Yuvraj, Dravid return to India's Test squad for Lanka series

CHENNAI: Out of favour in ODIs due to slump in form and fitness, middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh on Saturday returned to the 16-member Indian Test squad, along with veteran Rahul Dravid for the three-match away series against Sri Lanka next month.


Both Yuvraj and Dravid had to miss India's last Test assignment against South Africa at home due to injuries suffered during the Bangladesh Test series early in the year.


Yuvraj, who was dropped from the ODI side for the just-concluded Asia Cup, had missed out against the Proteas due to a ligament injury.


Senior batsman Dravid, who was hit by a rising Shahdat Hossain ball in the Mirpur Test and was advised three weeks' rest, returned to the side at the expense of S Badrinath.


Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha was preferred over Dinesh Karthik, who failed to get the Kris Srikkanth-led selection panel's nod despite his decent ODI showing in the Asia Cup, which India won after a gap of 15 years.


Saha had made his debut in Nagpur against South Africa but was left out for the Kolkata match.


Except for this minor shuffling, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led squad is more or less the same that played against South Africa.


The pace attack comprises the troika of Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma, while the spin department has Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha.


Since Virender Sehwag is nursing a hamstring injury, the selectors have decided to keep Murali Vijay as a back-up opener.


Squad:


Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Wriddhiman Saha, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth.

India takes 2nd spot on ICC ranking, replaces Oz

Thanks to their series victory in New Zealand and Australia’s recent dip in form, India achieved their highest rankings in the ICC ODI Championship table since its inception in 2002, toppling Ricky Ponting’s men from the second spot in the chart issued on Wednesday.
With 122 rating points in their kitty, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men are just a point ahead of Australia, while South Africa sits pretty at the top with 127 points.
The Graeme Smith-led side’s success in winning seven out of nine ODIs against Australia this year has consigned the four-time World Champions to their lowest ranking in the ICC ODI Championship table.
Interestingly, out of a total of 79 months since the launch of the ICC ODI Championship table, Australia has held the top spot for 69 months, including 52 straight months from October 2002 to January 2007.
However, despite trailing 1-3 against South Africa in the on-going five-match series, Ponting’s men will regain their second spot from India if they manage to win the final ODI against the Proteas on Friday in Johannesburg.
If Australia end their South Africa tour on a winning note, they will rise to 123 ratings points, one ahead of India and three behind South Africa.
On the other hand, if South Africa win the match, they will finish the series on 128 ratings points, while Australia will head off to the United Arab Emirates to face Pakistan in a five-match ODI series in third place on 120 ratings points, trailing India by two.
New Zealand occupy the fourth spot with 112 points, followed by Pakistan (111), England (108), Sri Lanka (105) and West Indies (92).

England dump India

London

June 14: England dumped defending champions India out of the World Twenty20 Cup here on Sunday night. Chasing England’s 153, India replied with 150 for 5 even as Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30) and Yusuf Pathan (33) did their best in the last overs.

The narrow 3-run loss at Lord’s meant the Blues had lost two successive games in the Super Eight stage rendering the one remaining game, against South Africa on Tuesday inconsequential. Graeme Swann turned the game in the 14th over, taking two wickets — those of Ravindra Jadeja and Yuvraj Singh — to take the momentum away from India.

Earlier, Kevin Pitersen stroked a quick 46 and Ravi Bopara cashed in on umpiring error to take England to a moderate total. Electing to bowl, India began well with Zaheer Khan sending down a decent first over as he conceded only three runs.

At the other end, R.P. Singh, playing his first game of the tournament, struck with the fourth ball, getting rid of opener Luke Wright. Yusuf Pathan safely caught the top edge running around a bit from leg-slip . Bopara then displayed fine wrist work to turn Zaheer to the fine leg fence. Kevin Pietersen repeated the shot as England leapt to 15 for 1 after three overs.

However, R.P. was unlucky not to have got his second wicket as umpire Asoka de Silva turned down an appeal for leg-before wicket against Bopara on the last ball of the fourth over.

Television replays showed the ball would have hit the leg stump. England was 21 for 1 and Bopara on 12 then. Couple of big shots followed, including a hooked six by Bopara off Ishant Sharma in the fifth over as England reached 40 for 1 at the end of six overs of power play.

Pietersen swept the first ball he faced Yuvraj, whom he had called a pie-chucker, for a boundary to win a little battle.
Dhoni’s other change, bringing part-timer Ravindra Jadeja on in the 11th over, worked. The left-arm spinner castled Bopara with his fifth ball to end his run-a-ball knock of 37.

Jadeja also removed the dangerously shaping Pietersen, trapping him leg before with a low full toss to reduce England to 92 for 3 after 13 overs.

Dimitri Mascarenhas (25 n.o) then added to the total in the company of Owais Shah and captain Paul Collingwood. Standings after Sunday’s matches (Read as played, won, lost, tied, no result, points run rate):

Group E
South Africa 2 2 0 0 0 4 +0.898
West Indies 2 1 1 0 0 2 -0.150
England 2 1 1 0 0 2 -0.287
India 2 0 2 0 0 0 -0.416

Group F
Sri Lanka 2 2 0 0 0 4 +0.700
New Zealand 2 1 1 0 0 2 +0.943
Pakistan 2 1 1 0 0 2 +0.740
Ireland 2 0 2 0 0 0 -2.300

Top two teams in each group qualify for the semi-finals

Scoreboard:

England:
R. Bopara b Jadeja 37
L. Wright c Yusuf b Rudra Pratap 1
K. Pietersen lbw b Jadeja 46
D. Mascarenhas not out 25
Owais Shah c Jadeja b Harbhajan 12
P. Collingwood lbw b Zaheer 7
J. Foster c and b Harbhajan 6
G. Swann b Harbhajan 0
S. Broad not out 3
Extras: (lb2, w14) 16
Total (for 7 wkts) 153
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Wright), 2-74 (Bopara), 3-92 (Pietersen), 4-122 (Shah), 5-138 (Collingwood), 6-145 (Foster), 7-145 (Swann).
India bowling: Zaheer 3-0-26-1 (2w), Rudra Pratap 3-0-13-1, Ishant 4-0-36-0, Yuvraj 2-0-20-0, Harbhajan 4-0-30-3 (w10), Jadeja 4-0-26-2 (w2).

India:
G. Gambhir c Broad b Mascarenhas 26
R. Sharma b Sidebottom 9
S. Raina c Wright b Sidebottom 2
R. Jadeja c Broad b Swann 25
Y. Singh st Foster b Swann 17
M. Dhoni not out 30
Yusuf Pathan not out 33
Extras: (lb4, w4) 8
Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 150
Fall of wickets: 1-12 (R. Sharma), 2-24 (Raina), 3-62 (Gambhir), 4-85 (Jadeja), 5-87 (Yuvraj)
England bowling: Anderson 4-0-32-0 (w2), Sidebottom 4-0-31-2 (w1), Broad 4-0-21-0, Pietersen 1-0-9-0, Wright 2-0-16-0, Swann 4-0-28-2 (w1), Mascarenhas 1-0-9-1