an edge from his best delivery but it didn't get him a wicket. Jayawardene, on zero, pushed at one that cut away late and got an edge but neither MS Dhoni nor Sachin Tendulkar at first slip went for the catch. It was the wicketkeeper's catch. Jayawardene got another reprieve on 25 when he edged a late cut off Harbhajan to first slip where Rahul Dravid couldn't hold on to a sharp chance. The same thing happened in the second innings too but it didn't matter on either occasion as Mahela couldn't carry on for long.

It was not a completely solo show by Sreesanth, though, as the debutant Pragyan Ojha kept things tight, allowing Dhoni the luxury to attack from the other end. Ojha also got the big wicket of the first innings when he beat the top scorer Mahela in the flight and produced a mishit to mid-on. Ojha also hastened the end of the Sri Lankan innings post-tea by trapping Muttiah Muralitharan in front but it was Sreesanth, who was undoubtedly, the star today.

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Green Park desparate to give life to the series...

Groundsmen roll the pitch, ahead of the second Test match between India and Sri Lanka at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. Photo: K.R. Deepak

After the run riot at Motera, the series faces a challenge at the Green Park Stadium here. The bowlers need to be in with a chance for the match to keep the spectators engaged. This said, the surface here for the Test against South Africa in 2008 was rather heavily loaded in favour of the spinners.

India needed to square the series and an under-prepared pitch that turned square from day one suited the home team’s purpose.

But then, Kanpur as a Test venue came under the scanner after the Test and the host association had to answer questions aplenty after South Africa submitted a rather strong report on that Test.

Daljit’s assurance

“You will not have a repeat of that kind of a pitch. I had a good look at the surface for the match,” assures Daljit Singh, who heads the country’s wicket and grounds panel.

These are not the easiest of days for Daljit. Following the criticism of the pitch for the first Test, the surfaces for the rest of the series will be under a microscope. But then, the committee has loads of time to prepare a proper Test match wicket.

Short-sighted solutions for immediate needs eventually hurt the game’s cause and diminish the value of individual performances. This series screams for a sporting wicket at Kanpur.

There are indications that the authorities here are not taking a chance with the pitch. Although a fresh wicket has been laid at this venue, the second Test would be played on an adjacent pitch, holding no devils, where matches have been staged earlier.

Fitness worries

The nature of the surface is not the only concern for the Sri Lankans though. The side has a few fitness issues to resolve as well.

Key batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan — who hurt his nose in a freak accident after the first Test — trained here on Sunday with a bandage wrapped around the injured area. The dashing opener is expected to be fine for Tuesday’s Test.

However, with the pacy Dammika Prasad virtually out of the match with a hamstring pull, the visitors will have to look for a new ball partner for the impressive Chanaka Welegedara. Fast bowler Dilhara Fernando, who has replaced the injured Thilan Thushara in the squad, can bowl with pace and thrust. However, Fernando has run into serious no-balling problems in the past. Nuwan Kulasekara, slower but more accurate bowler, offers the side greater consistency.

Light factor

The weather at this time of the year in these parts could also influence the course of the Test. The mornings could be foggy and this might delay the start of the play in the first session. And the sun sets quickly in winter, cutting into play in the last session.

As Daljit confided, “If we are unlucky with the weather, we could lose around eight hours of play in the Test.” Eight hours is more than a day’s play.

Given the likely weather, it is imperative that we have a pitch where the bowlers are in with a shout. Otherwise, we could so easily have another draw in the series.

It would not suit India’s interest to leave everything to the last Test. The pitch at the Brabourne Stadium for the final match is expected to be a result-oriented one which suggests the Sri Lankans would have a fair chance. A single Test could decide the series.

The Sri Lankans did put the Indians under pressure in the first Test, both on the first morning and on the final day before Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman ensured a draw.

The saviour

Scripting escape acts is not always possible. For instance, India, 32 for four on the first morning at Motera, could so easily have been 100 for seven had the technically and temperamentally sound Rahul Dravid not proved a road-block. The Indian recovery was essentially scripted around Dravid.

