Wasim Akram in all-time World XI

KARACHI: Sachin Tendulkar is the only current player in ESPNcricinfo’s all-time Test World XI, which is dominated by Australians and West Indians, reflecting their pre-eminence in Test cricket over the years.

Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Wasim Akram were the other players from the last two decades to make it to the XI, which featured seven players who made their debuts after 1970.

Four Australians, three West Indians, two Englishmen, an Indian and a Pakistani make up the XI.

Three players were unanimous choices, figuring in the first XIs of each of the 12 members of the jury (each juror was asked to pick a first XI and a second) – Don Bradman, Garry Sobers and Shane Warne, each of whom got the maximum points possible in the exercise, 60. Tendulkar followed with 51 points.

Perhaps the biggest surprise the XI threw up was the gap between Warne

Qureshi aims to serve up peace at U.S. Open

NEW YORK: Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi only took up tennis to avoid doing homework, but now the doubles specialist is a household name back home with his exploits at the U.S. Open and his bid to broker peace.

The 30-year-old lost in the finals of the mixed doubles on Thursday but will get another shot at his first grand slam when he teams up with India’s Rohan Bopanna in the men’s doubles final against the top-seeded Bryan brothers on Friday.

Qureshi and Bopanna have been trying to use their tennis partnership to promote more peaceful relations between India and Pakistan.

The pair wear sweatshirts emblazoned with the slogan “Stop War, Start Tennis” and there has been talk of a match being played across the India-Pakistan border.

“I’ve always said there’s no reason the Indians and Pakistanis can’t get along with each other,” said

Charged-up Sri Lanka Beat India, Clinch Tri-series Title

Sri Lanka defeated India by 74 runs in the in the tri-series final in Dambulla today. Chasing a victory target of 300, India were bundled out for 225 runs. Earlier, Tillakaratne Dilshan struck a blistering century as Sri Lanka exploited a sloppy bowling display by the Indians to amass an imposing299 for eight in the cricket tri-series final in Dambulla on Saturday.
Dilshan notched up his eighth ODI century to provide the impetus to the Lankan innings who capitalised on some wayward bowling by the Indians to rattle up a decent score at the Rangiri International stadium.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara (71) and Mahela Jayawardene (39) were the other notable scorers for the hosts who have left India with a stiff asking rate of nearly six runs per over to record their second successive series triumph on Lankan soil in three months.
Electing to bat, it was not a fiery start for the hosts as both the Lankan openers took some time to settle down and opened up gradually to pile up the misery on the visitors. After the first few overs, the Indian bowlers seemed to lose their rhythm and bowled a lot of loose deliveries.
The home crowd had a lot to cheer when Tillakaratne Dilshan hit two cracking fours off Praveen Kumar and Mahela Jayawardene produced a lofted drive off Ashish Nehra in the first few overs.
There was a minor altercation between Dilshan and Munaf Patel, who collided with the batsman in the seventh over, but normalcy was restored after umpire Asad Rauf and Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni intervened and pacified the two players. Dilshan was more agressive of the two openers, who raised the best opening partnership of the series so far by putting on 121 for the first wicket.
Ishant Sharma provided the breakthrough for the visitors by evicting the experienced Mahela Jayawardene (39) with Dinesh Karthik latchinng on to a well-judged catch. Jayawardene reached forward and tried to wrist a length delivery across the line but only succeeded in spooning a catch to Karthik at the sweeper cover. But his dimssal came only after he had achieved a personal milestone of completing 9000 runs in ODIs, becoming only the third Sri Lankan to achieve the feat after Sanath Jayasuriya (13,428 runs) and Aravinda de Silva (9824 runs).

Pietersen in England squad despite lack of cricket

LEEDS: Kevin Pietersen was named in England”s 12-man squad on Sunday for the first of four Tests against Pakistan starting at Trent Bridge on Thursday despite not having played any cricket for nearly a month because of a thigh injury.

England”s selectors wanted Pietersen to play for Hampshire on Sunday but the county have not included him in their team after he announced his intention to leave the south coast side at the end of the season.

