Herath the best after Muralitharan: Mahela Jayawardene

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has termed Rangana Herath as the second-best spinner he has played with after Muttiah Muralitharan, the most successful bowler in Test history. Herath's five-wicket haul on Monday set the tone for a crushing Sri Lankan win over New Zealand before tea on day three, and gave him match figures of 11 for 108.
"Rangana knows what he is doing with the ball and he knows what the batsman is doing as well," said Jayawardene after the crushing victory over New Zealand, who have now lost five matches in a row. "After Murali, from what I've seen in Sri Lankan cricket, he is the next best thing. Others have chipped in but Rangana has become the leading bowler for us. Because of the pressure he is creating on the opposition and the way he's performed, it has enabled us to be consistent in Test cricket in the last two years or so.On a dramatic third morning, New Zealand slumped from an overnight 34 for 1 to 118 all out with Herath taking six second-innings wickets to become the leading Test wicket-taker for 2012, surpassing England's Graeme Swann with 46 victims in just his seventh match. The 34-year-old, who made his debut at Galle in 1999, continued his love affair at the venue by extending his tally here to 46 wickets from eight Tests, at an average of 20.30. In 2012, Herath has pouched a staggering 28 wickets in three Tests, with both his career ten-wicket hauls coming at Galle in the same year.
He was duly adjudged Man of the Match. Sri Lanka lead the two-Test series 1-0.

Australia v South Africa, 2nd Test: Determined Australia eye series lead

Australia built momentum in a rain-hit draw in Brisbane and go into the second Test against South Africa starting in Adelaide on Thursday determined to channel that into a series-leading result. A victory for the home team will also seriously threaten South Africa's No. 1 ranking, and Graeme Smith and his team know that they will have to be much better with the ball on a track unlikely to offer the bowlers much in the first couple of days at least.
The drawn first Test showed that Australia are capable of standing up to the No. 1 ranked side, South Africa, in the three-match series. The batting of Ed Cowan, skipper Michael Clarke and 37-year-old Michael Hussey showed that the home order will take some serious effort to be dismissed on what is expected to be a bat-first surface at the Adelaide Oval. Clarke collected his second Test double-century this year, Cowan proved he deserves to bat at the highest level in scoring his maiden hundred and Hussey sent out another reminder that age matters little when the mind and body are working on overdrive.Watson fielded and batted at training in Adelaide on Monday but did not bowl, which proved detrimental to his chances as he was excluded from the eleven declared to take field on Thursday morning. The announcement of an unchanged line-up meant Tasmania's Rob Quiney kept his place for another match at No. 3 despite a poor debut last week.
The other man under the scanner is Ricky Ponting, who has three ducks in his last three Tests against South Africa, the last of which came in Brisbane. His further participation in the series could depend on how he handles the willow in batting-friendly Adelaide.
South Africa are likely to change their bowling attack after allowing Australia post 565 for 5 in their only innings at the Gabba. That got confirmed on Wednesday when the tourists replaced pacer Rory Kleinveldt, who returned with figures of 0 for 97 on debut, with legspinner Imran Tahir in the 12-man squad from which they will choose their eleven. Injury to JP Duminy has also created a chance for Faf du Plessis to make his Test debut.
Most of South Africa's batsmen clicked in Brisbane, with Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla scoring centuries and opener Alviro Petersen getting 64. AB de Villiers juggled the wicketkeeper's role with scores of 40 and 29 not out, and shrugged off the notion that he was being burdened by saying he felt like he could have scored centuries in each innings.
"In Brisbane, we had them under pressure but just let them go. Hopefully this time we can really squeeze them and break the momentum," said Petersen. "In the last year or two, we have played good cricket, that is why we're the No. 1 Test team in the world and that will count for a lot.

Tamim Iqbal fit to play second Test

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has passed a fitness test and cleared to play in the second Test against West Indies, a team official said on Tuesday.
"He felt fine batting in the nets and we think he is fit to play tomorrow," team physio Vibhav Singh told reporters.Tamim was nursing an elbow problem he picked up in the first test in Dhaka and underwent the fitness test after a team training session in Khulna ahead of the second Test starting on Wednesday.
Bangladesh had earlier called up uncapped opening batsman Anamul Haque as Tamim's back-up for the Test match. Khulna Division batsman Anamul, top scorer at the Under-19 World Cup in August, scored two centuries in his last three first-class matches and the 19-year-old linked up the squad on Tuesday morning.
West Indies lead the two-match series 1-0.