Had India been dismissed for around 200 in the first innings, there might have been no comebacks...even on the dead Motera wickets. From the hot and dusty Ahmedabad, to the hustle and bustle of a busy Kanpur in winter...the cricket caravan moves on.

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The Green Park Stadium

History

The Green Park Stadium is named after Madam Green who used practice Horse-Riding here in 1940's

India's first Test win over Australia in December 1959 was at the Green Park ground. It was also the first match to be played on a turf wicket here.[1]. Fff-spinner Jasubhai Patel's 14 wickets were instrumental in ensuring India's win.

In 1958/9 Subhash Gupte took nine West Indian wickets in an inning for 102 runs, and had Lance Gibbs - the only batsman he missed - dropped by wicket keeper Naren Tamhane.

Since 1957 India has lost only twice at Kanpur, to the West Indies on both occasions. When Subhash Gupte’s dream spell was overshadowed by Wes Hall’s 10 wickets in 1958 and later when India’s 1983 world cup euphoria was cut short by Malcolm Marshall’s fearsome bowling.

Ends

The ends are known as the Mill Pavilion End and the Hostel End. These are named after the Elgin Mill and Dav College which are close to the stadium.

Pitch

The pitch at Green Park has traditionally assisted the spinners and there have been some great performances by the likes of Jasubhai Patel and Subhash Gupte etc.

Future of the stadium

The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association is talking to the UP Government to buy this stadium on a lease of 15 – 15 years each for the future expansion of this stadium and to improve its ability to host International matches of all formats including the IPL.Green Park Cricket Stadium is going to host a test match against Sri Lanka on November 24/2009.

Cricket World Cup

This stadium has hosted One Day International (ODI) matches when India hosted the Cricket World Cup.

i. 1987 Cricket World Cup

ii. 1996 Cricket World Cup

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Tendulkar rises, Gambhir slips in ICC Test rankings

Dubai: Riding on his match-saving hundred against Sri Lanka in the opening Test, senior Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar rose a rung to joint 15th but opener Gautam Gambhir slipped one place to third in the latest ICC Rankings issued on Sunday. Tendulkar shares the 15th spot with dashing England batsman Kevin Pietersen. Among other Indians, Rahul Dravid has jumped five places to sit just outside the top 20 in 21st position, while India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has leaped three places to 30th spot. Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, who scored a double hundred in the drawn match, achieved the number one ranking for the first time in his career. The 32-year-old scored a masterly 275 - his sixth double-century in 108 Tests - to leapfrog team-mate Kumar Sangakkara and Gambhir. Sachin completes 30,000 runs in international cricket Jayawardene, who during his mammoth knock became only the ninth batsman to complete 9,000 Test runs, is just 17 points short of becoming only the 25th batsman overall to reach the 900-point mark which, in ranking terms, is the benchmark for top batsmen. Among the Test bowlers, Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who took 2-189 in the first Test, has slipped one place to sixth in the latest rankings. The gap between number-one ranked Dale Steyn of South Africa and Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan's has opened from 20 points to 31 points. The ICC Test Championship table is currently led by Australia with India ranked third. Coverage: India Vs Sri Lanka Pakistan sits in sixth position on 84 ratings points with New Zealand four points behind in seventh place and the West Indies in eighth-position on 76 ratings points.

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Mahela: We can press for win

Mahela Jayawardene said his side can now utilise the advantage and press for a win in the first Test against India in Ahmedabad.

"Things can happen on fourth and fifth days. They (India) are under pressure and that can create opportunities. The deterioration will be there and we have to see how we can take advantage," Jayawardene said after scoring a classy unbeaten 204 in over eight hours on the third day.

"We have handled the wicket pretty well. If we can build a good lead we can create opportunities. We have to bowl in the right areas especially the spinners and if these things happen we can definitely create more opportunities," he said.

