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Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's dad "is sure" that his son "dreams" of playing for Real Madrid.

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Badri Kvaratskhelia unveiled Khvicha's desire for Real MadridNapoli winger a childhood fan of Los BlancosChelsea, along with other clubs, monitoring Kvaratskhelia's situationWHAT HAPPENED?

The Napoli winger was living his dream when he stepped onto the hallowed pitch of the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night during the Champions League encounter against the record champions. Kvaratskhelia has been a childhood fan of Real Madrid, as earlier revealed by his agent, and his father Badri Kvaratskhelia reinstated that the winger still harbours the desire to put on the white shirt in the future. Real beat Napoli 4-2 in midweek

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Speaking to , Badri said: "For Khvicha, playing against Real Madrid was special. He has always dreamed and I am convinced that he still dreams of playing for Real Madrid. In my family, everyone is a fan of Los Blancos – except for me. For this reason, it was a very special match."

GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Chelsea are reportedly keen to sign Kvaratskhelia, who comes with a €100 million (£87m/$109m) price tag. The 22-year-old Georgia international has been in sensational form since he moved to Napoli the previous summer and played a key role in their Serie A title-winning campaign in 2022-23, with 14 goals and 17 assists in 43 matches across all competitions. However, the Blues face stiff competition for the player from several European elites like Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Newcastle.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR KVARATSKHELIA?

Napoli might be struggling to keep pace with leaders Inter in Serie A but Kvaratskhelia continues to shine for the defending champions with four goals and an equal number of assists in 12 matches in the Italian top flight. He has shown no signs of slowing down and will be eager to continue with his rich vein of form when The Parthenopeans take on Inter on Sunday evening in a league fixture.

If Bangladesh manage to win again in Mirpur on Sunday, they will achieve their first ever series win against Pakistan

The Preview by Mohammad Isam18-Apr-2015Match factsSunday, April 19, 2015
Start time 1430 local (0830 GMT)Mashrafe Mortaza is set to return and lead Bangladesh in the second ODI•BCBBig pictureBangladesh winning the first ODI by a whopping 79 runs will be enough to stoke the fire of an opponent that had enjoyed an unbeaten 16-year run. For once, in the history of Bangladesh-Pakistan matches, it is a real contest. The second ODI holds so much promise; the series is on the line.Pakistan played the first match with seven changes to the XI that lost the World Cup quarter-final against Australia last month. Two players made their debuts and the batting line up was rejigged. The new ODI captain Azhar Ali did his part with 72 off 73 balls, while Haris Sohail and Mohammad Rizwan also made half-centuries. Mohammad Hafeez and Fawad Alam did not contribute much.Azhar and the Pakistan coach Waqar Younis have a tricky job of fine-tuning the batting order. They won’t want to expose their best batsmen too early, but someone like Fawad Alam could also use more time at the crease. They need runs to enhance the threat posed by their strength – the pace attack and Saeed Ajmal.Wahab Riaz took four wickets, but Rahat Ali and Junaid Khan had little success or control. Ajmal conceded 74 runs in ten overs too. Pakistan have to pick a fifth bowler or Azhar Ali must juggle the part-timers with a more imagination.Bangladesh are still riding the wave of their World Cup performance. Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim scored hundreds and put together a record ODI partnership for the team. They batted with a rarely seen confidence, while their bowlers did an efficient job of defending a large total.Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed shared six wickets, but Rubel Hossain’s verve would have encouraged the team management. Mashrafe Mortaza now looks like the perfect foil for the two young pace bowlers, as he will return after serving his over-rate ban.Form guideBangladesh WLLWW (last five matches, most recent first)Pakistan LLWWWIn the spotlightArafat Sunny’s three wickets in the first ODI took his tally to 11 in his last three home matches. The left-arm spinner is accurate and has a mean arm-ball that is faster than his stock delivery. Bangladesh will expect more control from him in the second game.Azhar Ali had a tough captaincy debut but considering it was his first ODI in more than two years, he exceeded expectations. He scored at a brisk rate, much faster than his career strike-rate. He will be expected to contribute more as an opener and captain to justify his elevation to leadership.Team newsWith Mashrafe returning, he is most likely to replace Abul Hasan, who conceded 42 runs in five overs in the first game. The rest of Bangladesh’s line-up should remain unchanged.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Mahmudullah, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Sabbir Rahman, 7 Nasir Hossain, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Arafat Sunny, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Rubel HossainPakistan might pick a fifth bowler because their three part-timers went for 79 in ten overs. Ehsan Adil has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. Umar Gul, who is part of the T20 team, has replaced him and could have a shot at playing his first international match since December 2014. Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar is another option.Pakistan (probable): 1 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 2 Azhar Ali (capt), 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Haris Sohail, 5 Mohammad Rizwan, 6 Fawad Alam, 7 Saad Nasim/Zulfiqar Babar, 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Junaid Khan, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Rahat AliPitch and conditionsThe Mirpur pitch will continue to make teams want to bat first. A bit of movement will be on offer if it is humid, but a 2:30 pm start usually makes for a big first-innings total. The forecast suggests a chance of a shower later in the evening.Stats and trivia Mashrafe Mortaza will become the third Bangladesh cricketer to play 150 ODIs. He has played 147 for his country, and two for Asia XI in 2007. Mohammad Rizwan is the ninth Pakistan batsman to make a 50-plus score on ODI debut.Quotes”We can win like we did in the first ODI consistently. I believe we can win the series. The first win has boosted our confidence but we must remember that the second game won’t be easy either.”
“I think my team will come back strong. I know my team. As a bowling unit they will bounce back, you will see a much more improved performance in the next game.”
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VRV Singh, the Punjab fast bowler, marked his return to first-class cricket after an absence of five years with a five-wicket haul against Haryana in Lahli

