Aaron Finch weighs up NSW offer

Aaron Finch‘s increasingly fraught efforts to make a first-class batsman of himself may lead the Victorian to New South Wales, after the Blues made him a state contract offer for next summer.

Conspicuous as a Twenty20 and limited-overs batsman, formats in which he has represented Australia, Finch nurses a mediocre record in four-day matches, having reaped only 1528 runs at 29.96 in 30 matches with two centuries.

Finch’s struggles to convert his natural ability and power into consistent first-class performance sum up a wider batting problem in Australian cricket, as the generations following those of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey have failed to produce the prolific tallies that would have helped maintain the nation’s place as an international power.

Perhaps aware of the need to change this indifferent record, Finch requested release from his current contract with the Bushrangers to seek out other options, and New South Wales have opened up an avenue for the 27-year-old to move north for next summer. Finch is weighing up the offer, which would stretch him to perform in the tight battle for places in the New South Wales batting order.

The Blues have already lost one significant name after the young legspinner Adam Zampa elected to accept an offer from South Australia, who were able to offer him a virtually guaranteed place in their teams across the Sheffield Shield, limited-overs and T20 competitions.

A less certain future awaits the sometime Australia allrounder Daniel Christian, who ended 2012-13 out of the South Australia team after a difficult summer in which his harvest of runs and wickets dried up while he also faced disciplinary sanctions for repeatedly losing his composure in the dressing rooms after being dismissed.

Still under contract to the Redbacks for next season, Christian may nonetheless find himself moving elsewhere, with Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane all possible destinations.

There is the chance that another former Australian representative, the highly regarded but injury-blighted Andrew McDonald, may move across to Adelaide, where he is already contracted tot he Strikers in the Big Bash League. Like Finch, McDonald also requested a release from his Victoria contract as the recruitment period opened up.

Whatever target Aussies set will be chased: #MuraliVijay #CSK

Opener Murali Vijay on Saturday said that the ongoing fourth Test match against Australia is “evenly poised and can go either way” but expressed confidence of chasing down any target set by the opponents.

“It is interesting. The match is evenly poised right now. It can go either way. It will be crucial as to how many runs the tail-enders score,” Vijay, who made 57 in India‘s day end score of 266 for eight on Saturday, said.

Asked what will be an achievable fourth innings target, Vijay replied, “Whatever target they set will be chased. No two ways about it.”

Vijay criticised the track in a veiled manner, stating that it was difficult to judge the speed of the deliveries.

“The wicket is getting slower and lower. The cracks are getting wider and it is really difficult to judge the speed of the deliveries,” he said.

The opener, however, revealed that the pitch prepared by Venkat Sundaram is certainly not conducive for good batting.

“It’s a wicket where scoring runs is extremely difficult. However, it’s not that difficult to stay on the wicket. We did bat well, but in patches. I could have batted a little longer but got out at the wrong time.”

His stop-gap opening partner Cheteshwar Pujara got a nasty hit on a finger of his right hand and Vijay said that the physio was working on him.

“It’s swollen a bit and the physio is working on him.” He, meanwhile, didn’t wish to divulge the details of the heated exchange between Ravindra Jadeja and David Warner.

“It’s part and parcel of the game. Whatever happened on the field can’t be told outside,” he replied with a smile.

Were the Aussies a bit more aggressive than they have been in this series so far, Vijay said, “It’s nothing new. They were aggressive throughout the tournament (series).” Having scored a couple of centuries and a half century since his comeback in the Test team, Vijay agreed that it has been a good series for him so far.

“It’s been a good tournament for me so far and I am happy to contribute to the team’s cause,” he concluded.

Related articles

• The match is evenly poised: Murali Vijay (ibnlive.in.com)

Duncan Fletcher gets one year extension as India coach

Duncan Fletcher‘s contract as India‘s cricket coach was today extended by one more year despite a below-par track record, setting to rest the intense speculation on his future.

The decision to renew the 64-year-old Fletcher’s two-year contract, which was due to end at the end of this month, was taken by the BCCI’s Working Committee which met in Mumbai on Tuesday

“The Board has decided to extend his contract. But we have to discuss the terms. I can’t tell you the deliberations of the Board. All I can tell you is what is the decision. We have decided to extend it,” BCCI president N Srinivasan told reporters after the meeting.

Speculation was rife about Fletcher’s future after India lost 10 Test matches including a home series against England recently apart from ‘whitewashes’ in England and Australia.