The former skipper was also a relieved man as he brought up his first triple figure Test score in India.

"For me a hundred is a hundred. Given the situation and playing against India in India, that's high up in my effort.

"But thing is I have played only three Tests in India before this. I had a couple of fifties in last tour and I was disappointed. I was determined to get my first hundred here. I am happy, team situation is also very good," he said after guiding Sri Lanka to 591 for 5, a first innings lead of 165.

"We had a very realistic plan of beating India. It is one of our goals and everything was set up. We were disappointed to let India get away after the excellent start we had on the first day. But they did bat well. Rahul in particular and MS (Dhoni)," the 32-year batsman said.

Jayawardene said the attacking century by opener Tillakaratne Dilshan and the efforts of himself, Thilan Samaraweera (70) and Prasanna Jayawardene (84 not out) have set up the game nicely for them.

"Dilshan batted superbly giving us the momentum. He took on the two (Indian) spinners and we kept on going with the same momentum. Thilan and I enjoyed a very good partnership (138 runs for fourth wicket) and Prasanna hung around with me (in adding a record 216 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket)," he said.

On when his team would apply a declaration on Thursday, he said the team management would prefer to set a target and try to achieve the goal.

"We will see how it goes. Kumar and team management will have to decide on that. We set a few goals today and achieved them. We should set same target tomorrow and have to achieve them," he said.

He praised young Prasanna Jayawardene for playing a superb supporting role to help Sri Lanka grind the Indian attack down.

"Prasanna batted well. He has the ability, but it's just applying yourself out there that's important. That's been his problem. He's got lot of talent. But he showed what he's capable of today. It's all about handling different situations and scoring in different conditions and I thought Prasanna did that today," he said.

Asked about his own splendid form in the past few years, Jayawardene said he has learned to build an innings by finding out his strengths and weaknesses.

"With captaincy came bit more responsibility. But after playing for so many years I have realised what my strengths and weaknesses are and how to manage and build the innings.

"Even before that I was doing right things, but making too many mistakes. Once you get to a stage, you realise how to pace your innings and how to attack and how to play on different surfaces," he said.

Jayawardene has no complaint over India's negative tactics of bowling round the wicket to a defensive field, saying the home team were trying to stem the flow of runs.

"They were trying to not to give us not much of a bigger lead today. You can even pick up wickets in that manner. We didn't play too many shots and we played the way we wanted to and waited for the bad balls and once they switched back again we managed to get more runs. Teams use different tactics and you have to adjust accordingly," he said.

On Muttiah Muralitharan's condition after he picked up a stomach bug on Wednesday, Jayawardene said the off-spinner was feeling fine.

"He's fine. He was speaking a lot in the dressing room, which means he's OK," he said.

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Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan recalled for Tests

Temperamental fast bowler Sreesanth has been given another chance to resurrect his stop-start career, after being selected in India's 15-man squad for the first two Tests against Sri Lanka. Weeks after being given a "final warning" for his poor on-field behaviour, Sreesanth is now a candidate to share the new ball with Zaheer Khan, who has recovered from his shoulder injury.

Sreesanth last played for India in 2008, and had his share of injuries and criticism over attitude in equal measure. During the time he spent out of the Indian team, Sreesanth played 10 first-class games for 28 wickets, including one five-wicket haul for Warwickshire, and 23 overs for no wickets against Andhra in his latest Ranji Trophy match. Clearly his selection is a gamble on promise over form. It is a big - bordering on generous - decision made by the selectors, and an equally big chance for Sreesanth to wash away all the criticism against him.

Zaheer made an expected comeback, having recovered from the injury he sustained during the IPL, and having featured in Twenty20 matches during the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament and a Ranji Trophy fixture. He has not missed a Test, but has not played limited-overs cricket for India since the ICC World Twenty20 in June.

