Cricket News and Cricket Highlights - Crichotline

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• South Africa crush New Zealand by 8 wickets in 1st T20 at Durban #SAvsNZ
• Saeed Ajmal ready to bamboozle Indians #IndvsPak #PakvsInd
• South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 Post Match Presentation Durban 2012 #SAvsNZ
• South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 Highlights Durban 2012 #SAvsNZ
• South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 Scorecard Durban 2012 #SAvNZ
• India vs England 2nd T20 Live Streams watch online #IndvsEng
• Live Cricket Score: South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 played at Durban 2012 #SAvNZ
• India, Sri Lanka and West Indies to play tri-nation series in 2013 #IndvsSL #IndvsWI #SLvsWI
• Preview: India vs England, 2nd T20, Mumbai, 2012 #IndvsEng #IndvEngT20
• IPL 2013 schedule announced, Kolkata to open sixth season of IPL against Delhi Daredevils #IPL6 #IPL2013
• South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 Live Streams watch online #SAvsNZ
• Yuvraj Singh hopeful to carry the momentum forward ahead of Pakistan series #IndvsEng #IndvsPak

South Africa crush New Zealand by 8 wickets in 1st T20 at Durban #SAvsNZ Posted: 21 Dec 2012 11:24 AM PST South Africa humiliated the touring New Zealanders with an embarrassingly one-sided eight-wicket victory in the first of three Twetnty20 internationals on Friday. Scorecard | SA vs NZ 1st T20 Highlights The hosts dismissed their hapless opponents for just 86 before captain Faf du Plessis (38 not out) and debutant Quinton de Kock (28 not out) wrapped the game up with 7.5 overs to spare following the early dismissals of openers Richard Levi and Henry Davids. Six of New Zealand’s top seven batsmen were dismissed for single figure scores as seamer Rory Kleinveldt claimed figures of three for 18 and spinner Robin Peterson produced his country’s most economical four-over analysis in the format with figures of two for eight. Dale Steyn, who previously owned the record with just nine runs conceded, was not far behind once again with an analysis of two for 13 from three overs. Consolation was scarce for the tourists’ batsmen but at least they could claim to have been too positive rather than too cautious. In fact, they were reckless and failed to assess a pitch which was uncharacteristically dry and produced uneven bounce. Debutant Colin Munro briefly impressed with 23 from 18 balls and Doug Bracewell finished with an unbeaten 21 but it was not enough to avoid a desperate start to the tour for a New Zealand team in disarray before they even arrived following the controversial sacking of captain Ross Taylor. The second game is in East London on Sunday and the third in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.

Saeed Ajmal ready to bamboozle Indians #IndvsPak #PakvsInd Posted: 21 Dec 2012 11:19 AM PST Beginning the mind games ahead of the one-day series against the arch-rivals, ace Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal says he is ready to bamboozle the Indian batsmen with a new variety of deliveries. “I have some varieties up my sleeves for the Indian batsmen,” he said. Ajmal said the series will be a tough test for his side since India have a formidable batting line-up. “For T20 and ODI’s they have a strong batting set up and it is going to be a challenge against them. It does not matter whether I am bowling to Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli my aim is to get wickets for my team,” he said. Ajmal, who has remained among the top three bowlers in the ICC Test, ODI and T20 rankings since last year, said he was prepared to bowl on batting tracks in India. “But I have always believed that a quality spinner shows his class on such pitches against good batsmen,” he said. The spinner said he did not see the series as any revenge series for the defeats Pakistan suffered at the hands of India in the Asia Cup and World T20 Cup this year. “Every match is a new match we have a good strong side and we know that beating India in India will be a significant achievement for us. So we are focusing on this series as a new series,” he said. Ajmal was all praise for uncapped off-spinner Adnan Rasool, who performed well in domestic cricket this season. “This guy has loads of talent and he is the future Saeed Ajmal of the team. Head coach, Dav Whatmore is also impressed with him and I think he should get his chance in the Pakistan team soon,” he said.

