India's squad for the tour of Sri Lanka

Sehwag and Zaheer return, Tendulkar skips SL tour

Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan have returned to the Indian team for the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka; both were rested for the Asia Cup in March. Sachin Tendulkar, who played in the CB series in 2011-12 and the Asia Cup, will be skipping the tour that includes five ODIs and one T20 game.

"It is a long season ahead and I think we will come back to winning ways. Sachin wants to extend his career," the BCCI's chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth told reporters. "He is spacing it out very well."

Ravindra Jadeja, the allrounder, has been dropped for the tour after poor returns in the CB series in Australia. He had a mixed IPL, averaging 15.91 with the bat in 19 matches and taking 12 wickets at 22.75. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, who wasn't picked for the Asia Cup has made it to the 15-man squad. Ojha picked up nine wickets in nine IPL games, at 24.44. There was no place for seamer Praveen Kumar either; Praveen collected nine wickets in 16 games at 48.22 in the IPL.

Ajinkya Rahane, who last played for India in December 2011, has been named in the squad, following a good IPL in which he finished as the fourth-highest run-getter. He made 560 runs at an average of 40 and also scored a couple of half-centuries in the limited-overs leg of the India A tour of the West Indies last month.

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who was rested for the Asia Cup, returned to the squad. Batsman Manoj Tiwary and legspinner Rahul Sharma were retained but the Pathan brothers, Yusuf and Irfan, who played the Asia Cup were left out.

Sehwag missed the Asia Cup due to back spasms and Zaheer, following a full tour of Australia, was also advised rest for that tournament in Bangladesh. Virat Kohli will remain vice-captain for the upcoming tour. "The idea is continuity," Srikkanth said. "Virat got brilliant hundreds after becoming vice-captain which shows that he likes responsibility."

Among the seamers, Ashok Dinda and Vinay Kumar will support Zaheer and they'll be part of a bowling line-up that includes three specialist spinners, Rahul, R Ashwin and Ojha. Harbhajan Singh, who recently signed a deal with Essex for the second half of the county season, was not selected.

India's squad for the tour of Sri Lanka

MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virat Kohli (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, R Ashwin, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane
Out: Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar
In: Ajinkya Rahane, Pragyan Ojha, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav

Zaheer Khan Say's Her Fitness

I am slowly building towards fitness: Zaheer Khan

By all accounts medium-fast bowler Zaheer Khan is on the road to recovery and set to test his repaired hamstring and ankle in India’s domestic first class competition. The 33-year-old who went down with a reported hamstring strain on the first day of the opening Test at Lord’s cricket ground on July 21 after a spell of 2 for 18 in 13.3 overs has given hints of returning to competitive cricket that will eventually determine his availability for the long tour of Australia set to start in mid-December.

Zaheer bowled for three-quarters of an hour to the Mumbai batsmen including skipper Wasim Jaffer at the Brabourne Stadium, Cricket Club of India (CCI) in Mumbai on Wednesday. The home team, after extracting six points from Railways in the Ranji Trophy league match against Railways at New Delhi last week, was preparing for its second match against Rajasthan to start on Thursday.

Though it was initially reported that Zaheer was nagged by the hamstring of his landing foot (right leg), the BCCI clarified on August 7 that “Zaheer Khan is suffering from a recurrent right hamstring strain and a right ankle impingement. He will require a surgery for his ankle followed by intensive rehabilitation for both the ankle and hamstring. He will need at least 14-16 weeks to recover completely.’’

He underwent surgery in England in August 18 and was on crutches. He has been training at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. “ I have been bowling like this for almost two weeks. I bowled six overs here today. I am feeling good, but I am only building up (towards match fitness). I have some more time to go. He (Mumbai coach Sulakshan Kulkarni) may be happy, but I am not,’’ said Zaheer after giving tips to Mumbai’s fringe bowlers and a chat with Rajasthan skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar.