The selectors also recalled Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, and S Badrinath. His Tamil Nadu team-mate M Vijay retained his place as reserve batsman. Ojha, yet to make his Test debut, toured Sri Lanka in 2008, but lost his place to Amit Mishra, who made a strong debut against Australia in Mohali in 2008-09. Vijay, an opener, was handed a debut in Nagpur against Australia after Gautam Gambhir was banned for one Test. Badrinath has yet to play a Test.

There was no place for Ashish Nehra, who has done well after making his ODI return, or Munaf Patel, as India opted for three spinners. There was no reserve wicketkeeper named.

The decision to pick 15 players, and that too an extra batsman, raised questions about the selection. Usually for a home series, only 14 players are picked. And with the middle order set in stone, neither Vijay nor Badrinath has a realistic chance of starting in Ahmedabad. Now both of them will miss important Ranji Trophy matches, when only one was needed as injury cover, unless someone is sent back to domestic cricket on the morning of the Ahmedabad Test.

The selection also left the bowling unbalanced. MS Dhoni is not a fan of playing only two pace bowlers unless the pitch is extremely spin-friendly, and the selectors have given him only three fast bowlers to choose from. Zaheer Khan is coming back from injury, Ishant Sharma is in poor form, and Sreesanth is a completely unpredictable character. One bowling back-up would have been of more value than two batting back-ups. And what about Munaf? He has lost his Test place on the basis of 13 overs bowled in two ODIs against Australia, one of them on a flat Hyderabad pitch.

India squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M Vijay, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra.

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Cyclone alert could affect Mumbai's cricket schedule

A cyclone forming over the Arabian Sea near Mumbai and continuous heavy rains in the city over the past 24 hours have threatened the seventh and final ODI between India and Australia, scheduled to be held there on Wednesday. Cyclone Phyan is expected to hit the coast later on Wednesday and, though Mumbai is not expected to be in its direct path, weather conditions in the city have already deteriorated.

The city municipal corporation has sent out a public SMS advising citizens to stay indoors and extended to 5 p.m. the cyclone warning it issued yesterday.

A PTI report said the DY Patil Stadium, the venue of Wednesday's game, was a pool of water. However, the teams are expected to reach the ground by 2 p.m. and the match has a cut-off time of 5 p.m. - if there's no play by then, it will be called off.

Two other top-level matches in the city have already been affected; the first day's play of Sri Lanka's tour game against the Board President's XI has been washed out and the Ranji game between Mumbai and Orissa is yet to see a ball being bowled into the second day.

India's match-eve practice session was also called off on Tuesday, though the Australians managed theirs in the morning.

The Indian Metereological Department issued an alert for the coastal regions of south Gujarat and north Maharashtra. Weather scientists have been tracking a deep depression formed in the south east and adjoining central Arabian Sea, which was last moving in the northwest direction and to hit south Gujarat.

"The system is likely to intensify further into a cyclonic storm and move in a northerly direction for some more time and then north-northeastwards and cross south Gujarat and north Maharashtra coast between Mahuva and Dahanu by early hours of November 12," the alert issued by the IMD said.

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Australia's Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson to miss the match

Australia's Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson have been ruled out of the second ODI against India on Wednesday.

Their absence comes as a blow to the tourists who are already without all-rounder James Hopes who has been ruled out for up to two matches after suffering a hamstring strain in Australia's four-win win in Vadodara on Sunday.

Australia had hoped to have Lee (elbow) and Johnson (ankle) available for the match in Nagpur, although they are expected to return for the third match of the series in Delhi on Saturday.

The news is not as good for Hopes who is set to be sidelined until later in the seven-match series and Australia's selectors have responded by requesting promising all-rounder Moises Henriques fly to India to join the squad as back-up.

"Our medical staff have now decided that while both Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson's injuries have responded well to treatment, they will be severe enough to rule them out of contention for Wednesday's match in Nagpur," Australia's national selection panel chairman Andrew Hilditch said.

"With James Hopes' right hamstring injury being more serious and likely to keep him out for at least the next two matches it is thought adding a standby player to the squad is a necessity.