South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 Post Match Presentation Durban 2012 #SAvsNZ Posted: 21 Dec 2012 10:44 AM PST Kleinveldt: It was not going to get any worse after the first Test in Australia. I did a lot of hard work after that. The wicket today was a bit up and down. Not as good as the wickets in Australia. I’m always keen on using my bouncer. I’ll be working on my variations before the game on sunday. Rory Kleinveldt is the MoM for his figures of 3/18. Faf du Plessis: No complaints there. I’m very, very happy. I was alright before the game. The game was going a million miles per hour. There was not much time to think. We did well to restrict them and then needed only some sensible batting to get us home. The energy on the field was good and we want to keep it that high. Brendon McCullum: We’ve got a game to focus on in a couple of days. The guys were overly keen. We came in hard and playing a lot of shots. The South Africans were just better today. We want to be aggressive but we need to get the fundamentals right too. That is the first thing. Can’t fault the boys’ attitude. We’ll be up for it for the next game.

South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 Highlights Durban 2012 #SAvsNZ Posted: 21 Dec 2012 10:28 AM PST South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 Highlights Durban 2012. New Zealand vs South Africa 1st T20 Highlights Durban 2012. Watch SA vs NZ Highlights Twenty20 Cricket played in Durban on 21 Dec, 2012. South Africa vs New Zealand 1st Twenty20 Cricket Highlights. Twenty20 Cricket New Zealand tour of South Africa 2012-13. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Onwards check back by 20:00 GMT

South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 Scorecard Durban 2012 #SAvNZ Posted: 21 Dec 2012 09:34 AM PST New Zealand in South Africa T20I Series 2012 South Africa vs New Zealand – 1st T20I Played at Kingsmead, Durban, 21 Dec 2012 Toss -New Zealand won the toss and elected to Bat. Result – South Africa beat New Zealand by 8 wickets New Zealand Inn New Zealand Innings R B 4s 6s SR Rob Nicol c Quinton de Kock b R Kleinveldt 3 5 0 0 60.00 Peter Fulton c C Morris b D Steyn 9 13 2 0 69.23 Brendon McCullum (c & wk) c D Steyn b R Kleinveldt 6 11 1 0 54.55 James Franklin c Quinton de Kock b R McLaren 0 3 0 0 0.00 Colin Munro c & b C Morris 23 18 4 0 127.78 Corey Anderson c R Levi b C Morris 5 5 1 0 100.00 Nathan McCullum b R Peterson 1 7 0 0 14.29 Jimmy Neesham b R Peterson 10 7 2 0 142.86 Doug Bracewell Not Out 21 25 3 0 84.00 Ronnie Hira c R Kleinveldt b D Steyn 5 13 0 0 38.46 Mitchell McClenaghan c R Peterson b R Kleinveldt 0 3 0 0 0.00 Extras (b 0,lb 0,w 2, nb 0) 2 Total (All Out; 18.2 overs) 86 (4.69 runs per over) Fall of wickets (New Zealand): 1-9 (Nicol, 2.1 ov), 2-19 (Fulton, 3.6 ov), 3-19 (BB McCullum, 4.5 ov), 4-27 (Franklin, 6.2 ov), 5-34 (Anderson, 7.3 ov), 6-36 (NL McCullum, 8.5 ov), 7-54 (Neesham, 10.4 ov), 8-60 (Munro, 11.6 ov), 9-81 (Hira, 17.1 ov), 10-86 (McClenaghan, 18.2 ov) Bowling O M R W Econ Ryan McLaren 4 0 27 1 6.80   Dale Steyn 3 0 13 2 4.33 (w 1) Rory Kleinveldt 3.2 1 18 2 5.40   Chris Morris 3.4 0 19 2 5.20 (w 1) Robin Peterson 4 0 8 2 2.00   Faf du Plessis 0.2 0 0 0 0.00   South Africa Inn South Africa Innings R B 4s 6s SR Richard Levi c P Fulton b M McClenaghan 0 5 0 0 0.00 Henry Davids b R Hira 20 13 3 1 153.85 Faf du Plessis (c) Not Out 38 32 6 0 118.75 Quinton de Kock (wk) Not Out 28 23 5 0 121.73 Farhaan Behardien             David Miller             Robin Peterson             Ryan McLaren             Dale Steyn             Chris Morris             Rory Kleinveldt             Extras (b 0,lb 0,w 1, nb 0) 1 Total (2 wickets; 12.1 overs) 87 (7.15 runs per over) Fall of wickets (South Africa): 1-0 (Levi, 0.5 ov), 2-45 (Davids, 5.3 ov)  Bowling O M R W Econ Mitchell McClenaghan 3 1 20 1 6.66   Doug Bracewell 2 0 21 0 10.50 (w 1) Ronnie Hira 3 0 15 1 5.00   Corey Anderson 1 0 11 0 11.00   Nathan McCullum 2 0 7 0 3.50   Rob Nicol 1 0 11 0 11.00   Jimmy Neesham 0.1 0 2 0 12.00   Teams: South Africa (Playing XI): Richard Levi, Henry Davids, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Farhaan Behardien, David Miller, Robin Peterson, Ryan McLaren, Dale Steyn, Chris Morris, Rory Kleinveldt New Zealand (Playing XI): Rob Nicol, Peter Fulton, Brendon McCullum(w/c), James Franklin, Colin Munro, Corey Anderson, Nathan McCullum, Jimmy Neesham, Doug Bracewell, Ronnie Hira, Mitchell McClenaghan