Former Ireland batsman Eoin Morgan retained his place after two moderate displays in England”s 2-0 home series win against Bangladesh in May and June.

Fast bowler Stuart Broad and all-rounder Paul Collingwood have returned to
the Test squad after being rested for the Bangladesh series.

Promising quick Steven Finn also retained his place, as did Yorkshire seamer Ajmal Shahzad, who made his debut against Bangladesh.

Pakistan go into this series on the back of their 1-1 draw with Australia in a two-Test encounter wrapped up with a three-wicket win inside four days at Headingley on Saturday.

England squad: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin
Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wkt), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Ajmal Shahzad

Depleted Sri Lanka eye series win over India

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka hope to overcome a weakened bowling attack and secure a series-clinching win in the second Test against India from Monday, their first match in the post-Muttiah Muralitharan era.

The world bowling record holder bid farewell to Test cricket last week by leading the hosts to an emphatic win in the first match in Galle, claiming eight scalps to end his career with 800 wickets.

Sri Lanka suffered a further blow ahead of the second Test at the Sinhalese sports club (SSC) when sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who grabbed 5-50 in the second innings at Galle, was ruled out with a knee injury.

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara was confident the absence of Muralitharan and Malinga, who claimed 15 of the 20 Indian wickets between them, will not hamper his team”s progress in the series.

“We have bowlers who are looking for a chance to make a mark for themselves,” said Sangakkara. “This is their opportunity to prove themselves.”

Unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis will replace Muralitharan, while fast bowler Dilhara Fernando is expected to come in for Malinga.

Mendis, 25, is no stranger to the Indians, having grabbed 26 wickets in
three Tests against them on his debut in 2008 to fashion Sri Lanka”s 2-1 series win at home.

Mendis, who has 44 wickets so far in 10 Tests, reminded the Indians of his prowess when he took 6-67 in a three-day practice match at the start of the current tour.

The absence of Muralitharan and Malinga will bring relief to the Indians, who folded up for 276 and 338 in good batting conditions at Galle to lose by 10 wickets and put their number one ranking at stake.

India cannot afford another slip-up because a 2-0 or 3-0 series scoreline in Sri Lanka”s favour will remove Mahendra Singh Dhoni”s men from the perch and lift the hosts to the top spot.

India”s lone series win in Sri Lanka came way back in 1993, but coach Gary Kirsten was confident his team will bounce back in the remaining two Tests.

“The boys realise they did not play well in Galle and are determined to make amends,” Kirsten said. “This team knows how to win.”

India managed to take just eight Sri Lankan wickets in Galle as off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, the bowling spearhead in the absence of the injured Zaheer
Khan, failed to strike in either innings.

Kirsten was, however, delighted at seamer Abhimanyu Mithun”s four-wicket haul on debut in Sri Lanka”s massive 520-8 declared.

“I think he bowled superbly and showed a lot of heart in the long innings,” the coach said. “That was one of the bright spots for us at Galle.”

India may field the same 11 at the SSC although leg-spinner Amit Mishra is waiting in the wings to replace left-armer Pragyan Ojha, who went wicketless in 28 overs that cost 115 runs.

Opener Virender Sehwag, who hit a robust 109 in the first innings and a double-century on the previous tour in 2008, is the lone Indian to reach three-figures in a Test in Sri Lanka since 1999.

But the tourists will be heartened by a fluent 84 from veteran Sachin Tendulkar and half-centuries from Yuvraj Singh and Venkatsai Laxman in the first Test.

Zardari vows to triumph over political crisis

BEIJING: President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday ruled out handing over the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to India but said the “non-state actors” who derailed the Indo-Pak rapprochement will “hopefully” be brought to justice.

He said his government was on way to complete its five-year term, vowing to overcome ongoing political crisis in Pakistan.

Zardari, who concluded a five-day visit to China, told the state-run television in an interview that Pakistanis involved in the Mumbai attacks cannot be handed over to India as there was no extradition treaty between the two countries.

“I do not think it works like that between two nations. There has to be bilateral treaties of that sort, which do not exist between us. But we are trying those people in Pakistan. Hopefully we will bring the offenders to justice,” he said.