Clearly Mr. Kulkarni is happy with the news that Zaheer will be available for two Ranji matches. “He bowled for about 45 minutes and he looked brilliant. He must have bowled about 36 balls. I am happy with the way he’s shaping. He is likely to play Ranji Trophy matches (maybe against Orissa from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2 and against Saurashtra from Dec. 6 to 9) to ascertain fitness.’’

Recovering from a freak calf injury while training with the Mumbai team and keen to play a club competition to make sure he’s fit, Ajit Agarkar said that Zaheer appears to be working on his rhythm. “Yes, he looked fine bowling about six overs. Normally you bowl about eight in net sessions. He may not have gone flat out in all deliveries, but he looked better than what I expected of him to be,’’ said Agarkar.

Mumbai captain Jaffer said: “I faced him in the nets today and he looked good. He’s slowly building up (towards fitness) and I have also heard that he’s looking forward to play the Ranji matches.’’

India Cricketer Zaheer Khan Profile

Zaheer Khan Profile 

Full name Zaheer Khan
Born October 7, 1978, Shrirampur, Maharashtra
Current age 30 years 177 days
Major teams India, Asia XI, Asia XI, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Baroda, Mumbai, Surrey, Worcestershire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Left-arm fast-medium

Career statistics

Test debut Bangladesh v India at Dhaka, Nov 10-13, 2000
Last Test New Zealand v India at Napier, Mar 26-30, 2009

Test statistics
ODI debut Kenya v India at Nairobi (Gym), Oct 3, 2000
Last ODI New Zealand v India at Auckland, Mar 14, 2009

ODI statistics
T20I debut South Africa v India at Johannesburg, Dec 1, 2006
Last T20I New Zealand v India at Wellington, Feb 27, 2009

T20I statistics
First-class debut 1999/00
Last First-class New Zealand v India at Napier, Mar 26-30, 2009
List A debut 1999/00
Last List A New Zealand v India at Auckland, Mar 14, 2009
Twenty20 debut Glamorgan v Worcestershire at Cardiff, Jun 27, 2006
Last Twenty20 New Zealand v India at Wellington, Feb 27, 2009






Zahir Khan's Profile

Like Waqar Younis a decade before, Zaheer Khan yorked his way into the collective consciousness of the cricket world: his performances at the ICC Knockout Trophy in Kenya in September 2000 announced the arrival of an all-too-rare star in the Indian fast-bowling firmament. He might just as easily have come from the Pakistani pace stable: well-built, quick and unfazed by a batsman's reputation, Zaheer could move the ball both ways off the wicket and swing the old ball at some pace. After initially struggling to establish himself as a new-ball bowler, he came of age on the 2002 tour of the West Indies, when he led the line with great heart. His subsequent displays in England and New Zealand - not to mention some eye-catching moments at the World Cup - established him at the forefront of India's new pace generation, but a hamstring injury saw him relegated to bit-part performer as Indian cricket scripted some of its finest moments away in Australia and Pakistan. After that, his pace has dropped and his attitude was questioned, as a new breed of pace bowlers pushed him aside to move to the front of the queue. Zaheer's response was to head to Worcestershire and take 78 wickets in the 2006 county season, a performance that earned him a recall for the tour of South Africa. He was the perfect foil for Sreesanth there, and he then regained his status as leader of the pack with a matchwinning display at Trent Bridge, as India won only their fifth Test on English soil.

Sachin and Zaheer Nominate ICC Test Team

Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan in ICC Test Team of the Year

 

Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan earned a place in the ICC Test Team of the Year, chosen by a specially appointed selection panel headed by West Indian legend Clive Lloyd on Friday.

Four countries are represented in the 12-man line-up and Tendulkar made the side for the third year in a row, having appeared in the ICC World Test Team of the Year in 2009 and 2010.

South African Dale Steyn features in the World Test team for the fourth year running. He was a member of the ICC World Test Team of the Year in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Steyn's teammates — Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis — along with Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, and the England duo of Graeme Swann and James Anderson all appear in the side for the second year in a row. Former Sri Lanka skipper Sangakkara is named captain of the team.