India vs England 2nd T20 Live Streams watch online #IndvsEng Posted: 21 Dec 2012 08:33 AM PST Watch India vs England 2nd T20 Cricket Live Streams Online. 2nd T20 India vs England (Ind vs Eng) Twenty20 watch live streams Online. India vs England 2nd T20 Mumbai Live streams online. Ind vs Eng cricket watch online. A good come back for India in the 1st T20 against England. After getting a good start England failed to convert that into big score and hence loosing the match by 5 wickets. England opener Alex Hales and Luke Wright played a superb innings but England lower order need to work on in the 2nd T20 match. This will be the last match of T20 series between India and England after which the ODI series will resume in January. India will look to continue the momentum as they have another importan series against Pakistan coming up. Yuvraj Singh clearly showed the potential in him. He boosted India to crush England in last T20 and now will look to repeat the same. India will go in as favorites for sure against the inexperienced England side. India-England twenty series can be watch online free on thecricket-tv.info or thecrictv.com. Match Timings: 19:00 local/IST | 13:30 GMT Squads India: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c& wk), Ambati Rayudu, Abhimanyu Mithun, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Parvinder Awana, Piyish Chawla. England: Eoin Morgan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales (wk), Michael Lumb, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, James Tredwell, Luke Wright, Joe Root, James Harris. Watch India vs England Series Live Streams on below links: 1. Star Cricket, Sky Sports HD – TheCricket-TV.info 2. Star Cricket – TheCrictv.com 3. Espnstar Live

Live Cricket Score: South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 played at Durban 2012 #SAvNZ Posted: 21 Dec 2012 07:51 AM PST Toss: New Zealand have won the toss and elected to bat Teams: South Africa (Playing XI): Richard Levi, Henry Davids, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Farhaan Behardien, David Miller, Robin Peterson, Ryan McLaren, Dale Steyn, Chris Morris, Rory Kleinveldt New Zealand (Playing XI): Rob Nicol, Peter Fulton, Brendon McCullum(w/c), James Franklin, Colin Munro, Corey Anderson, Nathan McCullum, Jimmy Neesham, Doug Bracewell, Ronnie Hira, Mitchell McClenaghan

India, Sri Lanka and West Indies to play tri-nation series in 2013 #IndvsSL #IndvsWI #SLvsWI Posted: 21 Dec 2012 04:56 AM PST The West Indies and Sri Lanka will renew their rivalry when they face each other in a limited overs Tri-Nation Series next year, that also involves powerhouse India. The tournament, which runs from June 28 to July 11, will be hosted in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The West Indies were originally scheduled to host Sri Lanka in two Tests, three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals but the tour has now been deferred to allow players from both teams to participate in the Indian Premier League. While the Tests have been put back, the one-dayers will be absorbed in the Tri-Nation Series. The West Indies will open the tournament with a clash with India at Sabina Park June 28 and two days later face Sri Lanka, who they beat in the final of the World T20 Championship last October. Three matches will be played at Sabina Park while four matches, including the final, will be staged at Queen’s Park Oval. The final will be contested by the two teams with the most points after the six preliminary round matches. For the West Indies, the Tri-Nations is part of a busy 2013 schedule which also sees Zimbabwe touring the Caribbean for two Tests, three ODIs and two Twenty20s, and Pakistan arriving for a limited overs series.