Tailender Abul Hasan scores century on Test debut

Abul Hasan, a rookie medium-pacer from Bangladesh, has become the first player in the history of Test cricket to score a century batting at No. 10 on debut. The 20-year-old reached the landmark in the final over of the first day's play in the second Test against West Indies on Wednesday, off 105 deliveries, when he flicked Sunil Narine off his pads for two runs.
In reaching three figures in his first Test innings, Hasan become only the second No. 10 batsman to achieve the remarkable feat of a century on debut in 135 years. On January 1, 1902 against England in Melbourne, Australia’s Reggie Duff became the first tailender to score a century on debut, having scored 32 in his first innings Hasan outscored his senior partner Mahmudullah in an unbeaten ninth-wicket partnership of 172 in 30 overs, finishing the first day on 100 off 108 balls having hit 13 fours and three sixes.
Hasan, whose previous best in six first-class innings was 61, walked in at the fall of the eighth wicket with Bangladesh having 193 on the board. At stumps, they were 365 for 8.
Hasan opened his account with a triple and cut his seventh ball in Test cricket for four. He never backed away from playing his shots, despite not having the best technique, played a series of aggressive shot against spin and pace. His three sixes came off Veerasammy Permaul (twice) and West Indies captain Darren Sammy. Hasan reached fifty in 55 balls by hitting Sammy over long-off, having been given a life on 42 when forward short leg spilled a juggling catch of Permaul.
Hasan was called up to Bangladesh’s Test squad for two matches against West Indies on the basis of his right-arm medium-pace, despite a first-class bowling average of 43.37 and strike-rate of 88.6. He has played four Twenty20 internationals for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh v WI, 2nd Test: Hasan lifts Bangladesh with hundred on debut

Bangladesh's Abul Hasan became only the second man in 135 years of Test cricket to hit a debut hundred while batting at number ten, on the first day of the second Test against the West Indies on Wednesday. At stumps the 20-year-old left-hander was unbeaten on 100. He had added an invaluable 172 with Mohammad Mahmudullah (72) after the home team were in trouble on 193 for 8.
The unlikely hero turned spinner Sunil Narine for two to reach his century and match the feat of Australian Reggie Duff, who scored 104 against England at Melbourne in 1902 while batting at ten. Hasan, whose previous highest first-class score was 61, played with complete authority. He hit 13 boundaries and three towering sixes off just 108 balls to nullify a destructive 5 for 81 by paceman Fidel Edwards. Edwards had pushed Bangladesh to the brink five minutes after the tea interval when he dismissed captain Mushfiqur Rahim (38) and Sohag Gazi (nought) in one over.Hasan and Mahmudullah set a new record for tenth wicket in all Bangladesh Tests, beating the 77 by Mashrafe Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain against India at Chittagong in 2007. The pair are just 24 short of beating the world record for tenth wicket in all Test cricket - 195 set by South African pair Mark Boucher and Pat Symcox against Pakistan at Johannesburg in 1998. An unassuming Hasan said he just wanted to back up Mahmudullah. "When I went to bat, I just wanted to support my partner. I did not know about any record but Mahmudullah told me to bat like a batsman, which I did, and in the end I am very happy to score a century," he said.
The West Indies were sloppy in the field. Kieran Powell dropped Hasan on 42 and Mahmudullah was put down by Darren Bravo when on 37 - both off a luckless left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul. Hasan made the most of his escape, hitting a four and six off Darren Sammy to complete his half-century off just 55 balls. He continued in the same vein in the last hour. Mahmudullah, a recognised batsman overshadowed by the newcomer, has hit nine fours in his 89-ball knock.
Bangladesh, who trail 0-1 in the series after losing the first Test by 77 runs, won the toss but lost opener Nazimuddin in the third over of the innings for just four. Tamim Iqbal and Shahriar Nafees batted sensibly to add 59 for the second wicket but West Indian captain Sammy struck twice to give his team the upper hand. Nafees edged a wide delivery to the wicket-keeper to depart for 26 while Iqbal was bowled off a sharp incoming delivery for 32.
In the second over after lunch fellow paceman Edwards removed first Test centurion Naeem Islam (16) and star allrounder Shakib Al Hasan (17) in successive overs. Nasir Hossain (52) and Mushfiqur Rahim (38) put on 87 for the sixth wicket before Hossain was caught by Edwards off Permaul's bowling. Edwards then took two wickets in his first over after the tea break, having Rahim brilliantly caught by Ramdin and trapping Gazi lbw.

IPL 6: Players auction in January 2013

The players auction for the sixth edition of Indian Premier League will be held in January next year either in Chennai or Kolkata. According to sources in the IPL, the auction would take place either on January 12 in Chennai or eight days later in Kolkata. This was decided by the governing council of the IPL, headed by Rajeev Shukla, which met on Wednesday.
The participation of Pakistani players in the auction, paving the way for their re-entry into the cash-rich T20 tournament, will be decided by the IPL governing council at its next meeting before the players' auction. Pakistani cricketers, who played in the inaugural season in 2007, were kept out of the IPL players auction since the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 eanwhile, Kings XI Punjab has decided to pay a penalty of Rs 1 crore to the Cricket Board and bury their differences after they had dragged the BCCI to the court for arbitration proceedings following the termination their contract for alleged breach of regulations. "Kings XI have sorted out their differences with BCCI by deciding to pay the penalty," a source said.
Kings XI Punjab will continue to be part of IPL pending the completion of the arbitration proceedings.

