Symonds let Australia down: Ponting

Australia captain Ricky Ponting says all-rounder Andrew Symonds let himself and the team down with his latest off-field troubles.
Symonds was sent home from the Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday for what Cricket Australia described as an alcohol-related breach of team rules and other violations.
Ponting declined to give specifics of Symonds' behavior, but said the player broke a "number of his own commitments" in the past 24-48 hours and the decision to kick him off the squad was taken "in the bigger picture" of Australian cricket.
"He let himself down, he let his team-mates down and let Cricket Australia down," Ponting said at a news conference at The Oval.
Ponting said Australia are looking for a replacement for Symonds ahead of the team's opening match of the Twenty20 World Cup on Saturday against West Indies.
"We're all disappointed with what happened over the last 24 hours," he said. "Losing one of the best Twenty20 players in the world is obviously not ideal."
But Ponting said the team would cope without him.
"Hopefully we don't miss a beat from here," he said. "It would be like wishing in a couple of weeks' time that we had McGrath, Hayden and Warne around. That's not going to happen."
A decision on Symonds' future is up to the Cricket Australia board.

T20 is about smart thinking, fitness: Sachin

India's cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar says ageing players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) have showed Twenty20 cricket is all about "fitness and smart thinking", breaking the myth that the format is only meant for the youngsters.

"I don't think Twenty20 cricket is a young man's game. Talent and smart thinking is the criteria for Twenty20 cricket. Fitness is equally important. Look at Sanath (Jayasuriya), he is nearly 40, or Matthew Hayden. They are striking the ball as well as they have ever been," Tendulkar said.

Retired internationals like Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble have outshone the younger lot in the second edition.

Tendulkar, who opted out of Twenty20 internationals, has himself played some scintillating innings.

One such breathtaking knock came alongside Jayasuriya against Kolkata Knight Riders where the two bludgeoned the bowling attack.

The duo, however, could not produce such form with consistency and Tendulkar is quick to admit that batting was the weakness of Mumbai Indians.

"Overall we have played reasonably good cricket. It just that our batting faltered at crucial stages."

"We started well defeating Chennai with an all-round performance, then we had a week off. It was almost a forced break as our match with Rajasthan Royals was washed off."

"We could not add those 12-13 runs more to our scores and gave away one or two extra runs. Our bowling was very much on the track, it just that we could not finish the matches."

Tendulkar said he tried out several combinations to spruce up the batting.

"You cannot be predictable in this form of cricket. We were finding it difficult to finish matches and so we kept changing the combination and hoped for a good result. Sometimes it worked for us like when Dwayne Bravo was promoted to open against Kings XI Punjab and he was terrific."

"In the match against Rajasthan Royals, we needed six runs in nine balls with four wickets in hand and we lost. There is not much explanation you can give about such defeats."

The loss against Rajasthan proved costly. Mumbai Indians were out of the semifinal reckoning after another defeat against Super Kings.

The Mumbaikar also said that loss of key players like Zaheer Khan affected their performance.

"Zaheer's loss was a big blow. After our first six games we lost three players --Zaheer, Shikhar Dhawan and Saurabh Tiwary -- to injuries and it affected the balance of the team. It was tough for us at that stage."

"The owners of the team have stood behind us and backed us. Mrs. Ambani has been with the team and she has been a support to us."

Afridi's record knock made with Sachin's bat

While it is common knowledge that Pakistan's Shahid Afridi holds the record for a 37-ball one-day century, not many know that it came off the blade of Sachin Tendulkar's bat.

Speaking exclusively to Gulf News yesterday, Afridi said that his 37-ball hundred against Sri Lanka in Nairobi, in his very first one-day innings, came off the bat of the modern day's greatest batsman.

"I had just got into the Pakistan team and during nets in Nairobi 'Wicky Bhai' [Waqar Younis] gave me a bat and said, play with this and see. It is Sachin's bat," said the charismatic Pakistan all-rounder, here playing the Chapal Cup series against Australia.