Devashish Fuloria28-Nov-2013VRV Singh, the Punjab fast bowler, marked his return to first-class cricket after an absence of five years with a five-wicket haul against Haryana in Lahli. He last featured in a first-class match in the 2007-08 season, taking ten wickets in North Zone’s Duleep Trophy triumph, but a series of injuries – first to the foot and the ankle, then a more serious one to the back – threatened to cut his career short.”It feels great, because that’s (playing cricket) what I wanted to do,” VRV Singh told ESPNcricinfo after the first day’s play in Lahli. “Hopefully, I can continue the performance as we go forward in the season.”During his prolonged absence from first-class cricket, VRV Singh did play a handful of domestic T20s, the last one in March 2012, almost a year after his back surgery, but then he disappeared again. On Thursday, bowling in top-flight domestic cricket for the first time in 20 months, he didn’t look like the fittest cricketer, but then as coach Bhupinder Singh Sr had said at the start of the season, he proved to be the “surprise package”. VRV Singh made the batsmen play and got rewards, bowling a spell of 16-4-38-5.”I had some issues with my back, on which I had undergone surgery in the past,” he said. “I was recovering from it and was working on my fitness. Early September, I started playing a few one-day matches in the local tournaments.”His return was carefully managed, according to Bhupinder, because the team didn’t want to rush VRV’s re-entry. He performed well in the last two matches of the inter-district tournament one month prior to the Ranji season, but Bhupinder said the team wanted to start with an attack that did well in the previous season.”There are always question marks on fitness when you don’t have much cricket behind you,” Bhupinder said. “That’s why we wanted to be very sure that the ones we take in should last the entire season. We played some practice matches and he [VRV Singh] did well, so we hoped he would last the whole season.””He is a good bowler and he is coming back from injury after three years. He bowled tight lines and it was a good performance. I am happy for him.”VRV Singh, who has played five Tests for India, said the last few years had been tough, but he was hoping to find his groove. “I was ready for the struggle, that’s what you have to do if you want to play cricket. It was just a start today and as we go forward, hopefully the rhythm, fitness and the pace will improve further.”