Preview: India vs England, 2nd T20, Mumbai, 2012 #IndvsEng #IndvEngT20 Posted: 21 Dec 2012 02:30 AM PST After rebounding superbly from the Test loss to England with a convincing victory in the Twenty20 series opener, India would be keen to complete a clean sweep of the shortest format by winning the second and final game here on Saturday. Having gained the winning momentum again, the hosts would be eager not to let it go out of grasp especially with the high-profile series against Pakistan to follow immediately after the conclusion of the T20 stint at the Wankhede Stadium. India will take on Pakistan in a two-match T20 series from December 25 to be followed by a three-game ODI series. England, who have suffered their first reversal to India in a bilateral T20 game after having lost two others in the World T20 events, would also look forward to squaring the rubber and returning home for Christmas and New Year on a high note. Though India cantered home on Thursday night, the home team has some issues to solve immediately in both batting and bowling to achieve their aim of a 2-0 whitewash. In bowling, the beginning and end overs are still a worry with debutant Parvinder Awana, who had a poor game, and Ashok Dinda bowling too short yesterday to be punished by the hard-hitting Alex Hales who blitzed his way to 56 with seven fours and two sixes. Though Dinda came back later to bowl well and take two wickets, Awana’s nervousness cost him 29 runs in two overs at either end of the innings and he is expected to give way to Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Abhimanyu Mithun on Saturday. Even Ravichandran Ashwin, who started off well and bowled a maiden over to the left-handed Michael Lumb before taking his wicket too, was carted around later to concede 33 runs. Ravindra Jadeja gave away 22 runs in three and Piyush 24 in the same number of overs. But for Yuvraj Singh’s brilliant stint in the middle overs, when he got 3 for 19 to halt Hales and Luke Wright from running away with the game, India could have conceded 15-20 more runs, a fact not lost on rival skipper Eoin Morgan. “We got off to a fantastic start – Alex and Luke really came together as a pair – but from there we didn’t really kick on,” said Morgan. Hales and Wright added 68 runs in quick time, thrashing the Indian bowlers, before Yuvraj turned the match around with a 3-19 spell that included both these batsmen’s wickets as well as Morgan’s. In batting too, India started off brilliantly before openers Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane threw away their wickets in close succession by trying to hit big. It was Yuvraj’s experience and his ability to clear the rope at will that helped the home country steady the innings and then surge to a comfortable victory with 13 balls to spare. The left-handed dasher smashed 38 in 21 balls to help India regain the early advantage. Then useful contributions from Virat Kohli (21), Suresh Raina, who was also needlessly run out for 26 and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (24 not out), saw the home team cross the finish line. England too have their problems, the prominent among them is to find an effective spinner in the middle overs as Danny Briggs’ left-arm spin was taken to the cleaners along with James Tredwell’s off spin. Stuart Meaker provided the extra pace to trouble the Indian batsmen, including Yuvraj, and Tim Bresnan was also impressive, while Wright was effective with his slow medium bowling. In batting, Hales, who had flopped in his previous three games against India, came good yesterday with his forthright batting. England would hope the others that includes their hard-hitting captain Morgan deliver in the last game of the first half of their visit. Teams: India (Probable): Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda. England (Probable): Michael Lumb, Alex Hales, Luke Wright, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (wk), Eoin Morgan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Tim Bresnan, Jade Dernbach, Samit Patel, Stuart Meaker. Time: 13.30 GMT (19.00 local)

