Ind-NZ: Time to turn things around for Ishant

New Delhi: Shell shocked and bemused, Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting could not have been more clueless during the 2008 Perth Test against India when a certain upstart by the name of Ishant Sharma dared to put one of the greatest batsman in contemporary cricket through an ordeal that left world cricket gasping for its breath.

But that was then and almost three years hence, one might be tempted to politely inquire as to what happened to that phenomenon who promised to be the the next best thing for Team India?

It is probably one of those inexplicable topics that one can go on about without quite getting to its bottom.

To be fair to Ishant, he had some creditable performances with both bat and ball during the recently concluded Test series against the Australians at home.

However, it was not that long ago that the lanky fast bowler from Delhi seemed to have answered the prayers of millions and arrived on the scene as an Indian bowler with genuine pace.

On 17th February 2008 he bowled a delivery which clocked 152.6 km/h in an ODI against the Aussies at Adelaide, no mean feat by an Indian pacer many of whom struggle to touch 130 at times.

He was probably one of those multi-dimensional quick bowlers that India had never possesed in its ranks.

Apart from an ability to generate pace and bounce, Sharma could also make the ball talk and at least Ponting would not have a counter theory to that.

With 15 wickets to his name, he was declared man of the series in the home fixture against Australia a couple of years back when the Indians won the four Test match series without much of a scare.

Aged only 19, the world was at his feet, but what followed was a downward slide that never seemed to come to an end.

There were a number of expert opinions ranging from IPL burnout to a wrong wrist postion and as one of the television commentators rightly observed, Sharma was under the scanner every time he ran in to bowl.

Having said that, all is not lost for the Delhi paceman and his performance has been improving ever so slightly.

The upcoming series against New Zealand will be a fair indicator as to where Ishant is headed and with the World Cup round the corner, let's hope that he hits his straps and rediscovers his old self sooner rather than later.

Ishant Sharma is simply too good a player to be languishing in the wilderness for a length of time and his fall from grace would be one of the all time lows for Indian cricket.

Ponting doubts legitimacy of Sydney victory

Melbourne: Australian captain Ricky Ponting's doubts about the genuineness of his team's win in the Sydney Test against Pakistan are mounting amid reports that the ICC knew of suspected match fixer Mazhar Majeed's activities during the game.

Ricky Ponting fears one of the proudest moments of his career could not be real. © AFP

The game had been investigated and cleared of any match-fixing by the ICC a few months ago but Majeed claimed that the result was indeed manipulated during a sting operation carried out by a British tabloid.
And the latest report about ICC knowing about Majeed's activities but choosing not to issue a warning during the match has only added to the suspicions surrounding it.
"I probably have a few more doubts now that there have been some allegations made about some of the finer points and littler things that happened during that Sydney Test match," Ponting told ABC channel.
"The one thing I'm very protective of though is the performance that we put up that day ... touch wood the Sydney Test match is not one that has anything untoward happening out of it because I really feel that coming off the ground that day, that's one of the proudest moments of my career," he added.

But Cricket Australia chairman James Sutherland said he still firmly believes that the match, which the Aussies won after a stunning Pakistani collapse, was clean.

"That's scuttlebutt that is to be proven. I trust that is the subject now of a proper investigation by the ICC and we can get to the bottom of that, because if there is any truth to that then that's obviously something of great concern to cricket fans and cricket administrators all over the world," Sutherland said.

Kochi hoping for more time from BCCI

Mumbai: The deadline set by the BCCI has expired but the Kochi IPL consortium still wants some more time from the Cricket Board to resolve its internal differences.

The franchise, which has roped in former India captain Sunil Gavaskar in an advisory capacity, said it is hopeful of getting the time from the BCCI.

"We consortium partners are very close to resolving our internal differences and would like the BCCI to give us some more time and have also sought this," franchise CEO Satyajit Gaekwad told PTI on Tuesday.

"We have not defaulted on any payment to the BCCI and just want some more time," he said.

BCCI president Shashank Manohar has convened an emergency meeting of the IPL Governing Council tomorrow at Nagpur to decide on the Kochi franchise issue.

The crux of the dispute is who will run the affairs of the franchise, bought from the Cricket Board for USD 333 million, once the joint venture was formed.

The investors include corporate firms Anchor Earth, Parinee Developers, Rosy Blue and Film Wave - who hold 75 per cent of the equity.

The remaining 25 per cent has been given to the family of Gaekwads - Shailendra, his brother Ravi and their parents plus a few others, all part of the group of promoters - Rendezvous Sports World - as free equity for services rendered in successfully bidding for the franchise.

The Board had given the franchise 10 days' time on October 10 to resolve their internal differences and the franchise responded by submitting a letter to the BCCI on the last day of the deadline - October 20.