"I tried it out it; it felt good and played with it in my first ever one-dayer. I scored that innings of 100 in 37 balls with the same bat," said Afridi, who was 16 years and 217 days when he entered the record books on October 4, 1996. Afridi, who is one of the most popular players among the Pakistani stars, had belted 11 sixes and six fours in that 37-ball innings which is still the world record for being the fastest ODI century.

Afridi went on to explain how Sachin's bat had landed with Younis.

"It was a great honour for me to play with Sachin's bat for he was a great player. Sachin had given the bat to 'Wicky Bhai' and had asked him to get a similar bat made in Sialkot for him [Sachin]," Afridi said.

"Of course I have also got out on zero with that bat. Now it is with me and sometime back people told me to auction it but I still have kept it with me," said Afridi.

"It will always be one of my treasured possessions as I used it in my very first one-day match playing for my country and also for hitting a world record," said Afridi, feared by bowlers all over the world for his big hitting.

Aussies pick on Indians, Pakistanis: Younis

Pakistan captain Younis Khan has blamed the Australians for unnecessarily creating issues while playing against India and Pakistan after teammate Saeed Ajmal was reported for a suspect bowling action during the ongoing One-Day series.

Off-spinner Ajmal was reported for his bowling action during the second ODI in Dubai on April 24 which he had suggested resulted from a complaint by Australian all-rounder Shane Watson to the umpires.

Younis said controversies reared up whenever Australia play sub-continental sides and wondered what was wrong in Ajmal bowling a 'doosra', the subject of the reporting.

"This is always happening with India and Pakistan and Australia," Younis said.

"Why do we create all the time controversies? Why? It's a fair game, you know," he fumed.

Younis said it was simply a matter of Ajmal bowling a quicker ball, and not cheating.

"You're talking about the doosra, 'Why he bowl doosra?' "Why (shouldn't) he (Ajmal) bowl doosra? Because this is an art and especially Pakistanis and Indians they have the art, so why (should it) not be allowed?" Younis was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.

Ajmal played in the third ODI in Abu Dhabi on Monday, despite the report hanging over him, and continued to bowl his doosra.

Younis pointed to a previous report laid over the faster ball of Pakistan leg-spinner Shahid Afridi.

Pak may reject playing WC games in India

The 2011 World Cup, scheduled in the sub-continent, ran into fresh trouble with a senior cricket board official here indicating that Pakistan might decline to play its matches in India.

Saleem Altaf, chief operating officer of the Pakistan Cricket Board, said PCB would take its time before deciding where it would play its 2011 World Cup matches.

"It is our right to decide where we play our World Cup matches now that the games have been relocated from Pakistan," he said.

PCB officials and former players remain upset after the International Cricket Council decided on Friday to shift the World Cup matches from Pakistan due to security reasons.

Pakistan was due to host 14 games, including one semi-final, and the home side was supposed to play all its matches in front of home crowds.

But the ICC now has to reschedule and allocate new venues for these 14 matches with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the joint hosts of the tournament, vying to get those games.

Tendulkar vindicated by Dhoni's success

Instrumental in Mahendra Singh Dhoni's elevation to captaincy of the Indian team, Sachin Tendulkar says India's rich success under the stewardship of the star stumper from Jharkhand vindicated his faith in him.

After Rahul Dravid decided to step down from the captain's job soon after India's England tour last year, Tendulkar suggested Dhoni's name to then BCCI president Sharad Pawar.

Under Dhoni, India won, among others, the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, tri-series in Australia, Test series against Australia at home before recording their first ODI series win in New Zealand and first Test series there in 41 years.

Refusing to disclose much about his suggestion to Pawar to appoint Dhoni as the captain, Tendulkar said, "I spoke to the BCCI president but I would not want to discuss everything publicly. As I said earlier, it's my principle that whatever happens inside dressing room should stay there."

Tendulkar, however, did not hide his satisfaction after Dhoni lived up to his expectation. "Talking about his captaincy, I'm extremely happy and delighted the way he has conducted himself," Tendulkar said.