IPL 2013 schedule announced, Kolkata to open sixth season of IPL against Delhi Daredevils #IPL6 #IPL2013 Posted: 21 Dec 2012 02:01 AM PST The schedule for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 was announced on Friday with the tournament to commence on April 3 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will open their campaign at home against last year’s semifinalist Delhi Daredevils (DD) in the inaugural match of the Pepsi Indian Premier League 6. The 2013 season’s lung opener could not have got any better as two of the strongest teams in the tournament will set the tone for the high-octane Twenty20 tournament over the next eight weeks. One of the many highlights of the sixth edition of the tournament will be the debut of Sunrisers Hyderabad, who joined the IPL fraternity in October this year. They will begin their IPL innings with a home game against Pune Warriors India on April 5. The tournament will be played in the same format as the 2012 edition. Each of the nine participating teams will play the other eight twice, at home and away basis. The top four teams, at the end of the round-robin stage on May 19 will qualify for the Playoffs. The Qualifier 1 and Eliminator games will be played at the M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai the home ground of the IPL 2012 runners-up – on May 21 and May 22 respectively. The Qualifier 2 encounter and the Final, will be played at the Eden Gardens the home ground of the 2012 edition winners on May 24 and 26 respectively. As many as eleven venues have been confirmed to host the matches. The nine home venues apart, matches will be played at two arenas that will be making their ODI debuts in January. The last two ‘home’ games of the Kings XI Punjab will be played at the HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala, which has hosted seven IPL matches since 2010. The Jharkhand State Cricket Association International Stadium Complex at Ranchi, will host the last two ‘home’ games of the Kolkata Knight Riders. “The countdown to PEPSI IPL 2013 has begun. We are poised to witness a competition that will be as, if not more, spectacular, than its predecessors,” said IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla. “The greatest cricketers on this planet will join forces with the stars of the future, to deliver some exhilarating cricket for their respective teams. The teams will play hard, but fair, and the most consistent of the lot will be crowned the champion on 26 May 2013,” he added. The schedule for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 was announced on Friday with the tournament to commence on April 3 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will open their campaign at home against last year’s semifinalist Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural match of the Pepsi Indian Premier League 6. The 2013 season’s lung opener could not have got any better as two of the strongest teams in the tournament will set the tone for the high-octane Twenty20 tournament over the next eight weeks. One of the many highlights of the sixth edition of the tournament will be the debut of Sunrisers Hyderabad, who joined the IPL fraternity in October this year. They will begin their IPL innings with a home game against Pune Warriors India on April 5. The tournament will be played in the same format as the 2012 edition. Each of the nine participating teams will play the other eight twice, at home and away basis. The top four teams, at the end of the round-robin stage on May 19 will qualify for the Playoffs. The Qualifier 1 and Eliminator games will be played at the M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai the home ground of the IPL 2012 runners-up – on May 21 and May 22 respectively. The Qualifier 2 encounter and the Final, will be played at the Eden Gardens the home ground of the 2012 edition winners on May 24 and 26 respectively. As many as eleven venues have been confirmed to host the matches. The nine home venues apart, matches will be played at two arenas that will be making their ODI debuts in January. The last two ‘home’ games of the Kings XI Punjab will be played at the HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala, which has hosted seven IPL matches since 2010. The Jharkhand State Cricket Association International Stadium Complex at Ranchi, will host the last two ‘home’ games of the Kolkata Knight Riders. “The countdown to PEPSI IPL 2013 has begun. We are poised to witness a competition that will be as, if not more, spectacular, than its predecessors,” said IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla. “The greatest cricketers on this planet will join forces with the stars of the future, to deliver some exhilarating cricket for their respective teams. The teams will play hard, but fair, and the most consistent of the lot will be crowned the champion on 26 May 2013,” he added.

South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 Live Streams watch online #SAvsNZ Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:15 PM PST Watch South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 Cricket Live Streams Online. 1st T20 New Zealand vs South Africa (SA vs NZ) Twenty20 watch live streams Online. South Africa vs New Zealand 1st T20 Pune Live streams online. SA vs NZ cricket watch online. Another exciting is about to sart with a lot happening in both the camps. There were lot of talks on Ross Taylor sacking in the New Zealand board and now the team will be looking for a fresh start. South Africa making a complete turn around of the T20 team. AB de Villiers have opted to rest, so youngster Faf du Plessis will lead the new look team of the proteas. South Africa team have lot of young new players in the squad which haven’t played any international cricket. This will be their chance to prove themselves and find a place in South Africa team. On the other hand, New Zealand too are coming with some youngsters and will look to start the tour with a win. South Africa vs New Zealand twenty series can be watch online free on thecricket-tv.info or thecrictv.com. Match Timings: 18:00 local | 16:00 GMT | 21:30 IST Squads South Africa (From): Richard Levi, Faf du Plessis(c), Morne Morkel, Justin Ontong, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock(w), Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Henry Davids, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Aaron Phangiso, Rory Kleinveldt, David Miller, Chris Morris, Ryan McLaren New Zealand (From): Rob Nicol, Brendon McCullum(c), James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Doug Bracewell, Nathan McCullum, Derek de Boorder(w), Trent Boult, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Corey Anderson, Peter Fulton, Ronnie Hira, Colin Munro, James Anderson, Mitchell McClenaghan Watch South Africa vs New Zealand Series Live Streams on below links: 1. Ten Cricket, Sky Sports HD – TheCricket-TV.info 2. Ten Cricket – TheCrictv.com