The legal team of the Cricket Board had been entrusted with the task of studying the letter which has been forwarded to Manohar.

"Today was the last day given to the the Kochi franchise for responding to the notice given to them. They held a few meetings in the last two-three days and submitted a letter which has been sent to the president (Shashank Manohar)," BCCI's Chief Administrative Officer, Prof Ratnakar Shetty, had told reporters on October 20.

Without revealing the contents of the letter submitted by the franchise, whose partners have been squabbling over the nitty gritties of forming a Joint Venture Company as per the norms and regulations stipulated by IPL, Shetty said the Board would take a call on the letter's contents after its legal department studied it.

"The president will study it, our legal team will study it before taking a decision," he said, adding that the Board, at present, has not thought about calling a meeting of the IPL Governing Council.

On having brought in Gavaskar into the franchise in an advisory capacity, Gaekwad said that it was done only after the cricket legend quit as a member of the IPL's Governing Council.

"We approached him after he was no longer a member of the IPL Council to Sunil Gavaskar to act in an advisory capacity with the franchise and he has accepted the offer," Gaekwad said today.

"He does not have any stakes in the franchise," the franchise CEO informed.

Gavaskar to power IPL Kochi team

New Delhi: The controversy behind the Kochi team has taken another turn when it was finally revealed that former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is the 'big player' who had helped the Kochi franchise pull off a stunning coup in the controversial Indian Premier League auction.

This was confirmed by the Gaikwad family which owns 25 per cent free equity and 1 per cent paid equity in the team. Gavaskar is said to have masterminded the creation of Rendezvous Sports World Pvt Ltd.

It was under the guidance of Sunil Gavasker that they decided to bid for Kochi franchise. Gavaskar was to look into the IPL Kochi's cricketing operations for a stake in the franchise.

Gavaskar had recently been dropped from the IPL governing council after the board decided not to pay any former cricketer on that board, and did not even ask Gavaskar about his availability.

The IPL governing council is expected to meet in two days to decide the fate of the franchise which is struggling with internal disputes.

Ruthless India demolish Australia

Bangalore: Debutant Cheteshwar Pujara proved an unlikely hero as India thrashed Australia by seven wickets in the second and final Test on Wednesday to sweep the series 2-0. Pujara hit a fluent 72 as the hosts, set 207 runs to win on a wearing wicket, cruised home soon after tea on the fifth and final day at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.

Veteran Sachin Tendulkar, who hit a double-century in the first innings, remained unbeaten on 53 as India enhanced their reputation as the world's number one Test side.

Ricky Ponting's Australia, preparing for next month's start of the Ashes series at home against England, slipped to fifth place behind India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Englishmen.

India followed their dramatic one-wicket win in the first Test in Mohali last week to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in front of some 20,000 jubilant home fans.

Tendulkar stamped India's superiority by smashing off-spinner Nathan Hauritz for two consecutive sixes just before the tea interval. The world batting record holder was named both the man of the match and the player of the series for notching up 403 runs in four innings at an average of 134.33.

"I don't count. Let the others count. I just want to continue scoring," Tendulkar, 37, said when asked about his awesome record this year in which he has already hit six centuries.

"This series was a fantastic one for the entire team. Pujara showed tremendous character and his partnership with Murali Vijay was very crucial one."

Pujara and Vijay put on 72 for the second wicket to revive India after the accomplished Virender Sehwag was dismissed in the third over for seven. Sehwag edged Ben Hilfenhaus to wicket-keeper Tim Paine, one delivery after hitting a four to the point boundary.

Pujara, who was promoted to number three in place of Rahul Dravid, then added 57 for the third wicket with Tendulkar before he was bowled by Hauritz. The 22-year-old, awarded a Test cap only because Venkatsai Laxman was injured, hit seven boundaries during his two-hour stint at the crease.

A disappointed Ponting admitted his team were outplayed by the hosts. "We have played reasonably good Test cricket in the series, but we were outplayed," the Australian captain said.

"We needed to get a few early wickets today, we got one, but Pujara and Vijay batted well. The crowd here have been fantastic. We would like to thank the crowd for their love and support for Test cricket."

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni also paid tribute to the large number of fans who turned up for the match on all five days. But Dhoni rued his bad luck with the toss which he has lost nine times in succession in Test matches.

"As a captain I keep losing tosses which means the bowlers have to come in and bowl on flat tracks," he said. "But they have bowled really well. In both games, the first innings was high scoring and it changed in the second innings. In India you can lose a Test in two sessions. You need to play well on all the five days."

Australia, starting the day with a lead of 185 runs with three wickets in hand, were earlier all out for 223 in their second innings an hour into the morning session.

Zaheer Khan and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha finished with three wickets each, while Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and off-spinner Harbhajan SinghAustralia will now play a three-match One-day series starting in Kochi on October 17. claimed two each. India and