Celebrating Virender Sehwag's road to 100 Tests

When Virender Sehwag takes the field against England at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on November 23 for the second Test of the series, he will become the ninth Indian cricketer to play 100 Test matches. In a career spanning a decade, the dashing right-hand batsman has enthralled cricket lovers the world over with his barn-storming exploits and, most importantly, was instrumental in India's rise to No. 1 in the Test rankings.
Though his numbers are exceptionally impressive in Tests - 8448 runs at 50.89 and a strike-rate of 82.45, with 23 hundreds and 32 half-centuries - what makes Sehwag stand out is the impact he made on the cricketing landscape. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to assert that Sehwag is to cricket what The Beatles were to music, and Apple is to technology. No other batsman in the history of cricket revolutionized the game the way Sehwag has done with his innovative, and uncluttered, approach. Ian Chappell, the former Australian captain, once proclaimed that Sehwag is next to Don Bradman as far as ability to bat with an uncluttered mind in concerned.The apt example to exemplify the above statement would be Sehwag's 68-ball 83 against England in Chennai in 2008. India had been set a target of 387 when Andrew Strauss declared England's second innings at tea on day four. Any team would have only conceived to draw the Test at that stage, but Sehwag tore into England's bowlers and compiled a 117-run stand for first wicket in 23 overs which set the tone for the rest of the batsmen. On a memorable final day, Sachin Tendulkar scored an unbeaten century to attain the target on the last day. But it was Sehwag who was duly adjudged Man of the Match.
Tellingly, Sehwag is the only Indian batsman to score a Test triple-century. Not just once, but twice - 309 against Pakistan in Multan in 2004 and 319 against South Africa in Chennai in 2008.
Whats more, he is part of an elite list of just four batsmen to score in excess of 300 twice (Bradman, Brian Lara and Chris Gayle being the others). Of Sehwag's 23 hundreds, 14 have been above 150, six of them double-centuries. His strike-rate of 82.45 is the best (the qualification being a cut-off of 2000 runs) in the history of Test cricket. Most of his hundreds have been run-a-ball knocks which enabled India pile up massive totals and gave ample time to their bowlers to have a go at the opposition.
Sehwag's career has been a roller-coaster ride, just like his style of play. As soon as he started his career, he was tagged a limited-overs specialist and purists cast aspersions on his technique and footwork. He was written off as a batsman whose temperament was inadequate for the longer version of the game. But Sehwag meted out a stunning riposte to his detractors by scoring a century on Test debut against South Africa at Bloemfontein in 2001. India were 68 for 4 when Viru, as he's affectionately called, joined his idol Sachin Tendulkar at the crease.
He proceeded to match Tendulkar stroke for stroke as the pair stitched together a 220-run stand for the fifth wicket, though it couldn't stave off a nine-wicket defeat. The next couple of years went well for Sehwag as he unfurled runs in England after being promoted to the top of the order (64 and 106 in first two Tests as opener), a modern-day classic against Australia on day one of the 2003 Boxing Day Test and scored that Multan triple to set up India's first Test win in Pakistan.
Yet despite his success in Tests, Sehwag was accused of throwing his wicket away at times playing reckless - and ridiculous- shots, and not doing justice to his immense potential. His unorthodox technique and insouciant demeanor have always been under scrutiny, and the murmurs swell into howls when runs dry up. During Greg Chappell’s reign as a coach (2006-2007), Sehwag went through a torrid time and was eventually dropped from the team.
Chappell later said that Sehwag was the biggest disappointment of his tenure and frustrated him with his stubbornness and unwillingness to adapt himself and train hard. "Viru was one of the great frustrations of my time with the team is an understatement. Sadly, he continues to disappoint and is in danger of squandering his God-given talent. The person who is least likely to be fazed by all of this is Virender himself. He did not want to dedicate himself to taking his talent to its zenith. He was happy to turn up and play and accept what came his way. No amount of cajoling from me could shift him from his insouciant way," wrote Chappell.
Sehwag made his comeback for India's tour of Australia in 2007-2008 after a hiatus of a year when Chappell resigned as a coach of India. He roared back to resounding form by scoring a mature second-innings 151 to avert defeat in Adelaide, which set off a golden run. In the next three years Sehwag scored 10 centuries and 3515 runs from 34 Tests, beating his previous best with 319 against South Africa in Chennai – the quickest triple-century ever. His other remarkable innings during this period were an unbeaten 201 out of India's first-innings of 329 in Galle, setting the tone for a series-leveling win over Sri Lanka, and 293 against the same opposition at the Brabourne Stadium in December 2009.
However, form deserted him again towards the end of 2010 and Sehwag entered a two-year, 16-Test century drought which ended when he reached three figures against England in Ahmedabad last week. Questions were raised about his future and a lot of people were calling for his head but Sehwag once again exhibited the fact that he backs himself thoroughly.
To be fair and objective, Sehwag has unperformed overseas - he averages 27.80 in England, 20.00 in New Zealand and 25.46 in South Africa - and his average falls to a paltry 30.45 in the team's second innings. Despite these blips, one cannot take away the fact Sehwag ripped apart the coaching manuals to shreds, nurtured a style of his own and stuck to his guns to forge a successful Test career. His pugnacious and enterprising batting style makes him one of the most audacious and exciting batsmen ever to play cricket. As Viv Richards once pointed out, "Being aggressive is a part of Sehwag's strategic acumen, not a display of flippant mindset."