A senior BCCI official told PTI that continuing with Fletcher made sense, keeping in mind the Test series in South Africa.

“Since he has been with the team for two years, we don’t want to take a knee-jerk reaction considering the next big Test series is in South Africa. It will be risky and unfair on a new coach to give him charge in South Africa and expect good results from him,” the official said.

Under Fletcher, India had lost 10 out of the 22 Test matches before the ongoing match in Mohali having won only eight. The only away Test win was against West Indies nearly two years back just when Fletcher had taken charge.

In the 44 ODI matches played by India post their World Cup triumph, the ‘Men in Blue‘ have won 25 matches losing 16. Two were tied and one match did not yield any result.

In T20s, India won nine of the 17 matches losing the other eight. India did not qualify for the Asia Cup final and also couldn’t make it to the last four in the ICC World T20.

Legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar questioned Fletcher’s extension but said he should get the backing since he has now been re-appointed.

“I wonder whether an Indian coach would have survived after 10 Test defeats,” Gavaskar quipped.

Incidentally, Fletcher was roped in on recommendations of highly successful former India coach Gary Kirsten. The Indian players have had high regards for him as a person with a great technical acumen but as far as strategy is concerned, he has been more of a backroom character.

Related articles

• Reward for Failure? Fletcher’s contract could be extended despite string of poor results (dailymail.co.uk)

Tendulkar’s Aussie moment of reckoning

Sachin Tendulkar’s desire to play and the hunger to compete have not diminished, but it is the other intangibles — of sinews grappling with age, of rival bowlers sensing a tentativeness and a dressing room that is increasingly featuring an entirely new generation — that he has to shrug off, writes K.C. Vijaya Kumar. 

 

The legend of Sachin Tendulkar had its finest first exposition on a Perth pitch, always known to be the strongest ally of pace and bounce. During that February in 1992, Tendulkar’s 114 in a losing cause, proved that he had the skill to conquer all odds at an individual level though the rest of the team, hamstrung by its own drawbacks at that juncture, may not have rallied around his genius.

Most importantly, Tendulkar had truly arrived at that moment though a few cricket historians may look at his famous assault on Abdul Qadir in Pakistan in 1989, as the first steps to his becoming the ‘forever dispenser of hopes’ to the Indian Diaspora. It is an image that has lasted nearly 24 years and it looks as though the maestro’s cricketing life has come a full circle with Australia setting foot in Chennai as a prelude to a four-match Test series.

This surely would be the Lord of Batting Numbers’ final tilt against Australia, often his rousing opponent in a chequered career. He would turn 40 this April and there is only so much his body can endure. If the 1991-92 tour was all about Tendulkar proving that he was indeed the numero-uno of Indian batting then despite the presence of Dilip Vengsarkar, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sanjay Manjrekar, the current joust against Michael Clarke’s men is all about proving that his skill-sets have not dimmed.

Sachin Tendulkar with a gen-next player, Ajinkya Rahane. As one gets on in years one should guard from going out of ear-shot.

 The first flowering was relatively easy as he had age on his side while this final act would draw every physical and mental resource in his body. A familiar foe might well provide him the needed impetus, a trait that he has amply revealed over two decades. Be it countering Shane Warne’s leg-breaks with a blistering attack in India, be it the ‘Desert Storm’ knocks in Sharjah, be it eschewing the cover-drive while compiling a double-century in Sydney in 2004 or be it the ungainly sight of him sledging Glenn McGrath in an ODI, Tendulkar has revealed his multiple layers while squaring up against Australia.

Past masters like Sunil Gavaskar, G. R. Viswanath and Vengsarkar were largely judged by their runs against the West Indies but when Tendulkar reigned, it was runs against Australia that defined a batsman’s pedigree though he did script knocks of pathos (Chennai 1999) and panache (Centurion, 2003 World Cup) against Pakistan.

Yet, for a man often spoken of in the same breath as Sir Don Bradman — the latter having also referred to the Mumbaikar as the closest to his batting style — it is often Australia that has provided a peg for Tendulkar to hang his coat of greatness. More than ever, in the aftermath of Rahul Dravid and V. V. S. Laxman’s retirements, India needs Tendulkar to wear that coat again and do battle against his old rival.

 

The extreme dependence on him to provide stability to a weak middle-order despite the promise of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara and his own travails against diminishing reflexes will test Tendulkar.