England continued their impressive preparations for the World Twenty20 with a 28-run victory against West Indies at Old Trafford

Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford10-Sep-2012
ScorecardSarah Taylor scored an entertaining 53•Getty ImagesEngland continued their impressive preparations for the World Twenty20 with a 28-run victory against West Indies at Old Trafford – their 19th unbeaten game in a row – having been lifted to a demanding total by a high class innings from Sarah Taylor who made 53 off 37 balls.It was a fantastic innings by Taylor, who struck seven boundaries, and she judged when to increase the tempo perfectly after West Indies’ spinners had made scoring hard work following a brisk opening stand between Charlotte Edwards and Laura Marsh.””We got off to a great start today,” Taylor said. “I was really pleased to find the boundary early and then ran hard with Arran later on. It was another good team performance with everyone contributing and two outstanding catches from Anya and Susie; we pride ourselves on our fielding. We aim to put a marker out in every single game and we’ll be looking to do that in the remaining three matches of this series.”Taylor’s first boundary was an inside-out drive through cover when she used her feet to the slow left-arm of Shanel Daley who had removed England’s openers. She then later broke a sequence of 27 deliveries without a boundary with back-to-back fours off Shemaine Campbelle. The placement of the shots was what stood out, threading the ball past fielders with precision and Taylor was soon expanding her repertoire further with a scoop over short fine-leg. The men playing afterwards would have to go quite some to match the innings.The main stand of the innings came between Taylor and Arran Brindle as the pair added 78 in 10 overs for the third wicket. Brindle was the quieter partner as Taylor dominated the scoring but used her pace between the wickets to keep the scoreboard ticking and pressurise some poor West Indies fielding.However, after Taylor’s departure West Indies did well to deny England any boundaries in the final four overs of the innings although a total of 150 was always going to be a tough ask for a side held to 71 for 8 in the previous match. While one Taylor shines, it is the absence of another – Stafanie – that is making life tough for the visitors.At least the openers, who had both been dismissed for opening-over ducks at Chester-le-Street, gave the innings some foundation with a stand of 35 and were not far from matching England’s pace. The home side were given plenty of chances to make the first breakthrough, spurning three run-out opportunities, one of which cost five runs, before Taylor again showed her prowess comes with gloves as well as bat with a swift stumping to remove Juliana Nero. That gave Danni Wyatt a wicket with her fourth ball and Wyatt struck again in her next over when Tremayne Smartt picked out long-on.West Indies never threatened to get close to the target, although it was far better performance than the first T20, as England’s bowlers chipped away and the highlights of the remainder of the match were a couple of stunning catches. The first was at mid-off by Anya Shrubsole, diving horizontally at mid-off, to remove the dangerous Deandra Dottin as Brindle began with a maiden in the 12th over. Then, in the closing stages of the innings, Susie Rowe avoided a collision as she ran backwards from midwicket. On this evidence, England remain a class above.

Two of the players named in court evidence against Chris Cairns have stood by their statements about his involvement in match-fixing during live video link evidence from India

Alan Gardner at the High Court12-Mar-2012Three of the players named in court evidence against Chris Cairns have stood by their statements about the former New Zealand international’s involvement in match-fixing during live video link evidence from India. Their testimony formed part of the sixth day of hearings in Cairns’ libel case against Lalit Modi, the former commissioner of the IPL, at the High Court in London.Cairns is suing Modi for defamation over a 2010 tweet that implicated him in fixing. Cairns denies the reason for his dismissal from the Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2008 was in linked to alleged corruption, maintaining that failing to disclose an ankle injury was behind his suspension.Gaurav Gupta, Karanveer Singh and Rajesh Sharma, three of Cairns’ former Chandigarh Lions team-mates who have made separate accusations against him, appeared via a video link-up from Delhi. Gupta, a batsman who played first-class cricket for Punjab, has alleged that Cairns told him to score “no more than five runs” during a match between Chandigarh and Mumbai Champs.Questioned about evidence given by Andrew Hall, the former South Africa international who succeeded Cairns as captain of Chandigarh, Gupta denied telling Hall that the instruction had been given by Dinesh Mongia.”No, Chris Cairns told me between the innings and on the pitch as well,” Gupta said. It has previously been claimed in court that Cairns joined Gupta in the middle, with the latter on 4, and told him to “Get out now”.Karanveer, a legspinner who was 19 at the time, described a meeting in which Mongia, a former India international, allegedly told him and his father that everyone within the ICL, from “top to bottom” knew about fixing. He said that he was “shocked” and “broken from inside” to hear the Mongia’s claims.He described a subsequent conversation with Cairns that took place during training, in which Karanveer was asked if he had spoken to Mongia.”This talk was about match-fixing, I was very much convinced,” Karanveer said, though Cairns did not refer to any specific instructions. Karanveer added that he did not report either Mongia or Cairns to the ICL because he was scared that the blame would be shifted on to him.The court also heard from Rajesh Sharma, another witness for Modi, who required the assistance of a Hindi translator to give evidence. He restated his claim that Cairns told him to “keep quiet” about match-fixing and said that he had concluded from this conversation that Cairns was involved. Cairns denies discussing fixing with Sharma.Sharma, who has admitted to receiving money from spot-fixing, said he did not report Cairns’ name to ICL executives or Hall, when questioned, because it would have become a “bigger problem” for him.The judge, David Bean, has allowed for a break in proceedings on Tuesday before summing up speeches on behalf of the claimant and the defence begin on Wednesday. Bean will then retire to consider his verdict.