“The selection of this year's Test team was a difficult one with so many worthy candidates available to fill just 12 places,” said the Chairman of the LG ICC Awards selection panel, Clive Lloyd, at a media conference

while announcing the short-lists for the LG ICC Awards 2011 scheduled to be held in London on Sept. 12.

“The team has a formidable line-up that bats well down the order and has bowlers with the ability and form to dismiss any opposition twice on any surface,” he said. Lloyd added, the process of selection was a difficult one and they had to weigh the credentials of all the players before zeroing in on the list.

“The selection was a difficult process with so many outstanding performances available to look back on. All the top performers during the voting period were discussed at length and various combinations were considered.

Lloyd was joined on the panel by former South Africa spinner Paul Adams, former Pakistan batsman Zaheer Abbas, New Zealand's Danny Morrison and former England player Mike Gatting.

ICC Test Team of the Year: Alastair Cook (Eng), Hashim Amla (SA), Jonathan Trott (Eng), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind), K. Sangakkara (SL, wicketkeeper/captain), A.B. de Villiers (SA), Jacques Kallis (SA), Stuart Broad (Eng), Graeme Swann (Eng), Dale Steyn (SA), James Anderson (Eng). 12th man: Zaheer Khan (Ind).

Cri News Zaheer nominated in three categories for ICC Awards

Zaheer nominated in three categories for ICC Awards

AP Zaheer Khan

 

Ruled out of cricket for the next four months due to hamstring and ankle injuries, India’s pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has something to cheer about as he has been nominated in as many as three categories for this year’s LG ICC Awards to be held in London on September 12.

Besides Zaheer, three other Indian cricketers - Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni - have all been nominated in two categories each.

Apart from Zaheer, five other cricketers - English duo of Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann, South Africa’s AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla and Australia’s Shane Watson also feature in three different categories.

In the long—list of nominees, Zaheer finds his name in the ICC Cricketer of the Year award for Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy besides Test Player of the Year and ODI Player of the Year.

Tendulkar and Dravid also feature in the list of nominess for the Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year award while Dhoni has been nominated for ODI Player of the Year and LG People’s Choice Award.

Other Indian cricketers to have been nominated for this year’s ICC awards are Ishant Sharma (Test Player of the Year), Harbhajan Singh (Test Player of the Year), Gautam Gambhir (ODI Player of the Year), Virat Kohli (ODI Player of the Year), Munaf Patel (ODI Player of the Year), Virender Sehwag (ODI Player of the Year), Yuvraj Singh (ODI Player of the Year), Jhulan Goswami (Women’s Cricketer of the Year), Poonam Raut (Women’s Cricketer of the Year) and Abhinav Mukund (Emerging Player of the Year).

Apart from 10 individual prizes, this year’s LG ICC Awards will also feature the selection of the Test and ODI Teams of the Year and the award to the side that has adhered most to the Spirit of Cricket.

Also for the second time, this year’s award ceremony will feature the LG People’s Choice Award, which will be chosen by cricket fans around the world through online voting from a short—list of five cricketers —— Jonathan Trott, Dhoni, Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara and Hashim Amla.

The fans currently have the opportunity to vote for the cricketer of their choice online until August 25 August at www.lgpeopleschoice.com.

“The LG ICC Awards presents a wonderful opportunity for the ICC, in association with FICA and a myriad of cricket fans, to acknowledge and reward the brilliant performances of the world’s best cricketers,” ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

“It is also a chance to look back on some of the great cricketing feats witnessed in the past year, including from our flagship event, the ICC Cricket World Cup. This will be the eighth Awards edition and once again the voting academy will face a tough task in deciding the winners,” he added.

The long—lists of nominations were handpicked by a five—man selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd, which also includes former international players Mike Gatting, Danny Morrison, Paul Adams and Zaheer Abbas.

