79 players shun ICL to join BCCI

The BCCI today granted amnesty to 79 players and 11 former cricketers, as they decided to cut-off their ties with the rebel board, the Indian Cricket League.

The decision was immensely motivated by the time-bound amnesty that the BCCI had offered to all these players.

"By snapping ties with ICL, the cricketers immediately became eligible for domestic cricket and would also be considered for international matches once they complete their one year cooling off period," the BCCI said.

"The BCCI, after scrutinising their requests has written to the concerned state associations that these players are eligible to play in the domestic tournaments for this year", Board secretary N Srinivasan said.

Reetinder Sodhi, Rohan Gavasakar, Hemang Badani, Deep Dasgupta were some former International players who decided to cut-off their ties.

Erapalli Prasanna, Ajit Wadekar, Sandeep Patil, Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Madan Lal, who were assigned as coach to different teams have also decided to join hands with the mainstream league.

"We still have 40-50 players, out of the original 140-odd, on our roster and as and when the need arises we would recruit fresh talent. The League is on. We are not closing down. The next season is in October-November and it's still early days", an ICL official said.

Tendulakar thinks INDIA carries the ability to retain T20 World Cup title

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday emphasized that the Indian squad has all the qualities to retain the Twenty20 cricket World Cup due to commence from Friday in England.

Commenting on India's performance at the Twenty-20 level, he said that the Indian team looks absolutely balanced.

"I think we have an explosive batting line up and a good bowling attack. On the whole, you can see the team is quite nicely balanced. I don't see any reasons why we cannot live up to the expectations," Tendulkar said.

Further, he exuded confidence of India defending the title won in 2007.

"Obviously in cricket no one can guarantee you what's going to happen as the game is full of uncertainties. But going by our strength and the balance, we stand a very good chance and I have confidence in our team," he added.

T20 World Cup- Practice Match Score India Vs New Zealand & Pakistan Vs South Africa

NZ Vs IND

New Zealand
170 for 7 (Taylor 41(33), McCullum 31(19), Franklin 27*(17), Ishant 4-25(4), Harvajan1-22(4))
India
161 for 6 (Raina 45(24), Jadeja 41*(41), R Sharma 36(20) Vettori 3-24(3))

NewZealand won by nine runs

SA Vs PAK
South Africa
186 for 7 (Smith 70(52), Gibbs 42(23), Ajmal 2-24(4)Afridi 2-34(4))
Pakistan 127
(Shehjad 31(26)_,Botha 2-20(4), Steyn 2-19(4))

South Africa won by 59 runs

Ireland Vs WestIndies T20 World Cup Practice Match

Ireland 130/7 (20/20 ov)

Bray-30(29), Mooney-23(20), Benn:2-24(4).

West Indies 134/1 (16.0/20 ov)

Gayle-88(56), Sarwan-25(23), MaCallan:1-30(3).

West Indies won by 9 wickets (with 24 balls remaining)

Bangladesh Batsmen did welll but Bowlers made them dissapoitned in both T20 world cup practice matches in England

Bangladesh Vs Sri Lanka
Bangladesh -151/6 Over - 20; Rahim 35, Roqibul 38*, Shakib 23, Ashraful 16, Tamim 15;
Sri Lanka-152/6 Over - 19.4; Jayawrdane 43, Shakib 2/18, Mashrafe 2/30;
SL won by 4 wkts (Warm-up T20 Match, Venue: Trent Bridge; Toss: BAN; Date: 2 June 2009; )


Australia Vs Bangladesh
Australia - 219/6 Over - 20; Watson 52, Riyad 4/37
Bangladesh -181/7 Over - 20; Shakib 54, Riyad 31*, Ashraful 26, Jhonson 3/21;
Australia won by 38 runs (Warm-up T20 Match, Toss: AUS; Venue: Trent Bridge; Date: 1 June 2009 )

Dhoni confident India can retain T20 title

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is confident his team can retain the ICC World Twenty20 in England next month.

"I've got a team with outstanding talent. If we play to our potential, we can defend our title," Dhoni told reporters in the western Indian city of Mumbai, ahead of the team's departure for England on Friday.
"We're going to give it our best shot. Each player wants to do something special," said Dhoni, under whose captaincy India won the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007. "Being defending champions doesn't put any additional pressure on us," said Dhoni, whose team is accustomed to the high expectations of a cricket-obsessed nation. "It's just an add-on pressure that we can handle."
"One cannot keep thinking about the outcome of matches, we can only focus on our preparation.""The IPL has really helped young players get accustomed to pressure situations, and international cricket is all about handling pressure.”
“We have Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh who have taken hat-tricks in the IPL. We also have Suresh Raina. Yusuf Pathan is there too," said the Indian skipper, who acknowledged the IPL for harnessing some of India’s talented cricketers.

He also seemed optimistic about the inclusion of Ravindra Jadeja in the squad saying, “We have someone like Ravindra Jadeja with limited international experience but with high talent. He has played against some top fast bowlers and spinners in the IPL and has learned to handle pressure."

ICC World Twenty20: Our main goal is to reach the Super Eights - Ashraful

	Mohammad Ashraful is aiming for a repeat of Bangladesh's upset win over India in the

Ashraful has said Bangladesh's main objective is to qualify for the Super Eights of the World Twenty20 which begins on June 5. They play their first game on June 6 against India, the current champions, whom they famously beat in the 2007 World Cup.

"In this form of the game any side can beat the other," Ashraful told reporters at Lord's. "We defeated the West Indies in the last World T20 in South Africa and progressed to the Super Eight. Our main goal is to repeat that and if we beat India, who are the world champions, in the first match then we will fancy our chances of doing well against the top sides and making the semi-finals even."

Barring the upset win over West Indies in the last World Twenty20, Bangladesh had a disappointing tournament, losing their other four games by fairly convincing margins. However, Ashraful, who had a poor run himself, averaging 17.40 in five games, was confident of putting up a better show this time. "We have come here one week early, had three games against New Zealand, Holland and Scotland and the boys have done well," he said. "We are confident and there are two tough games against Australia tomorrow and Sri Lanka the day after. So that's a nice build-up to the main tournament."

One of the Bangladesh players who has impressed in the warm-ups has been the seamer, Rubel Hossain. He returned figures of 4 for 19 against Holland, and 5 for 16 against Scotland. "He has taken nine wickets in two matches and is bowling really well. He has an awkward action and has bit of extra pace," Ashraful said of Rubel.

He also backed his deputy Mashrafe Mortaza to come good after a disappointing solitary game in the IPL, where he conceded 58 runs in four overs for Kolkata Knight Riders, including 27 in the decisive final over of the contest. "It was only in the last over that he did badly. Otherwise I thought he was okay. But I know he'll be back. He is that type of a player. He always does well against India."

Ireland is the other team that Bangladesh must face in the group stage, and having lost to them at the 2007 World Cup they might have reason to be cautious. But Ashfraful was confident of averting a repeat. "I think if we play our best cricket then we should not have a problem against Ireland because we have more quality in the side."

Bangladesh take on Australia in their next warm-up game on Monday.