"Given the most significant injury appears to be Hopes' hamstring we have taken this opportunity to add Moises Henriques to the squad until the completion of game four in Mohali where we will again assess the situation before it is decided if he remains with the squad."

Henriques is yet to play an ODI for his country, with his only appearance in Australian colours arriving in a Twenty20 against New Zealand earlier this year.

The Portugal-born 22-year-old impressed during New South Wales' successful Champions League Twenty20 campaign in India earlier this month, when he was the tournament's second-leading wicket taker.

"While the injury situation is disappointing it does provide an opportunity for Moises to join the Australian squad and become familiar in this environment," Hilditch added.

"His form for Australia A in Pakistan and for New South Wales during the recent Champions League in India has been very good and we view him as an exciting young all-rounder who will be looking to make the most of this opportunity in India."

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Rahul Dravid deserves better

Indian cricket begins its home season by showing disrespect to one of its most honourable torch-bearers. Rahul Dravid has always done everything asked of him, including in the last five one-day games he played in. And now he has fallen prey to a whimsical hire and fire policy. I hope there are a few people feeling embarrassed by what they have done because otherwise we are in for more bad news.

By picking Rahul Dravid for Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy, the selectors had sent out a clear signal that they were unhappy with the younger players. I don't think they saw enough in five games to change that perception. Meanwhile Dravid scored runs, played the role that assigned to him and did nothing to suggest that he didn't belong in a one-day game. So either the selectors were wrong to pick him last month or they are wrong to drop him now.

Maybe they were picking horses for courses hoping Dravid's superior ability would be handy in South Africa. And maybe they have gone horses for courses again by picking free-striking nimble players in home conditions. If that is indeed true, and it seems obvious, it is sending a terrible signal to the young guns in the squad; that it is okay to play only in favourable conditions and that you don't really need to learn how to play elsewhere. I worry about a system that encourages such thought and devalues superior all-round players.

I also think the selectors need to think about whether they are undermining one of India's finest ever team players; someone who opened when no one else wanted to, kept wickets when the team needed him to. We have to, at all times, make the distinction between a selfless team player and another who might seek to fatten his numbers. And with all India's cricket due to be played in home conditions over the next six months, we will not learn too much more about the ability of the younger players to adapt.

That is why Suresh Raina had to be number three in South Africa. But if indeed he was assessed and found inadequate, then he must bide his time. The future belongs to him, to Rohit Sharma, to Virat Kohli but for that these young men have to prove that they can play anywhere; like Dravid did, like Laxman and Ganguly did. You cannot treat Rahul Dravid like a dish you might have ordered wrongly, then have a spoonful and send it back. And that is why, in spite of being a great admirer of his, I hope he doesn't allow this to happen to him again. He deserves better. We have used flimsy scales to weigh a man of steel.

Meanwhile India continues to confound world cricket. If India has to drive the world cricket market, then Indian teams need to play till the last stage. Otherwise viewership tails off, sponsors either pull out or demand more and in course of time revenue drops. It's a peculiar situation where world cricket, and individual nations, will benefit from the revenue that India brings in and yet that revenue could be jeopardised in future if they keep beating India! We have seen that over three high profile events in the last five months. Now either India needs to get more consistent or money will start finding its way towards events where every match is a home game for some Indian constituency. It is tricky situation especially in the light of what happened at the Champions Trophy and the Champions League, two outstandingly organised, and promoted, events where Indian interest ended early.

I've loved the enthusiasm at the Airtel Champions League. The best teams made the semi-final and there are two reasons that come to mind straightaway for the poor performance of the Indian franchises. First, and this is something we have to admit straightaway, the average first class player in Australia or South Africa is better than his counterpart in India and, I suspect, has a superior work ethic. And second, teams like Trinidad and Tobago and the NSW Blues, or even the Diamond Eagles for that matter, played like it mattered more to them. But this is a tournament with legs and I see it growing as viewers get to know players from other lands better.

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