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Jonty Rhodes, the former South African middle-order batsman who developed into one of the greatest fielders of all time, feels that Sachin Tendulkar deserves a place in the Indian team purely on the strength of his batting ability, even if he is unable to give his best as a fielder. Rhodes had suggested that Tendulkar field in the inner circle, which would help protect his shoulder from the risk of injury.”Even if he can’t field from the deep, you have to have him at mid-off or mid-on and protect him. Because I don’t think it is going to take a whole year till the World Cup for him to be 100% fit”, Rhodes told PTI. “It is a confidence thing for him. If he is happy that his shoulder is fine, and if you have a guy like Sachin Tendulkar who is back in form, then you have to have him in the team.”Tendulkar returned to the Indian side for the tri-series in Sri Lanka after a four-month layoff, during which he underwent surgery in his right shoulder. He gained valuable match practice in England for a brief period, representing club-side Lashings, and was included in the Indian squad after being given the green signal by John Gloster, the team physiotherapist.Rhodes, who observed Tendulkar at the nets in Colombo, remarked that he was impressed with his disclipline. Javagal Srinath, the former Indian fast bowler, also recently concurred with Rhodes’s view that Tendulkar is good enough to walk into the team. “I have seen how he works as a batsman at the nets, he is very disciplined. And I expect him to do the same sort of rehab on his shoulders,” Rhodes said. “I would be inclined to have him in the team, just based on his past performance.”Rhodes, also the fielding coach of the South African team, had cited the throwing techniques of players nowadays as the main reason for the recurrence of shoulder injuries. “The problem with current players is that a lot of them are quiet for 5-6 overs and then suddenly they throw”, he said. “What happens is your shoulders are not warm, resulting in injuries. Today’s throwing technique is also not correct, which is what I am trying to work with the South African team.”Rhodes also acknowledged the rise in fielding standards in all countries and denied that South Africa had slipped in that department. “I don’t think we have lost it. It is just that every team has realised the importance of fielding. I would rather say that we have back-toed a bit while other teams have also caught up with us. It is also that we set really high standards for ourselves to maintain.”

The newly formed selection panel met today at Bangalore, home town of Chairman of Selectors Brijesh Patel and the venue of the ongoing three-day game between the Indian Board President’s XI and the West Indians, to select the Indian squad for the forthcoming Test series.Young Haryana leg-spinner Amit Mishra was the surprise inclusion in the squad, while stumper Ajay Ratra is a notable exclusion. Teenaged Parthiv Patel gets a chance to cement his place in the team in the absence of a second specialist wicket-keeper in the squad.The selection committee, joined by Indian coach John Wright, selected a squad of 14 for the first and second Tests against the West Indies, due to be played at Mumbai and Chennai.Senior cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble are fit to play, and they are joined by veteran medium-pacer Javagal Srinath who, after initially retiring from Test cricket, has reconsidered his decision.The other selections to be automatically pencilled in were Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. The Baroda left-arm seamer had an impressive Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka recently and will be a major part of India’s plans for the series against West Indies.Opening batsman Shiv Sunder Das, who has struggled with form in the recent past, gets another chance to establish his credentials and re-affirm his opener’s slot in the Indian side in this home series.All-rounder Sanjay Bangar, who bowls useful medium-pace and can bat at the top of the order, will also be a key member of the side in the event that Ashish Nehra does not regain fitness in time for the first Test, which starts on October 9.Nehra sustained an injury in the Champions Trophy, splitting the webbing between two fingers of his bowling hand. He is said to be recovering quickly and will take a fitness test in the near future.Squad: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Virender Sehwag, Sanjay Bangar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Shiv Sunder Das, Amit Mishra

The internal power-struggle for control of Kenyan cricket has led to more than a dozen leading players switching clubs, with the Obuya brothers among the more prominent of the movers. reported that they left the Ruaraka Sports Club after it withdrew from the newly-formed league, along with Nairobi Simba Union, which saw three players leave for the Kanbis Sports Club.The matter appears to have come to a head at the weekend when Ruaraka Sports Club were unable to field a side for the league match. This was a development that did not sit well with the players, who felt they needed to play in a competetive league, with the Kenyan cricket season warming up and the A teams of Pakistan and India due to tour. Kenya are to play Uganda in the ICC Intercontinental Cup and later in the year, travel to England for the ICC Champions Trophy.With the withdrawal of the two teams, 15 players have changed to different clubs:

Just how close are India and Pakistan to playing each other in bilateral international cricket at the senior level? Not too close, if one goes by a statement yesterday from Yashwant Sinha, India’s foreign minister. Speaking to the Press Trust of India, Sinha said that the time hadn’t yet come for cricketing relations between the two countries to be fully restored.”We will resume sporting ties on a bilateral basis only when the time is right,” said Sinha. “Cricket will form part of the normalisation process.”When it comes to Pakistan, the Indian government has long linked cricket with politics. The recent thaw in relations at the political level led to resumption of cricketing ties being planned at the junior and A-team levels. India’s sports ministry green-lighted the BCCI’s request to send its junior team to Pakistan; meanwhile, Pakistan is organising a tournament in December with the A teams of the two countries, as well as Sri Lanka.But Indo-Pak relations have since deteriorated, with talks of peace giving way to the political rhetoric that has been standard fare for the last few years. That does not augur well for cricket fans.