In the lead-up to this series, Tendulkar has scored a 108 in the Ranji Trophy and an unbeaten 140 in the Irani Cup. It is a good augury and yet his back-story in Tests has revealed a despondent streak broken by a few incandescent outings.

Tendulkar’s last Test hundred (146) came against South Africa in Cape Town in January 2011. After that brilliant knock, he has played in 30 innings without reaching the three-figure mark. The runs have not matched up to the stratospheric standards that he himself has set. His last 10 innings read: 13, 19, 17, 27, 13, 8, 8, 76, 5 and 2. It is not that only Tendulkar struggled and the rest have prospered because with the exception of Dravid in England and the few outings of Kohli and Pujara, the others too are equally guilty of a run-drought.

It is imperative for India that Tendulkar gets back into the groove soon, for, his insight will be invaluable on the tour of South Africa later this year.

 The master’s desire to play and the hunger to compete have not diminished, but it is the other intangibles — of sinews grappling with age, of rival bowlers sensing a tentativeness and a dressing room that is increasingly featuring an entirely new generation — that he has to shrug off. A man can feel weary when most of his mates have walked into the sunset. However, playing for India is his biggest high and that coupled with the itch to make up for the losses against Australia during the last tour, will drive Tendulkar.

“As long as I believe that I can contribute to the team, I will play,” he had said last year. In the same breath, he added: “I take it series by series.” Ideally India needs Tendulkar’s guidance when the team sets foot in South Africa in November, later this year but it remains to be seen if he would will himself for another joust against Dale Steyn.

The series against Australia will throw pointers to the Tendulkar story. As ever, India needs him. Now.

PTI

Busy Mahendra Singh Dhoni fails to appear for B.Com Exam

A busy cricketing schedule has led to Indian team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni failing to even appear in the first semester examination of B Com degree after enrolling himself for the course five years ago at a city college.

Dhoni, who enrolled in B. Com in 2008 at St Xavier’s College here, could not clear even one of his six semesters, “absenting” from examinations due to busy cricketing schedule, and his results in the first semester had been marked as absent.

“Yes, he (Dhoni) would have been among the students who got the degrees,” Principal Nicholas Tete said, after giving away degrees to 1,790 students of his St Xavier’s College on the occasion of the fourth Graduation Ceremony here yesterday.

“Dhoni registered for the three-year course in 2008, which is effective for five years. And he can renew afresh, (if he wants to complete the course),” Tete told PTI here today.

“We had prepared study material for his first semester and sent them to him. (But) he did not respond,” he said.

Dhoni, who has Office Administration and Secretarial Practice as his subjects in B. Com, had completed Plus-II in 1999.

“A teacher feels good giving away degrees to successful students, and the students feel happy after completing a course successfully,” Dean Jayant Sinha, one of the teachers in the college, said, adding happiness would have been doubled had Dhoni completed the course and got the degree.

“However, he can complete the course in future. Education is a continuing process,” Sinha said.

The degrees were given to the batch of 2008-11, when Dhoni had registered for the course, he added.

2013 IPL Auctions: Players Who Made Big Bucks

Cricket is a game that not just attracts Indians but people worldwide. The Indian Premier League or IPL is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket championship in India and has been keenly followed by all. The world’s richest cricket tournament auctions this year saw team buyers picking their choices and here are players who hit jack pot this season, as listed by the Economic Times.

Glenn Maxwell:

Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians
Price: $1 million (Rs 5.3 crore)
Base Price: $200,000

Glen is an all-rounder, bowling right-arm off spin and batting with an average of over 30 for Victoria in interstate one day cricket. He set the record for the fastest ever half-century in Australian interstate one day cricket in 2011, reaching 50 runs off 19 balls. He certainly got a hefty price tag at IPL’s auction.

Ajantha Mendis:

Country: Sri Lanka
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $725,000 (Rs 3.8 crore)
Base Price: $50,000

Mendis is known for his slow-medium, bowling a mixture of deliveries, including googlies, off-breaks, top-spinners, flippers and leg-breaks, as well as the carrom ball, released with a flick of his middle finger. He hit jack pot this IPL auction with a tag of 3.8 crore.

Kane Richardson:

Country: Australia
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $700,000 (Rs 3.7 crore)
Base Price: $100,000

Third on the list is Kane Richardson who was bought by the Pune Warriors for $700,000 in the IPL auction. He is a right arm fast bowler swings ball into right-handers and gets a good bounce. On the back of his strong performances for South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers, Kane replaced the injured Mitchell Starc in the 2nd one day international against Sri Lanka in January this year making his international debut.