He said the non-state actors who attacked Mumbai had succeeded in derailing the India-Pak peace process, but hoped India”s “mature democracy” would show “foresight” in taking forward the resumed talks.

“I will remind you that when the incident of Bombay took place my Foreign Minister was in Delhi trying to sign a treaty with the Indians for a rapprochement, in that we had the concept of fighting terrorists together also,” he said.

However, the “non-state actors” managed to stall it for some time, he said.

“Now I think it is back on track and hopefully will go forward,” he said, insisting that Pakistan wants to be friends with all its neighbours.

“India is (our) neighbour, (a) large neighbour. We are from the same South Asia (background). Hopefully we both work it out in a mature fashion and come together,” he said.

He said Pakistan, as a “younger democracy” was always willing to appreciate India”s “mature democracy” and expects the latter to have “a mature posture and foresight better than ours”.

“But in any case we will do our part to make sure that the future for the coming generations is better that the one we inherited,” he said.

Zardari, however, refused to give a clear response on Pakistan”s opposition to India having a more active role in Afghanistan.

He merely said Afghanistan is a sovereign country and “I am not in a position to encourage or discourage”.

There has been concern in Pakistan over India”s growing influence in Afghanistan.

Asked if Pakistan believed the US was adopting double standards in trying to have a relationship with both India and Pakistan and whether Islamabad was not comfortable with this, Zardari said: “we compliment that (triangular) relationship”.

He pointed out that Pakistan did not oppose India”s civil nuclear deal with the US.

India, SA biggest threats to Pak in T20 WC: Inzimam

KARACHI: First edition”s winner India and South Africa are going to be the biggest threats to Pakistan”s ambition to defend the Twenty20 World Cup title in the West Indies, feels former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.

“India and South Africa, I think, are the greatest threats to Pakistan”s ambition to win the T20 World Cup. I am very impressed with the disciplined way South Africans play, while the Indians have some dangerous players with plenty of flair,” Inzamam said.

Inzamam, however, said that the Pakistan squad is a balanced one and have the wherewithal to defend the title.

“The way I see it this Pakistan team is well balanced and so strong for this format of the game. It shouldn”t lose to any team unless they self-destruct with internal issues,” said Inzamam, the country”s most capped player.

IPL 2010 Final : Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings match Video Highlights

IPL 2010 Final match Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super kings at Dr. D Y Patil Cricket Stadium Mumbai.Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat First. Chennai Super Kings made a slow start and slumped to 67/3 in the 12 Over but after Suresh Raina’s Rainy innings 57 runs in 35 balls and his his 72 run Partnership in only 5.5 Overs with Dhoni.and Chennai Super Kings made 168/5 in 20 Overs a competitive score against Mumbai Indians Team.Mumbai Indians start bed Shikhar Dhavan out in 0 runs but Sachin Tendulkar Playing very good with injury,he made 48 runs in 45 balls with 7 magic shots.at last Kieron Pollard Played very well made 27 runs in just 10 balls but Mumbai Indians not made victory in the IPL 2010 Final. Chennai Super Kings win the match by 22 runs and win IPL 2010 Title. Man of the match : Suresh Raina , Man of the Series : Sachin Tendulkar

IPL 2010 Final: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings match Full Scoreboard

Chennai Super Kings Batting
Murali Vijay c S Tiwary b D Fernando 26(19b,1/4,2/6)
Matthew Hayden c A Rayudu b K Pollard 17(31b,1/4,1/6)
Suresh Raina not out 57(35b,3/4,3/6)
Subramaniam Badrinath c L Malinga b D Fernando 14(11b,2/4)
MS Dhoni (c & wk) c D Fernando b Z Khan 22(15b,2/4,1/6)
Albie Morkel run out (A Rayudu) 15(6b,1/4,1/6)
Srikkanth Anirudha not out 6(3b,1/4)
Extras: (lb 3, w 11
Total: (5 wkts, 20 ovs) 168