Sri Lanka take on Zimbabwe in the opening match of the Sharjah Champions Trophy today with skipper Sanath Jayasuriya hoping to make it a hat-trick of wins at the venue.The team won this time last year, when they walloped India in the final, scoring 299 and then bowling out India for just 54, and they defeated Pakistan in the ARY Gold Cup in April, despite looking unconvincing in the qualifying round.”Yes, we have played well in the last couple of tournaments in Sharjah, but then that doesn’t guarantee us another victory,” said Jayasuriya. “We will have to work hard.”Pakistan are tipped as favourites with a full strength side, but may be rusty having barely played any cricket since returning from their tour of England in June. Their one international outing, against Bangladesh in the Asian Test Championship in August, lasted just three days.Pakistan have also changed coaches after Richard Pybus turned down an offer to stay with the team. He has been replaced by the previous A team coach Mudassar Nazar on a short-term contract.Mudassar, who was quoted earlier in the week as saying Pakistan would win the tournament, claims his team is “hungry for success, as ever. The boys kept themselves in good nick by playing on the domestic circuit.”Captain Waqar Younis added: “Both Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are very good sides, but I think the Lankans will be the one to beat.”Zimbabwe are clear outsiders after five straight losses against an inexperienced England side left them with 12 consecutive defeats. The recentnews that Heath Streak has stepped down as captain only adds to their woes.Streak has been replaced by 24-year-old leg-spinner Brian Murphy, a relativenovice at international level and a surprise choice as captain.He is joined by new coach Geoff Marsh, the former Australian coach and openingbatsman, who succeeds Carl Rackemann. Murphy, trying to inject some optimism, said: “The strongest point of the team is its willingness to work hard. All of them are keen to sweat it out and want to be a tough side to beat.”As usual, Zimbabwe will rely heavily on Andy Flower’s batting, particularlysince the out-of-form Alistair Campbell has been dropped. Sri Lanka take on Zimbabwe in the first game on Friday and each side will play each other twice before the final on 4 November.

The early signs of who will replace Jagmohan Dalmiya as BCCI president point to someone from within the East Zone, which has first right to pick a candidate. Since it is the East Zone’s turn to nominate the next president, as Dalmiya died while serving his term, a majority of its six members – comprising Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tripura and the Kolkata-based National Cricket Club – believes that a candidate of their own, rather than one from outside, should fill the vacancy.Four of the six East Zone members ESPNcricinfo spoke with, however, asserted that it was too premature to sit together and decide on a candidate, and wanted the BCCI to first call the Special General Meeting to pick an interim president. The BCCI’s Memorandum and Rules and Regulations stipulate that the notice to hold the SGM needs to be sent by October 5 with a 21-day notice.

Ganguly meets West Bengal chief minister

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly met West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday amid speculation that he may take over as the Cricket Association of Bengal president to succeed Jagmohan Dalmiya. Currently the joint secretary of the CAB, Ganguly arrived to meet Banerjee with Dalmiya’s son Avishek.
“To discuss something like this [three days after his death] is not right,” Ganguly said. “Speculation will be on, someone will run CAB. It’s too early to comment because it has just been three days… It’s very early to say.”

As for who can stand for election, the rules say presidential candidates should have attended at least two AGMs and been an office bearer (president, secretary, treasurer, joint secretary) or vice-president. That makes Arindam Ganguly and Gautam Roy (Assam), Chitrak Mitra, Gautam Dasgupta, KP Kajaria (Bengal), and Amitabh Choudhary (Jharkhand) top of the long list of eligible candidates to replace Dalmiya.Choudhary, currently the BCCI joint secretary, acknowledged his desire to stand for election, but also took care to say he was willing to support any other member from the East. “It is in keeping with the philosophy behind the provision in the [BCCI] constitution,” Choudhary said.A senior official at the Cricket Association of Bengal, where Dalmiya was the president, said it was too early to finalise a name. “But this is the East Zone’s term so it will not be good if somebody [from outside the zone] is hijacking that. I would prefer a person from the East naturally, doesn’t matter who.” Asked if Choudhary could emerge as front runner, the CAB official said there were “question marks” about such a decision, but he would keep an open mind.The CAB and the NCC (another club where Dalmiya was the president) are two important votes that could tilt the balance not just for an East Zone nominee, but even for an outsider wanting to throw his hat in the ring. The CAB official pointed out that according to the constitution an election for the president’s post has to be convened within 60 days preceded by an SGM. The date for the SGM and road map for the election, he said, would be chalked out after the condolence meeting for Dalmiya, which is likely to take place next week.The official said he would also consult Dalmiya’s son Avishek about whether his father had suggested any names that were eligible to lead CAB and the NCC. According to the official, Dalmiya’s word always meant the last word and that would not change even after his death and the reason Avishek was being kept in the loop was because he had been working closely with Dalmiya after he became the BCCI president in March 2015.