Abhishek Nayar:

Country: India
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $675,000 (Rs 3.6 crore)
Base Price:$100,000

Abhishek Nayar is an all-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace. He is the highest paid Indian in this auction. Abishek has time and again got Mumbai crucial breakthrough’s in his young unsurpassed career.

Thisara Perera:

Country: Sri Lanka
Team: Sunrisers Hyderabad
Price: $675,000 (Rs 3.6 crore)
Base Price: $ 50,000

Thisara Perera represents Sri Lanka at the Test, One Day International and Twenty20 levels. He is an aggressive left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He surfaced as a big impact player for Sri Lanka. He was bought for a whopping Rs 3.6 crore.

Chris Morris:

Country: South Africa
Team: Chennai Super Kings
Price: $ 625,000 (Rs 3.3 crore)
Base Price: $20,000

Chris Morris is bought by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping 3.3 crore. He is another great player who is already being compared with Lance Kluseer for his ability as match-finisher, both with bat and ball. His auction price surpassed his base price by more than 30 times.

S Senanayake:

Country: Sri Laka
Team: Kolkata Knight Riders
Price: $625,000 (Rs 3.3 crore)
Base Price: $ 50,000

Senanayake is an all-rounder; he bats right-handed and bowls off spin. The 27-year-old has been top bowler in Sri Lanka’s domestic ODI circuit. He made his international debut for Sri Lanka in the fourth One Day International (ODI) of the tour of South Africa in January last year. His call-up followed a domestic season where he had taken the most wickets in the Sri Lankan Premier League limited overs tournament.

Michael Clarke:

Country: Australia
Team: Pune Warriors
Base Price: $400,000 (Rs 2.1 crore)

Michael Clarke, nicknamed ‘Pup’ is a right-handed middle-order batsman, and an occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler. In November 2012, he scored a double century at the Adelaide Oval, making him the only Test batsman to ever achieve four double centuries in a calendar year. He is known for his partnerships with Mike Hussey. He went to Pune Warriors for his base price of $400,000.

Ricky Ponting:

Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians
Base Price: $400,000 (Rs 2.1 crore)

Ponting is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as an extremely occasional bowler. He is widely considered by many to be the best batsman of the modern era, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Jacques Kallis, etc. Ponting went to Mumbai Indians fetching base price of $400,000.

Phil Huges:
Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians

Nathan McCullum
Country: New Zealand
Team Sunrisers Hyderabad

Clint McKay
Country: Australia
Team: Sunrisers Hyderabad

Phil Huges, Nathan McCullum and Clint McKay went into their respective IPL teams for $100,000.
South African cricketer Ryan McLaren went into Kolkata Knight Riders for $ 50,000.
Only 37 players out of 108 found buyers and those ignored include Martin Guptill, Aaron Finch, and Vernon Philander.

Related articles

• IPL 6 Auction – 37 Players in $11.89 Million (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)

Pakistan’s Twenty20 cricket league postponed

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) postponed its franchise-based Twenty20 tournament for an indefinite period to solve management issues.

According to a PCB statement Friday night, the lucrative Pakistan Super League (PSL), scheduled between March 26 and April 7, was delayed after sponsors and other investors demanded more time to submit bids, reports Xinhua.

The delay will also help the PCB ensure the participation of international foreign players.

“Some scheduling conflicts that arose after PSL dates were announced could result in potential star players missing out on the opportunity of participating in PSL,” PCB said.

Following a long drought of the international cricket at home, the PCB officially unveiled its plan to organise PSL Jan 10 by inviting cricketers around from around the world to participate.

The league comprise five teams. Each team will have a maximum of six foreign players for the first three years. All 23 matches will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Pakistan is the fourth Asian cricket nation after India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that launched cricket league involving foreign players.

The decision came after the country failed to convince any of the first grade international cricket teams for a home series in Pakistan due to security reasons.

The league management offered a handsome amount of cash for each player in five categories comprising Diamond ($100,000), Platinum ($70,000), Gold ($50,000), Silver ($25,000) and Emerging ($5,000-10,000).

To shrug off the security reservations by the players, PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf also offered foreign players insurance worth $2 million and tax free other incomes.

The PCB also said over 80 foreign players had already signed for the PSL auction but the process of getting No Objection Certificates from the relevant boards was still underway.