Brad Haddin has said Australia have mentally recovered from the defeat to New Zealand, and are ready for the Indian challenge

Sidharth Monga at the MCG25-Dec-2011Brad Haddin has said Australia have mentally recovered from the defeat to New Zealand, and are prepared to face India. “I think we’re in a very good space,” he said on the eve of the Boxing Day Test. “We’ve had a week to prepare. We couldn’t be more prepared and more looking forward to the game. Boxing Day is a great occasion to walk out on the MCG. As a sportsman it’s a highlight to come out in front of sometimes 60-70 thousand. We’ve had a very good couple of days at our batting camp and we’re ready for this.”Haddin has had an ordinary year with the bat, with two half-centuries in 14 innings, although both of them set up wins for the side. At the batting camp in the lead-up to the match, he said, he worked more on the mental side of things. “From my point of view it’s not the swinging ball,” he said. “It’s just making sure my mindset is just playing at the tempo I play at, don’t try to take the game forward too quick and just react to the game.”Similarly the three senior batsmen in the line-up, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey, have been under pressure, especially with a total experience of five Tests among the top three. “I think it’s important that we all stand up,” Haddin said. “After our series against New Zealand we are very much looking forward to this. You talk about our inexperienced top three, I think we’ve got a very in-form top three, which is good, and if we’re going to do any good in this series it’s going to be from one to seven with the bat. We’ve all got to perform. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got our game heads on and ready to go.”One of those top three is debutant Ed Cowan, Australia’s 10th new Test cap this year. “He’s very excited like we all are,” Haddin said. “The one thing in Ed’s favour, he’s coming off some very very good form and he is feeling confident. He played the Indians last week. It’s an exciting time to make your Test debut and especially Boxing Day. It’s a massive event and he’ll be up for the challenge. There will obviously be some nervous energy today, tomorrow, but he will deal with that.”Haddin admitted he didn’t know quite what to make of the speculation around the fitness of Indian quicks. “I think they rely on the two big boys quite a lot,” he said. “With the injury cloud I don’t think too much about that with this Indian team. Once they take the field they seem to roll out all right. We know where their strengths are, but we also know there are areas that we can get the game moving forward and develop the game as quick as we like.”Haddin spoke about freeing the mind of too many thoughts now that all the preparation is done and there are fewer than 24 hours to the toss on Boxing Day. He then went off to the Christmas lunch with his team-mates and their families. “It’s an exciting time of the year.”

Preview of the Under-19 World Cup final between Australia and India in Townsville