Tim May, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations chief executive, has begun investigating how many players have not received their initial Indian Premier League fees and has warned if the problem is widespread they could walk away from their contracts. The Twenty20 tournament is due to begin on Friday and the Age reported two Australians had not been given a payment following the first IPL auction in February.May said the rush to set up the competition had led to teething problems, but he was concerned by the absence of crucial documents and financial transfers. “There is a worry that some players have not been paid nor received their signed copies of contracts,” May told the paper. “We need to get a good feel on how widespread it is. If it has just alienated a couple of players I’m sure the thing can be worked out reasonably sensibly.”He said organisations that started from scratch needed some leeway before warning the IPL of the potential consequences. “There may be a significant amount of players and their managers who, if obligations from the employer have not been honoured at this stage, the player, if he’s taken the proper procedures to recover these obligations, might want to walk away from the contract or not take part in the game,” he said. “That is a long shot at the moment. We need to get a feel for the size of the problem and then try to address it properly.”David Hussey, who sold for US$625,000 in February, is one of the Australians who has not received the 15% payment for their auction price, which was reportedly due on April 1. “It’s been an absolute nightmare in terms of the paperwork required to get the players there,” Hussey’s manager Rick Olarenshaw said. “I don’t think it’s anything sinister. We’re expecting to have all the paperwork done and Huss will be ready to play.”

Jacques Kallis, the South African captain, has said that they are expecting to field their strongest team for the series decider against India on Sunday. The three-ODI series is currently level at 1-1.South Africa were without Dale Steyn, who had the flu, and Justin Kemp, who was sidelined by a leg injury, during their six-wicket defeat against India in the second ODI on Saturday. “Dale’s come a long way, Justin Kemp has been having treatment and hopefully by Sunday we’ll have a full squad to choose from,” said KallisHe praised Morne van Wyk, the opener who replaced Graeme Smith for the series and scored a career-best of 82 in the second ODI. “He’s done well. Graeme’s been the one in the spot but when you’ve got guys putting pressure on other guys there’s no spot in any team that should be taken for granted.”van Wyk, who waited four years to return to the ODI squad after making his debut against England at Lords in 2003, said, “The cricket back home is quite competitive and, like Jacques said, I’m still fairly young. You don’t know if it [international cricket] is going to come around but you keep on hoping with performances you can get a look in.”Kallis was also impressed with Thandi Tshabalala, the offspinner who took the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, and finished with 1 for 42 . “We wanted to have a good look at Thandi. With the next World Cup being in the subcontinent [in 2011], we realise we have to find a spinner and that is what we are trying to do. It was between me and him to be the fifth bowler and he did well.”Kallis’s opposite number, Rahul Dravid has been heartened by the resilience his side have shown in the run-up to the deciding encounter. On the eve of Tuesday’s opening match more than half the India squad were ill with flu and they went down to defeat before bouncing back on Friday.”The victory is a big boost to the side – the boys have fought really hard. Our preparation for this tournament wasn’t exactly ideal. We’ve had a tough few days, and the boys have responded really well. They have not complained – we have gone on and done what we needed to do and played good cricket – and we fully deserve to be level in the series.”Dravid added his side were the underdogs even though South Africa have also been hit by the same flu virus. “The rankings do definitely say we are the second-best team here. But one-day cricket is how you play on the day. It’s not really about rankings or numbers. We knew we could give them a good run for their money – and we believe if we play some good cricket we can end up with the right result.”Pace bowlers Ajit Agarkar and Sreesanth have both yet to feature in the series because of flu but this has allowed India to play their two slow bowlers in Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar. Chawla has been particularly impressive in cold, overcast conditions more conducive to seam rather than slow bowling.”One of the really gladdening things for me is to have seen how these young spinners have bowled, especially in these tough conditions,” said Dravid. “They are used to playing in India, where it is warm and sunny and the ball grips and turns. But they have come here and immediately adjusted.”South Africa (probable) 1 AB de Villiers, 2 Morne van Wyk, 3 Jacques Kallis (capt), 4 Herschelle Gibbs, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Justin Kemp, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Andrew Hall, 9 Andre Nel, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Dale SteynIndia (probable) 1 Sourav Ganguly, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Rahul Dravid (capt), 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Piyush Chawla, 8 Ramesh Powar, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 RP Singh, 11 Zaheer Khan

ScorecardIndia A completed an easy 10-wicket win over Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI with a day to spare in their four-day match at the Marrara Cricket Ground in Darwin. Tejinder Pal Singh, with a century and six wickets in the game, made the most of his opportunities.It was Siddharth Trivedi, the medimpacer, who got India A away, picking up four first-innings wickets as NTCM XI were bowled out for only 234. Then India A responded well with Venugopala Rao, the captain, scoring a 100. Tejinder Pal Singh, who batted at No. 8 made a century of his own, and India notched up 430, a lead of 196 runs.When it was their turn to bat again NTCM XI managed only 224, with Tejinder Pal Singh taking 4 for 75 and Shib Sankar Paul picking up 4 for 60. India A needed just 3.3 overs to score the 29 runs that took them to victory, and did so without losing a second-innings wicket. The game was not especially memorable for NTCM XI, with just two batsmen scoring half-centuries, and no bowler picking up more than 3 wickets in an innings.

Shane Warne has said that he will be targeting Rahul Dravid, recently named as the ICC’s player of the year, when Australia’s Indian series kicks off with the first Test at Bangalore on October 6.”Dravid is the key batsman. I will be targeting Dravid”, said Warne. “We are good friends off the field, but on the field, he’s the best player and in form. He’s the guy I will be targeting. He’s on a roll. He’s the rock. In the two tours I have been here, I have had Dravid seven times. I don’t know why my success is against him, and not some of the other players. I know how to bowl to him. I think all the Indian players know how to play spin, Rahul is as good as anyone in the world.”Warne also underlined Sachin Tendulkar’s batting class, and backed him to be fit to play in the first Test. “Tendulkar is the best batsman in the world in my 15 years of playing,” he added. “There’s a lot of talk about his tennis elbow, but I have got no doubt that he will be there for the first Test.”The Indian players jumped at everything and did not allow my plans to work in the previous tours,” Warne continued. “It’s when I attack that I am at my best, but as a spinner, you have to adapt, and at times you have to bowl to a defensive line. We are a bit smarter now. Two Test tours in 15 years is not a lot to learn how to play in these conditions, whether you bowl fast or slow. Six Tests in 15 years is not a lot.”With Australia seeking their first series victory in India for 35 years, Warne said he believed the current Australian side to be the one most likely to achieve the goal, although the loss of Ricky Ponting because of injury was a big blow.”This is our best chance to beat India. It’s not an easy task though. The team that’s here now is better equipped than the previous two teams that visited here in 1998 and 2001. Our batsmen are playing spin better than they used to. Ponting is a huge loss, though. He is up there with any of the best batsmen in the world. As a captain, he’s excellent.”We have some inexperienced Test players, but I have seen Michael Clarke first hand and he’s a super player. When he gets his chances, he will be sensational. Our team has variety in batsmen and bowlers. Darren Lehmann, Clarke, [Brad] Hodge, [Simon] Katich: they are all good spinners as well. That’s the beauty of the selection of this squad. There’s tremendous variety. It’s a credit to the selectors that they have given us options.”This time I am fitter than I have ever been – injury-free, touch wood – so I think I am in better shape,” Warne added. “The real test of a spinner is how you go over here. It’s the hardest place to ply your trade. I am quietly confident the way we are going to play as a team. We will be aggressive in our batting, and we have all got plans. I have a plan for the guys and hopefully it will work this time. I have some plans for most of the Indian batsmen, mixing it up, and different types of things.”Warne admitted that the small issue of the world Test bowling record was also on his mind – he is just five wickets behind Muttiah Muralitharan. “I would like to get that record away in the first Test. A series win is definitely the first priority, but from a personal point of view, I need only six wickets for the world record,” said Warne. “That’s high on my agenda, but as I have found out over the years, sometimes you are close to a world record and you try too hard. If it doesn’t happen, you get frustrated. So I have got to be very patient. The key is knowing your own game and being patient. When I am patient I do well, when I am not, I don’t do well.”Warne also hinted, rather obviously, that this would probably be his last tour of India. “I don’t know if I would come back here when I am 39,” he said. “The only thing I have not experienced is to win a series in India and play a major part. If I do well here, we have a big chance of winning. I won’t say this would be a major swansong, but I would like to play a major part. I have to make a big statement with the bat too here, not only with the ball.”