"He is a balanced guy, is always on his toes all the time. Before he was made the captain, standing in the slips I interacted with him and picked a lot of things which clearly indicated that he has a sharp brain, his approach was pretty clear and not complicated," Tendulkar said. "I think he is doing a fantastic job."

Incidentally, Tendulkar himself struggled whenever he was saddled with captaincy.

Asked if he would love to have another go at it, the Mumbai run-machine was almost indignant. "Now what kind of question is it?" he asked.

"The team is doing so well (under Dhoni) and you should be proud of it," he admonished the person posing the query.

Tendulkar said he was rather happy playing mentor's role to younger players.

"To players like Harbhajan Singh or Yuvraj Singh, I'm like their elder brother. I share information not just with them but also with other members of the side. It's a terrific atmosphere in the dressing room and it's not just a one-way traffic," he said.

"We learn from each other and if someone has some issues, there is the coach. Generally it's a great atmosphere and I enjoy being part of this side," he added.

Dhoni, Harbhajan skip prestigious awards

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh find themselves embroiled in an unexpected controversy. Dhoni and Harbhajan missed the Padma awards ceremony in Delhi on Tuesday despite being in the country.

Harbhajan explained why he couldn't attend the ceremony in the Capital. He said he had pressing family commitments in his home town Jalandhar.

"I wanted to attend the award ceremony," Harbhajan said here on Wednesday. "I had some family commitments that's why I couldn't attend the awards. I have not done any mistake. If anybody thinks that I have committed a mistake, then I will come two days in advance."

Rubbishing reports that he was in the Capital for an ad shoot, Harbhajan said if this "charge" is proved he would quit cricket.

"The allegation that I was in New Delhi or was shooting for an advertisement instead of attending the Padma award ceremony is completely false," Harbhajan said. "If anyone says that I was in Delhi and proves it, I will stop playing cricket."

However, there was no word from Dhoni over him giving the awards a miss. Reports claim Dhoni missed the function because he had commercial commitments to meet.

Dhoni left for South Africa on Tuesday night to play in the IPL, but despite being in Mumbai all day failed to turn up for the ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

India's Minister of Home Affairs P Chidambaram, however, played down the duo's absence, saying there are two or three absentees from the awards often.

"Both are in South Africa," he said. "They had told us they are playing matches there and won't be available. That happens every year, one or two people don't turn because they have other things to do."

Tendulkar first time Man of the Match in IPL

Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged the Man of the Match for the first time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after he led Mumbai Indians to a victory against last year's finalists Chennai Super Kings here Saturday.

Tendulkar scored his second fifty in the competition, remaining unbeaten with 59, his first fifty plus score coming May last year when he made 65 against Kings XI at the Wankhede Stadium.

The other statistical highlights of the opening match in the second edition of the IPL:

· Mumbai Indians posted their eighth victory in 15 IPL games. They have now won two out of three contested against Chennai Super Kings.

· Mumbai Indians have won two games in succession against Chennai. They had defeated Chennai by nine wickets at Wankhede Stadium on May 14, 2008 in their previous meeting.

· Lasith Malinga (3/15) has produced his career-best bowling figures in Twenty20. His figures are the best for Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings, bettering the 3 for 33 by Dhawal Kulkarni at the Wankhede Stadium on May 14, 2008.

· Manpreet Gony is the leading bowler for Chennai in the IPL. His 19 wickets at an average of 25.00 in 17 matches obliterated Albie Morkel's tally of 17 at 23.47 runs apiece in 13 matches.

· Mumbai (166/7) posted their second highest total against Chennai, next only to their 202 for seven at Chennai on April 23, 2008.

· Jayasuriya has taken his run-aggregate in the IPL to 540 at an average of 41.53, surpassing Gautam Gambhir's tally of 534 in 14 innings at an average of 41.07.

· Parthiv Patel's second-ball duck is his second in the IPL. In the first edition of the IPL, he had posted a first-ball duck against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur.