Cb Series 2nd Final Srilanka Beat Australia By 8 Wickets,Level 1-1

Sri Lanka 2 for 274 (Dilshan 106, Jayawardene 80) beat Australia 6 for 271 (Clarke 117, Warner 100) by eight wickets

Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan took full toll of a wayward Australia as Sri Lanka forced a third triangular series final in Adelaide. Chasing 272, the visitors galloped to the target with 5.4 overs to spare, benefiting greatly from a rollicking start when the first three overs reaped 30 runs.

Dilshan alternated between the brazen and the cheeky, crashing 10 fours and also being struck on the helmet when he attempted his patented Dil-scoop. The captain Jayawardene was more cultured, but outpaced his partner in a princely innings that would have ended in the second over if not for a Clint McKay no-ball.

Such indiscipline summed up Australia's predicament, having struck a horrid patch of form in the field midway through the first final in Brisbane and then being unable to rise above it in Adelaide. The captain Michael Clarke is also in the unenviable position of carrying a left hamstring problem perilously close to the start of the West Indies tour, due to begin almost immediately after the third final.

Clarke had done his best to give his side a decent total. His 117 in Australia's 6 for 271 was the fastest of his limited-overs career and the second of his ODI captaincy. David Warner was more circumspect, but his chanceless 100 demonstrated a range of concentration and focus reserved for the best of batsmen. Famed as a boundary hitter, Warner reached the rope only four times in his innings and cleared it only once, but the value of his effort was reflected in a final total far greater than seemed possible at the innings' midpoint.

Matthew Wade departed early to the spin of Dilshan, who opened the bowling and completed a tidy 10 overs, before Shane Watson played a chancy innings in which he was grassed twice. Each dropped catch fell off the bowling of Farveez Maharoof, who ultimately ran out Australia's vice-captain with a direct hit in his follow through. Lasith Malinga was the tightest of Sri Lanka's bowlers and deserved his three wickets.

Two more catches would go down off Clarke's bat later in the innings, while Jayawardene raged against a delayed no-ball call at the height of his opposite number's innings. Debating the point angrily with both umpires after Maharoof had strayed above waist height with a full toss, Jayawardene lost his cool. His fury would be far more controlled when the reply began.

A second-over edge behind by Jayawardene was cancelled out by McKay's overstep, typical of the abject way in which Australia's bowlers began their defence of a less than watertight total. Brett Lee gave up three wides on the way to conceding 12 from the opening over, and James Pattinson's first two overs were taken for 22 despite an abundance of away swing.

No fewer than 11 of the first 30 runs were handed to Sri Lanka via the extras column, as Australia's bowlers maintained the poorly form they had demonstrated in the latter overs in Brisbane. Clarke had taken the field despite his injury, but his presence did not make much of a difference.

Jayawardene and Dilshan did not get too frantic after the start they were given, and slipped into comfortable gears that involved regular singles and the odd boundary whenever the bowlers strayed in search of a first wicket. Australia's mid-innings options were milked for regular runs, Xavier Doherty's first five costing 37.

Dilshan was first to pass 50, and Jayawardene soon followed. Australia's frustration grew when Asad Rauf refused a concerted appeal for caught behind from Dilshan on 77, as replays revealed a substantial edge that Wade gathered while keeping up to Watson.

Jayawardene's sparkling stay was ended by a hint of Pattinson reverse swing and a clear lbw, but Dilshan went on to his second century of the tournament before Dinesh Chandimal and Kumar Sangakkara guided the visitors home.

Clarke had little hesitation batting upon winning the toss, but the early overs were slow going. Jayawardene's imaginative use of Dilshan added to the openers' uncertainty, and Wade's impatience proved terminal when he swung at a ball not quite short enough for the stroke and was bowled.

Watson's innings was halting, and he was dropped by Dilshan in the fielding circle then by Rangana Herath on the long-off boundary - the latter unable to complete an equivalent of his spectacular outfield take in the first final. However Maharoof was not discouraged by the missed chances, and when Watson was 15 he gathered and swivelled from Warner's offside bunt to throw down the stumps and find a diving Watson comfortably short. Clarke helped to build some greater momentum in the company of Warner, who was less conspicuous than he had been at the Gabba.

The pair accumulated steadily, adding a little more impetus with the batting Powerplay, and continuing to benefit from profligate fielding from the tourists. Clarke was turfed on 71 and 77, the second chance falling to Malinga, who managed only to palm the chance over the rope for six.

It set the scene for an explosive over, in which Clarke took Maharoof for six, four, six, four - the last a high full toss swung behind square leg. Initially the umpires did not call it a no-ball, but on reflection Bruce Oxenford raised his arm to hand Australia an extra run and another delivery. Jayawardene was incensed by the delayed call, arguing at length with both officials in a manner that suggested more of the incident would be heard later.

Clarke had blazed past Warner despite the opener having a 23-run start, and he was first to reach his century with a flick through square leg. Though he had made plenty of useful contributions in the interim, it was Clarke's first ODI century since his first innings as the fully-fledged captain, against Bangladesh in Dhaka in April 2011.

Warner's hundred arrived in the next over, an effort of composure and also courage after his groin complaint in Brisbane. He skied a catch without adding another run, leaving an increasingly restricted Clarke to guide the hosts to a total rather less substantial than was ultimately needed.

Pakistan squad for Asia Cup

Nasir Jamshed, Sarfraz Ahmed in Pakistan squad

Pakistan have dropped Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat and Adnan Akmal from the squad that lost the ODIs 4-0 to England, and picked opener Nasir Jamshed and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed for the Asia Cup in Bangladesh. Fast bowler Junaid Khan was not considered for selection because he was sidelined with a knee injury.

The 15-man squad was the first selection by the committee headed by Iqbal Qasim, who replaced Mohammad Ilyas as chief selector. The selectors had met with Pakistan's new coach Dav Whatmore, whose first assignment will be the Asia Cup, in Lahore on March 2 to pick the team.

"We have selected the best possible squad for the Asia Cup in the shortest time available, and since Malik was an additional member for the England series we couldn't find a place for him in the 15-man squad," Qasim said. "We did consult Misbah and he agreed to the selection.

"We had to maintain the balance keeping view of the pitches in Bangladesh. But now we have to compete with quality teams, especially Sri Lanka, who returned to form, and India will obviously come hard after the Australia tour."

Jamshed has played 12 ODIs for Pakistan, the last of which was in August 2009. He has just been in Bangladesh, where he played for the Chittagong Kings in the BPL. Before going to Bangladesh, Jamshed had scored 320 runs at 53.33 in four matches for Punjab in the Pentangular Cup, a first-class competition in Pakistan. Sarfraz replaced Adnan Akmal as the specialist wicketkeeper in the squad; he played for Pakistan as recently as December 2011, during the tour of Bangladesh.

"Jamshed earned his recall only after he has done well in the domestic circuit as an opener," Qasim said. "There was an added pressure on Umar [Akmal] and this is why he might not giving his best with the bat. He always was selected as a designated batsman, we wanted a batting wicketkeeper who can bat effectively in ODIs to score quick runs."

Qasim said that the Asia Cup would be Sarfraz's last chance to seal his place in the Pakistan team. "It's our inability that we don't have a batting wicketkeeper but this would be the last chance for [Sarfraz Ahmed] to step up and do well with the bat. Otherwise, after the series, we are starting the talent hunt for an all-round wicketkeeper."

While Junaid's absence from the squad may have been forced, the other three - Malik, Farhat and Adnan Akmal did not perform impressively against England in the UAE. Malik, who was not in Pakistan's original ODI and Twenty20 squads against England but included later at the request of the captain Misbah-ul-Haq, averaged 15 in two one-dayers. Farhat scored 66 runs in three matches, while Adnan Akmal played only two ODIs; his brother Umar kept in the matches that Adnan was not selected for.

Pakistan squad for Asia Cup

• Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Hammad Azam, Asad Shafiq, Shahid Afridi, Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Riaz.
• In: Nasir Jamshed, Sarfraz Ahmed.
• Out: Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Adnan Akmal.
• Reserves: Ahmed Shehzad, Rahat Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Afaq Rahim.

India Domestic For Asiacup 2011-12

Sehwag rested, Tendulkar picked for Asia Cup

Virender Sehwag has been rested from India's one-day squad for next month's Asia Cup, with Virat Kohlitaking over as vice-captain. Sachin Tendulkar has been picked for the tournament, while allrounderYusuf Pathan and Bengal fast bowler Ashok Dindamake comebacks. Fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav have been rested.

Kohli's elevation to vice-captaincy comes after his sustained run of success in one-day cricket. He was the highest run-getter in the format in 2011, is the leading run-scorer in the ongoing Commonwealth Bank series and has been one of India's few bright spots on the dismal tour of Australia. "The selection committee and board feels that Virat Kohli could be good future captaincy material," Kris Srikkanth, the chairman of selectors, told reporters in Mumbai.

Over the past few days, there had been intense media speculation about whether Sehwag and Tendulkar would be selected for the Asia Cup. Sehwag has had a poor run in the ongoing CB series in Australia, averaging 13 in five one-day innings.

Srikkanth stressed that Sehwag had not been axed. "Unfortunately Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan have been asked to take rest by the physiotherapist. It is purely on injury grounds both have been rested," he said. "I can assure you that nobody has been dropped."

Tendulkar has been selective about the ODI series he plays over the past couple of years. The CB series, in which he's made 143 runs in seven innings, was his first limited-overs engagement for India since last year's World Cup.

The CB series is also the only ODI series the injury-prone Zaheer has been involved in since the World Cup. The decision to rest him and Yadav opened the doors for Dinda, who last represented India in the previous edition of the Asia Cup, in 2010. His selection comes on the back of a successful Ranji Trophy, in which he was the second-highest wicket-taker with 37 in six matches. Several other contenders for a fast bowling slot, including Varun Aaron and Sreesanth, are still recovering from injuries.

Allrounder Yusuf has recovered from a knee injury which cut short his Ranji season, and will resume his battle for the No. 7 allrounder's slot with Ravindra Jadeja. Yusuf has been out of the Indian side since a listless tour of West Indies soon after being part of the World Cup-winning squad. Jadeja cornered that spot with some impressive performances against England and West Indies last year, but has not been at his best in the CB series. In the league phase, he took three wickets at an average of 109, and scored 101 runs in seven innings.

Among the fringe players, India have retained batsman Manoj Tiwary and legspinner Rahul Sharma, but have axed backup wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel.

India are defending champions of the Asia Cup, which will be held in Mirpur from March 11 to 22 and also features Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

India's Asia Cup squad MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virat Kohli (vice-capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda Out : Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Parthiv Patel In: Yusuf Pathan, Ashok Dinda

CB Series 2011-12,Dhoni blames media for rift reports

Dhoni blames media for rift reports

MS Dhoni has blamed the media for quoting him selectively to Virender Sehwag, to elicit replies that suggested a grave communication gap in the team. He said no such problem existed, and there was no need to straighten it out. He did, though, say it created an awkward situation because it was possible Sehwag might have actually believed what the press told him. He hadn't, Dhoni added.

However, a reading of the transcripts (below) of the two press conferences in question confirm a variance in statements between the captain and his deputy.

"You must have asked him something," Dhoni said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. "Why don't you ask yourself the same question?

"You have the press conference on tape. It will be interesting if you watch the whole press conference. You will get the answer yourself of what exactly I said. And what exactly I meant. Often what's important is, you can't see just that particular answer. Maybe the build-up from the first question as to what you are answering [is important]. Often we don't answer because the first part of the first question that we answer is actually an answer of the second question or the third question. If you see the whole press conference, it will offer a valid point as to what was said."

Dhoni said the dressing-room had had a good laugh at the reports. Asked if he was happy with the communication flow within the team, Dhoni said, "Yeah, yeah. It has always been there. It is not this series or last series. It has been perfect. And we enjoy it actually when things like this happened. It's the talk of the dressing room. We try to get the positives out of it. It's half an hour of good talk in the dressing room, because that's the best we can get out of it."

Reproduced below are excerpts from the two said press conferences with all relevant questions and the build-up that led to Dhoni and Sehwag saying what they did.

The first one is, from February 19, after India had lost to Australia. This is MS Dhoni answering questions.

Q: MS, you mentioned that the top order needs to perform, but we are in the second stage of this tournament. Do you reckon the best XI should be playing now? Or do you want to continue…
Dhoni: You have to see what the best XI is. If you talk about the best XI being the players who have scored runs in the tournament then also we may find it difficult to feature the XI. Or if you talk about the number of games we have played or the experienced guys have played, so it's about everyone going. Everybody needs to contribute. Gautam has done well, he needs to keep on going because he is among the senior guys who will be batting up the order. Then you have Virat who has done well, Rohit who is getting his chances and then Raina also. So we need to contribute as a unit, and that's what should be the key. You want to field a very good fielding side also. We have seen in these close games that you can't really afford to score always 20 more runs just because your fielding is not good enough on the big field. We have to be careful and hopefully it will be sorted out.

Q: Is this series more about bringing something home after a disastrous Test series or is it about building a team for the 2015 World Cup?
Dhoni: It should be both because you want to do well. As I said you know the opposition team played well, they outplayed you but at the end of the day you feel bad, in the sense if you are not winning games you feel bad. We want to get a bit of both. You want the youngsters to play the games but of course we need to get into the finals first because it's important to get into the finals. Then it's a three match series in the finals. You have to be consistent in two games to win the tournament. But you want to see these youngsters, they will be coming here again and again. Maybe for the next World Cup also. They should know how you need to play in these situations or conditions against a bowling attack that is world class, so overall you want to get the best for the side.

Q: Coming back to what you say, will there be a scenario - we are at the business end of the tournament, you haven't made the final yet - will there be a scenario where you play all three - Sachin, Sehwag and Gambhir?
Dhoni: That may happen. It will affect our fielding in a big way, which means there will be more pressure on the batsmen to score those extra 20 runs, but if the middle order does not perform consistently well you may have to go with the experienced guys at the top of the order, and let the scoring do, you know, from the bottom-most batsmen. In the sense, 5, 6 and 7.

[A break, and then this question.]

Q: You spoke about the fielding in the case you play all the three seniors. Is it really - suppose if Viru [who didn't play that day] plays instead of either Rohit or Raina, is it worth 20 extra runs in the field?
Dhoni: Definitely. Because people often talk about that one run, but that one run that you save, it changes the strike and if the next ball, the batsman plays a big shot - a six or a four, it can have a big impact. If you see, the last few games that we played, we got two or three run outs and that really had a big impact.

Also, what we need to see, it's not only these three players that we are talking about. We also have quite a few other players who are slow on the field. It will just add on to that and we will be left with just two or three really good fielders. It's not that these fielders are bad but for this environment and these conditions and big outfields, they are slightly on the slower side. They will be exploited. Once the ball goes to them, the Australians or the Sri Lankans will try to exploit the doubles or three runs. It means it will put more pressure on their body because the throwing needs to be good and the diving needs to be good, so they will be under constant pressure. So ultimately it will be a pressure game.

This was reported as it was, and two days later Virender Sehwag took questions.

Q: Do you agree with Dhoni when he says that you, Sachin and Gambhir can't be played together in the same XI because you are slow fielders?
Sehwag: I don't think so, we played together in the World Cup and we won games. Just because we want to give chances to youngsters and it's good for every team, just keep rotating players and they will get good ... and they will be fresh for next game, so that's what I think.

[A break, and then this question.]

Q: Were you surprised when you heard that Dhoni came out and said if you three play together, you will concede 20 runs more. And did you have a chat with him?
Sehwag: No we didn't know that. I didn't know what he said and what's going on in media. But we decided, we had a meeting, he chatted with everyone, with Gautam and myself and Tendulkar. He explained that he wanted to give chances to youngsters, so youngsters can play all the matches here, and the next World Cup is also here, so they'll get to know the idea of how the wickets behave in Australia, so when they come for next World Cup, so they will prepare themselves.

Q: The thrust of Dhoni's argument the other night was that top three batsmen - you, Gautam and Sachin - could concede 20 runs extra. Good fielders but slow fielders.
Sehwag: We are same for the last 10 years. Nothing has changed.

Q: Even if you concede 20 runs extra, Sehwag plays a big knock, you win the match single-handedly. These youngsters are saving 20 runs, but aren't scoring…
Sehwag: You have to ask Dhoni again. What he told us is, he has to give chances to youngsters. They will come here and play the next World Cup. That's what he told us.

Q: Will you have a chat with him?
Sehwag: Why should I have a chat with him? When he has said he is the captain, he is the leader, if he and coach thinks we should give breaks to the top order, that's fine, I am okay with that. I don't have any issues with that.

[A break again.]

Q: Do you feel you, Tendulkar and Gambhir are liabilities in the field?
Sehwag: Have you seen my catch?

Q: You said that the reason given to you three separately was they wanted to give the youngsters more chances. Now, you come to know through us that the other night another reason was given. Will you now have a chat with him?
Sehwag: I am available for all the matches. It depends on the captain and the coach what XI they will pick. If they give me the reason that we want to give chances to youngsters and you take a break, I am happy with that.

CB Series 2011-12 ,Discord, dissent hurt Indian team

Discord, dissent hurt Indian team

The statements made by some of the senior players in press conferences indicate a clear dissent and failure of communication among the Indian team on tour in Australia for more than two months now. There has also been a near breakdown of communication between the selectors and the team management, cricinfo has learned.

Some of the statements the players have been making are not the sort they would if they didn't want to. If the media is enjoying the glut of bombshells that have punctuated the press conferences, it is only because the players, well-versed in the art of stonewalling tough questions during good times, are willing participants. It's been a long tour with little success to celebrate, and the differences and frustrations are coming out now.

Whether the former played some part in the latter - to put it all down to a rift would be disrespectful to Australia who have completely outplayed India - is the old chicken-and-egg question. Then again there is no dressing room that is completely devoid of personality and philosophy clashes. You don't need to go on double dates to ensure the requisite dressing-room atmosphere conducive to winning games of cricket. Insiders are of the view that MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag have never been great friends, but until the last few months were mature team-mates. Now, though, their differences might have begun to hurt the team. There's no point wishing them away.

The latest bone of contention on a tour of discontent is Dhoni's policy to play only two out of Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar. Two of the three openers have made their discontent known. Through an earlier press conference, Sehwag made this policy public, including saying he had been told the three were to take turns at resting. There has to be a reason why a member of the team, not known to share any team news with the press, did so now. The pressure was on Dhoni now, to make Tendulkar sit out in the third game.

Dhoni did so. Then he followed up Gambhir's 92 with an innings that began slowly but finished the job, even if cutting it a little too fine. It was Gambhir's turn now to speak out. He said the game should not have gone into the final over, and that perhaps Dhoni was waiting for someone else to take up the responsibility of playing the big shots. It was India's first big win of the tour against Australia - the only other one until then being a Twenty20 - and Gambhir's sudden forthrightness didn't quite add up.

At the toss for the next game, while continuing his rotation policy like a law, Dhoni said it was imperative that set batsmen finished games off. Dhoni had earned himself some relief purely off his own bat, but the youngsters he was backing were not performing at all. And by the time the team reached Brisbane, Dhoni was of the view that the youngsters not only deserved a chance to fail, they had earned it through their fielding. That if all three openers were to be played, India would leak 20 extra runs on an average.

This did not sit well with certain members of the side at all. Minutes after that press conference, Dhoni heard the news of the match ban because of the slow over-rate. Now, with Sehwag as captain, the first thing thrown to the wind was the rotation policy. Out went Rohit Sharma. No bowling for Suresh Raina until the 49th over, whose part-time spin had been as much responsible for his continued selection as his batting. The vice-captain was hardly, as he often is, an extension of the captain. You didn't need to attend Sehwag's press conference to know he didn't quite agree with the captain.

Sehwag's interaction suggested the scarcely believable notion that Dhoni had not communicated either in personal chats or in team meetings that India couldn't afford too many relatively slow fielders, and that it all had an accumulative effect. While the apparent lack of communication is an issue, equally grave is the communication breakdown between the team management and selectors.

While Dhoni is almost out of the loop with the selection of the squad, the touring selectors are being returned the favour when it comes to selecting XIs. It can be argued it is an ideal situation, but there is nobody - at least during the Tests there was nobody - in the leadership group who found himself in a position to make big calls. India went through eight batting failures in the Tests, but neither the personnel nor their order was changed. Sources have told ESPNcricinfo that the team management had been waiting for the selectors to pull the plug on the seniors. During the last big tour before two years of home Tests, nobody wanted to be the one making tough calls.

Nor does it help that Dhoni remains non-committal about his future in Test cricket. While he shows remarkable foresight when he says that he will retire in 2013 if he doesn't feel he can give it his best in the 2015 World Cup, his statement that he could retire from Tests in 2013 has left everybody in a panic mode, because in 2013 starts India's next away Test series, followed by two more important away tours.

	While Dhoni is almost out of the loop with the selection of the squad, the touring selectors are being returned the favour when it comes to selecting XIs

When Dhoni did assume a degree of control as a leader in his format, the ODIs, his stubbornness as a captain hasn't gone down well with some players. There are certain players he backs until they have played themselves out of the team, and there are certain few who find it really hard to come back into reckoning. Ravindra Jadeja playing ahead of Irfan Pathan as the allrounder in Australian conditions in just one example.

However, by all evidence, Dhoni remains the best choice to captain India at the moment. The challenge for him is to keep the team together. The situation is not downright nasty yet, in that this still falls in PG category as opposed to the R-rated times of Greg Chappell and Sourav Ganguly. Nonetheless it is difficult for players to perform at such times. Sehwag himself has always said he plays his best cricket when he has emptied his mind of all thoughts, when he is just reacting to the next ball. It is not happening here.

There are two must-win matches coming up, India's last chance to salvage something out of a tour during which they capped their biggest low in Test cricket since the 1960s. As of now, if they are to do it, they will have to do it despite the less-than-ideal dressing-room atmosphere. It doesn't help that the custodian of the team, the BCCI, right now believes this is all evil misquoting by the evil media.