IPL 6 Auction – 37 Players in $11.89 Million

Unaffected to the struggling economy across the world, Indian Premier League and its franchises are seem to set back the recession every year. In a country like India which is working hard over to boost its economy and move back to normal, nine teams spent a total amount of $11.89 million ( 64 crore approx). This all went on purchasing 37 players for the tournament.

With the last year event of 25 players, it was surprising to see the additional 12 players in the counting. As this is the last year of the three-year cycle of player deals in IPL, the 12 players will be on a 12 month contracts.

Glenn Maxwell, Australian Youngest all-rounder was heard with the biggest price tag at the auction. This was from the Mumbai Indians worth $1 Million (Rs 5.31 crore ). The 24 year old right handed batsman was in the squad of Delhi Daredevils last year, and comparing to the last year bid which was of $200,000, Maxwell benefited from the bidding war between the Mumbai Indian and the IPL’s Latest comer Sunrise Hyderabad. After the Sun Tv owned franchise bid of $975,000, Ambani franchise finalized the deal on $1 Million.

Maxwell was followed by Sri lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis for $725,000 and Australian Paser Kane Richardson for $700,000 picked up by Pune Warriors. Richardson who played just a single ODI for Australia was deal in unrealistic price because of the bidding war between Pune and Chennai. Shocking Chris Morris, South African all-rounder who played a single T20 picked up in $625,000, 31 times of his base price $20,000.

Among Indians, Abhishek Nayar as expected bought for $675,000 after a tough challenge by Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Michael Clarke and Ricky Pointing were bought again in their Base price $400,000 by Pune Warriors and Mumbai, with South African Botha ($300,000 base) picked up by Daredevil for $450,000. Indian fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat ($525,000; base $100,000) and Manpreet Gony ($500,000; base $200,000) also got the dream offer with RCB and Kings XI Punjab.

This time it was only 108 players available to choose from but from next year it will be full fetched auction of over 350-400 players available for the bid.

The Complete Auction List of IPL 6 [click for bigger image ]

First things first: Get Tendulkar off Dhoni’s back

India’s decline in Test cricket began in England last year, and it has touched its nadir against the same team here at home now. This 18-month period is also when Sachin Tendulkar’s batting has gone from bad to worse. The two are connected because he occupies the No 4 slot in the batting line-up, normally reserved for the best batsman in the side. His failure in match after match, with a solitary fifty in the last 13 innings from eight Tests, and not a single triple-figure knock in 17 Tests, has put huge pressure on the Indian captain.

Others have failed too, notably the experienced opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, but not as badly as Tendulkar — they average around 35 this series compared to the former master’s 18. Besides, it’s far easier to bat at No 4 once the ball has lost its zing. Sehwag would love to change places with Tendulkar. Dhoni could also have been better served in the middle order by an Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma or Manoj Tiwary, who have been piling on runs in domestic cricket. After all, the only bright spots in India’s batting over the past couple of years have been newcomers Virat Kohli, who got centuries against Australia and New Zealand, and Cheteshwar Pujara, who got a double hundred and a century in this series.

It’s our administrators and selectors who are primarily responsible for our Test cricket having hit rock-bottom. They have been too slow to groom new talent in place of ageing stars. In Australia, the talented Rohit Sharma, picked for the series when he was in peak form, saw a regular procession of batting failures without getting to make a single appearance. Ajinkya Rahane, who came into the reckoning with 1,000-plus runs in a season, has been warming the benches for three series now while his more illustrious fellow Mumbaikar is allowed to carry on with impunity despite his flops.

MS Dhoni may well be a misfit as a Test captain, like a former selector said this week, but shouldn’t he first be allowed to lead a side without handicaps? It’s strange that Mohinder Amarnath says the selectors wanted a change of captaincy after the whitewash in Australia, but when it comes to Sachin Tendulkar they just want the great man to think whether it’s time for him to go. What if he is reluctant to let go of all the sponsorships that come his way by virtue of his place in the team?

Besides, it smacks of double standards. If Tendulkar can’t be dropped because of his past records, how can Dhoni be replaced? He has two World Cups under his belt, and a fabulous Test match record until 2011 when the Indian batting went into terminal decline in England. Amarnath may be quite right to be peeved at the board president interfering in selection and preventing him from sacking Dhoni. But the “bunch of jokers”, as Amarnath once described the selectors, have no locus standi to talk about Dhoni’s performance if they are going to continue to shy away from their responsibility to get the monkey off the Indian captain’s back.