Mumbai Indians Bowling
Harbhajan Singh 4 0 30 0
Lasith Malinga 4 0 33 0
Zaheer Khan 4 0 34 1
Dilhara Fernando 4 0 23 2
Kieron Pollard 4 0 45 1

Mumbai Indians Batting
Shikhar Dhawan c M Dhoni b D Bollinger 0(8b)
Sachin Tendulkar (c) c M Vijay b S Jakati 48(45b,7/4)
Abhishek Nayar run out (M Dhoni) 27(26b,1/4,2/6)
Harbhajan Singh lbw b S Raina 1(2b)
Ambati Rayudu (wk) run out (M Dhoni/A Morkel) 21(14b,1/4,1/6)
Saurabh Tiwary c S Raina b S Jakati 0(2b)
Jean-Paul Duminy c S Jakati b M Muralitharan 6(7b)
Kieron Pollard c M Hayden b A Morkel 27(10b,3/4,2/6)
Zaheer Khan run out (R Ashwin) 1(3b)
Lasith Malinga not out 1(1b)
Dilhara Fernando not out 2(2b)
Extras: (b 1, lb 6, w 5) 12
Total: (9 wkts, 20 ovs) 146

Chennai Super Kings Bowling
Ravichandran Ashwin 4 1 24 0
Doug Bollinger 4 0 31 1
Albie Morkel 3 0 20 1
Muttiah Muralitharan 4 0 17 1
Shadab Jakati 3 0 26 2
Suresh Raina 2 0 21 1

IPL 2010 Final: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings Video Highlights

IPL 2010 Closing Ceremony: Bipasha Basu

Full Match : IPL 2010 Match 60- MI vs CSK :-

AWARD CEREMONY – MATCH60 – IPL 2010 – MI v CSK :-

Iran to deploy ”bomber drone” by next year

TEHRAN: Iran”s elite Revolutionary Guards have said that by March next year it will deploy a domestically manufactured drone capable of carrying out air strikes.

“The super advanced bomber drone, manufactured by the Revolutionary Guards, will be operational in the second half of this year,” Guards Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said referring to the Iranian year ending on March 20, 2011.

He did not give details on the aircraft.

Iran”s drone technology has caused concern in the United States, with Defence Secretary Robert Gates recently warning they could pose “difficulty” for the military in Afghanistan.

In February, Iran opened two production lines for the manufacture of the drones, saying the unmanned aircraft would be capable of carrying out “assaults with high precision.”

Hamid Karzai to visit India on Monday

NEW DELHI: Afghanistan”s president will visit India next week to strengthen the “strategic partnership” between the two countries, the Indian foreign ministry said Saturday.

President Hamid Karzai will arrive Monday for the two-day trip at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the ministry said in a statement.

“The visit provides an opportunity for both sides to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest,” the ministry said.

The trip comes two months after nine Indians were killed in February in one of the deadliest Taliban suicide attacks on foreigners in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that claimed a total of 16 lives and left 20 people critically injured.

After the attacks, Singh asked Karzai to ensure full protection for Indians working in the conflict-racked nation.

India blames Pakistan-based militants for the February attack in Kabul, an Indian government source said earlier this month.

Analysts say India and Pakistan are locked in a struggle for influence in Afghanistan, which could bring new instability to the country as US-led international troops eye their exit after mid-2011.

Singh is expected to reiterate New Delhi”s concern about militants targeting Indians in Afghanistan to Karzai, who is en route to Bhutan for a meeting of South Asian regional leaders, Indian media reported.

Karzai”s visit will be an “opportunity for India to express its firm commitment and support to the government and people of Afghanistan,” the Indian foreign ministry added.

Since a US-led invasion ended the Taliban”s 1996-2001 regime, India has committed at least 1.2 billion dollars to Afghanistan, mainly aid for social services including health and education, making it one of the biggest regional donors.

The two countries are historically close and many urban Afghans speak Hindi and Urdu learned watching Bollywood movies.

Some 4,000 Indians are building roads, sanitation projects and power lines. India is also building the new Afghan parliament.

Last Wednesday, the government said 17 Indians had been killed in Afghanistan since 2008 but added it had no plans to scale down its operations there.

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