Yuvraj Singh hopeful to carry the momentum forward ahead of Pakistan series #IndvsEng #IndvsPak Posted: 20 Dec 2012 10:45 PM PST Off to a good start in Twenty20s after the “shattering” Test debacle, India batsman Yuvraj Singh said he was confident that the team would carry the momentum not only into the second and final tie against England on Saturday but also into the upcoming series against arch-foes Pakistan. “In Twenty20s and ODIs, we have done well against them. Hopefully, we can carry the momentum, particularly with the important series against Pakistan coming up,” said Yuvraj after India’s five-wicket win over England in Pune last night. The all-rounder played a key role, taking 3 for 19 to half England’s progress in batting and then smashed 38 in 21 balls with three sixes and two fours to help India overhaul the visitors’ score of 157 for 6 with five wickets to spare. India will take on Pakistan in a two-match T20 series commencing at Bangalore on December 25. The second game of that series is scheduled at Ahmedabad on December 28. This would be followed by a three-match ODI series against the neighbours from December 30 this year to January 6, 2013 after which India would engage England in a best-of-five ODI series from January 11 to 27. “Losing 4-0 (in Test series in England last year) and 2-1 (recently in the four-match Test series at home) was quite shattering. England played better cricket but we beat them 5-0 in the one-dayers (last year),” said Yuvraj who was part of the Test squad that got beaten by England. Yuvraj said the younger lot of players improved the fielding of the team. “It’s important to win the first game and get a good start. If we lose we are again trying to win back. With youngsters coming in the fielding is much better and this win also gives momentum and more confidence for the rest of the series and Pakistan,” he added. Yuvraj, who has been unable to replicate his superb show in T20s and ODIs at the Test level, said the shortest form of the game offered him a chance to play freely. “When T20 comes I play a bit openly. I enjoyed my batting and my bowling was effective and contributed to the team.” The left-handed player, who resumed his cricket career after undergoing treatment for cancer, said the spinners, including himself, had applied the brakes in time to halt England’s flying start in the first game in Pune. “When the openers start hitting it’s always a worry. May be we could have chased 180190 but our spinners did a good job I also bowled well and the 2-3 wickets broke the momentum,” Yuvraj said. He was as flummoxed as many how his part-time left arm spin is so effective, but gave a clue saying he slowed down the pace of his bowling to reap rich rewards last night. “Even I am not sure why I take so many wickets. I do my best. I was bowling faster initially and it was easier for the batsmen so I slowed it down a bit.” Yuvraj, who returned after recovering from a rare germ cell cancer, said he is happy to play for the country again whatever be the form of the game. “I need to look forward in life. I am happy to be alive and proud to be playing for India again whether it is T20 or ODI or Test,” he said. Asked about his fitness, Yuvraj said he was getting close to what he was before the disease was diagnosed. “One year back I was in the hospital. I can’t compare it at all but I have to work harder and more hours to be where I was. I have to also get the confidence of winning for India,” he said. Yuvraj felt the best way forward for India was to include more youngsters in the squad. “Youngsters coming in is good for the team. We have (Parvinder) Awana and Bhuvneshwar Kumar who have done well. (Suresh) Raina, (Virat) Kohli and Rohit (Sharma) have been part of the Indian team and I look like a veteran. We have been giving opportunities to youngsters and that is the way to go,” he said.

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