The Spirit of Cricket Award was voted on by all international captains as well as all members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, while the Umpire of the Year Award was voted on by the captains and the match referees based on the umpires’ performance statistics.

Based on the period between August 11, 2010 and August 3, 2011, the LG ICC Awards 2011 will take into account performances by players and officials in high—profile events such as the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the ICC Intercontinental Cup final, several ICC World Cricket Leagues as well as several bilateral Test and ODI series.

The previous editions of the LG ICC awards ceremony were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007 and 2009), Dubai (2008) and Bengaluru (2010).

Long—lists of nominees (each category will be reduced to a short—list in due course):

Cricketer of the Year (Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy): Hashim Amla (SA), James Anderson (Eng), Ian Bell (Eng), Stuart Broad (Eng), Alastair Cook (Eng), Rahul Dravid (Ind), Jacques Kallis (SA), Zaheer Khan (Ind), Misbah—ul—Haq (Pak), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Andrew Strauss (Eng), Graeme Swann (Eng), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind), Chris Tremlett (Eng), Jonathan Trott (Eng), AB de Villiers (SA), Shane Watson (Aus).

Test Player of the Year: Hashim Amla (SA), James Anderson (Eng), Ian Bell (Eng), Stuart Broad (Eng), Alastair Cook (Eng), Rahul Dravid (Ind), Jacques Kallis (SA), Zaheer Khan (Ind), Misbah—ul—Haq (Pak), Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Ishant Sharma (Ind), Harbhajan Singh (Ind), Dale Steyn (SA), Graeme Swann (Eng), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind), Chris Tremlett (Eng), Jonathan Trott (Eng), AB de Villiers (SA), Shane Watson (Aus).

England Tour Of India 3rd test Cric News

Zaheer ruled out; R.P. Singh recalled

The Hindu Medium pacer R.P. Singh has been called to replace Zaheer Khan (in picture) in the Test, ODI and the Twenty20 squads. Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

 

India's ambitious designs of making a comeback from 0-2 down in the four-Test series against England suffered a setback with the news that its spearhead Zaheer Khan will miss the remainder of the tour.

The injured left-armer faces 14 to 16 weeks of rehabilitation, the BCCI said in a release, and will be replaced in the squad by R.P. Singh, who last played a Test in April 2008.

Zaheer strained his hamstring on the first day of the first Test at Lord's. According to the BCCI, the 32-year-old is suffering from a right ankle impingement in addition to a recurrent right hamstring strain.

Zaheer will undergo ankle surgery before an intensive rehabilitation programme for both the hamstring and the ankle.

History of injuries

Zaheer, like several fast bowlers, has had a history of injuries. But in recent years he had developed an understanding of just what his body needed. His ability to manage his body through various niggles was instrumental in his becoming India's most vital bowling performer, both home and away.

But the ankle problem, for which he has now decided to go under the knife, prevented him from touring the West Indies and from maintaining optimal fitness. When he arrived in England, he looked less than match-fit. As is often the case with leg injuries, one leads to another because the body is trying to bear weight differently.

After walking off the field in the first Test, he has attempted to nurse his body back into bowling health. He had light training sessions, and the practice match against Northamptonshire here was seen as a test of his fitness.

He bowled three overs off a full run-up before returning to the dressing-room.

Zaheer's departure leaves the attack without its bowling leader. R.P. Singh's strike-rate of 58.2 and average of 39.10 capture his qualities as a bowler: a left-armer who can produce magic balls, but can leak runs in between.

Sreesanth is similar. In both cases, their fuller length, which allows them to swing the ball, makes them easier to score runs off if there's no movement. R.P. Singh shone here in England in 2007 and bowled magnificently in the victory against Australia in 2008. But the 25-year-old went wicket-less in the home series against South Africa in 2008 and hasn't played for India since.

Zaheer is the third cricketer — after Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh — to leave the squad because of injury. He will be missed the most.