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- Preview: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils, Champions League T20 2012
- Preview: Perth Scorchers vs Titans, Champions League T20 2012
- Pakistan not getting to play at home is unfair: Misbah-ul-Haq
| Preview: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils, Champions League T20 2012 Posted: 12 Oct 2012 12:30 PM PDT
The champions of the fifth edition of IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders clash with Delhi Daredevils in their first match of Champions League Twenty20 at SuperSport Park, Centurion on Saturday. The Delhi camp would be upbeat after Virender Sehwag was declared fit to play the first match against Kolkata following an ankle injury which he sustained during the World Twenty20 match against South Africa. Mahela Jayawardene and David Warner have been in good touch, but the indifferent form of Sehwag would be a concern for Delhi.
Not to forget, Kevin Pietersen will also be part of the team after his brief hiatus from Test cricket due to controversial reasons and the right-handed batsman is short of match practice. But players like Pietersen and Sehwag just need one game to bounce back to form. Delhi’s pace bowling would be lead by Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav and Irfan Pathan, while the spin department looks barren without a specialist bowler and maybe Pietersen can roll his arms. On the other hand, Kolkata have to deal with the form slump of captain Gautam Gambhir and his team would like to see him get back to runs at the earliest to give mileage to their batting. Moreover, Kolkata will heavily bank on the batting of Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum and Yusuf Pathan. The only weak link to Kolkata – is their bowling, lead by the mystery spinner Sunil Narine, Brett Lee and Laxmipathy Balaji and fill in bowlers, Shakib Al Hasan and Iqbal Abdulla. The West Indian offspinner won’t pose much threat to the opposition because most batsmen would have sorted him out by now. Probable XIs: Delhi Daredevils: 1 Mahela Jayawardene, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 David Warner, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Andre Russell/Unmukt Chand, 6 Ross Taylor, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Umesh Yadav, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Naman Ojha 11 Ajit Agarkar  |
| Preview: Perth Scorchers vs Titans, Champions League T20 2012 Posted: 12 Oct 2012 12:02 PM PDT
The Champions League T20 2012 will kick off with South Africa’s Nashua Titans taking on Australia’s Perth Scorchers at Centurion on Saturday. The Titans qualified for the tournament by winning the domestic T20 competition in the country. They beat the Lions by 45 runs in a one-sided final. The Scorcher meanwhile qualified by making it to the Big Bash League final where they lost to Sydney Sixers by 7 wickets. The Titans would have been a much stronger team had Morne Morkel, Albie Morkel and Faf du Plessis not chosen to play for their respective IPL franchises. Also, the pull-out of AB de Villiers from the tournament due to an injury was a big blow to them. However, they still have fast bowler Alfonso Thomas. Thomas, who plays for Pune Warriors India in the IPL, has plenty of experience and his bowling on the familiar wickets holds the key for the Titans. Then there are Jacques Rudolph and the explosive David Weise from whom the team has high expectations.
The Scorchers, on the other hand, have a lot of star attractions. They have a string of effective T20 players. Mitchell Marsh is one of them. The 20-year-old allrounder scored the maximum runs in the Big Bash League this season with 309 runs at an average of 51.50. The Scorchers are also rich in experience as they have the likes of Marcus North, the captain of the team, Simon Katich, England allrounder Paul Collingwood, Herschelle Gibbs and Brag Hogg, who is still playing T20s for Australia, in their squad. Looking at both the teams, the Scorchers have a slightly upper hand thanks to the presence of some seasoned players in their team. However, it’s an unpredictable format and it’s tough to choose a clear favourite. With a local team featuring in the match, the Supersport Park in Centurion is expected to be packed to the rafters. Since there is very little enthusiasm about the tournament with many people calling for it to be scrapped, it’s important the opener gets off to a flier. Both teams should be aware of it. Probable XIs: Scorchers: 1 Herschelle Gibbs 2 Marcus North (C), 3 Luke Ronchi, 4 Mitchell Marsh, 5Paul Collingwood 6 Simon Katich 7 Nathan Rimmington 8 Nathan Coulter-Nile 9 Brad Hogg 10 Michael Beer 11 Ben Edmonson  |
| Pakistan not getting to play at home is unfair: Misbah-ul-Haq Posted: 12 Oct 2012 01:59 AM PDT
“We are a big Test-playing country and it is not fair for us as well as for the other Test-playing countries and world cricket that we are not getting to stage international cricket,” said Misbah. “It is the responsibility of the cricket boards and their respective governments to come out with policies and ensure how teams can visit Pakistan in the future,” he told the Gulf News newspaper. No Test-playing nation has visited Pakistan since March 2009 when terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore killing six Pakistani policemen and a van driver and wounding some of the visiting players.
Since then, Pakistan has been forced to host its ‘home series’ on neutral venues such as Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. The 38-year-old Misbah said Pakistan’s last-four finish at the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka showed that the team was doing well in difficult conditions and rising to the challenge despite not playing international cricket in front of home fans. “It is a big dilemma and it is time the cricketing world comes together to push for international cricket in Pakistan,” he added. Misbah also commended the idea of hosting the Pakistan Premier League and said it is a very important step which would aid the development of the game. “The PPL will help in developing the temperament and skills of players. It will also throw up some new talent. The exposure the players will get will help them acquire professionalism. It is very important for Pakistan to go for it,” Misbah said. Misbah’s plea comes a few days after Australian umpire Simon Taufel called for international cricket to return to Pakistan. (PTI)  |
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