The Preview by George Binoy in Townsville25-Aug-2012Match factsAustralia v India, Under-19 World Cup final
August 26, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
Start time 0930 (2330 GMT, previous day)
Defending champions Australia are unbeaten in 2012; India are the team with the most silverware in their trophy cupboard over the previous 12 months•ICC/GettyBig PictureOn April 15 this year, Under-19 teams from Australia and India played a final at the pastoral Endeavour Park in Townsville. They were competing for the Quad series trophy and the world at large didn’t care too much. For the record, India won. The two teams clash again in a final on Sunday, at Tony Ireland Stadium, and this time more people will care. The World Cup is at stake.Defending champions Australia, seeded No. 1 before the tournament began in Queensland on August 11, and India, seeded sixth, were drawn in different halves of the competition. They would not face each other unless they made it to August 26. That both teams did so gives the World Cup a fitting final: Australia, winners in 2010 and unbeaten in 2012, against India, the team with the most silverware in their trophy cupboard over the previous 12 months.The final is now a promoter’s dream, and one cannot help but wonder if this was the hope at the start. It seemed odd that Australia would have faced their group opponents England, and India would have played West Indies, in the semifinals had those teams made it that far.Expect a sizeable crowd on Sunday, more Australians of course, but the Indians make up for smaller numbers with higher decibel levels. There will be millions watching on television too, in Australia and in the wee hours of cricket’s largest market, the subcontinent. Very few of the players taking the field will have done so under such attention; most never will again.There will be a raging party at only one of the Oaks Hotels on Palmer Street on Sunday night.Road to the finalAustralia beat England by six wickets, Nepal by 212 runs, Ireland by six wickets, Bangladesh by five wickets in the quarter-final, and South Africa by four wickets in the semi-final.India lost to West Indies by four wickets, beat Zimbabwe by 63 runs, beat Papua New Guinea by 107 runs, beat Pakistan by one wicket in the quarter-final, beat New Zealand by nine runs in the semi-final.Key battlesThe new-ball threat: India’s batting line-up is more top heavy than Australia’s, and how Unmukt Chand, Prashant Chopra and Baba Aparajith fare against Joel Paris, Mark Steketee and Gurinder Sandhu could decide how competitive the final is. They’ll need Vijay Zol to pull his weight in the middle order too. “They [India] haven’t play their best cricket, I don’t think, especially with the bat, but we’ll be ready for a better side,” Sandhu said. “If you put a bit of pressure on any team that’s what happens, they lose wickets at the wrong time. If we stick to our plans, we can do that as well.” Australia have key performers at the top and in the middle, and appear a better-balanced batting side.Australia’s batsmen v spin: The left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh and offspinner Baba Aparajith have backed up India’s capable pace attack superbly. Harmeet has been bowling slower, with flight, drift and turn, and taken six wickets in three matches with an economy of 2.83. Aparajith focuses on being economical, bowling a little quicker, and he has four wickets and conceded 3.71 per over. Also, the left-right combination will give Chand options against Australia’s right and left-hand batsmen. In their semi-final, Australia’s scored only 14 runs off South Africa offspinner Prenelan Subrayen’s ten overs.The toss: William Bosisto has won two out of three tosses at Tony Ireland Stadium and the only time Australia’s batsmen have had to face the new ball in the morning at this venue has been against Nepal. India, on the other hand, have been sent in three times and have plenty of experience of setting a target. “No matter how many times you’ve played there, there’s always something in it for the bowlers,” India coach Bharat Arun said. However, if the conditions tomorrow are like they were in the semi-final against New Zealand, sunny with a flatter pitch, India could fancy a bat and let their bowlers do what they’ve done best all tournament – defend a target. If they aren’t, however, then bowling first is a no-brainer and a significant advantage.Team newsUnless there are fitness issues, neither team is likely to make a change to their line-up. Australia gave all 15 of their squad members a game during the group stage but then settled on a XI that they used to win the quarter-final and semi-final.Australia (probable): 1 Cameron Bancroft, 2 Jimmy Peirson (wk), 3 Kurtis Patterson, 4 Meyrick Buchanan, 5 William Bosisto (capt), 6 Travis Head, 7 Ashton Turner, 8 Mark Steketee, 9 Joel Paris, 10 Gurinder Sandhu, 11 Alex Gregory.In the first group game against West Indies, India played three spinners and two seamers. Since then, they’ve played two spinners and three quicks, with medium-pacer Rush Kalaria and spinner Vikas Mishra being benched and Kamal Passi and Ravikant Singh getting a go. After Harmeet recovered from his illness, in time for the knockouts, India played an unchanged team.India (probable): 1 Unmukt Chand (capt), 2 Prashant Chopra, 3 Baba Aparajith, 4 Hanuma Vihari, 5 Vijay Zol, 6 Akshdeep Nath, 7 Smit Patel (wk), 8 Harmeet Singh, 9 Kamal Passi, 10 Ravikant Singh, 11 Sandeep Sharma.Pitch and conditionsThe weather in Townsville is expected to be cloudy in the early morning but clear once it’s time for the toss. Conditions for batting will still be hardest during the first hour of the game.Stats and trivia Australia have two batsmen – Jimmy Peirson and Meyrick Buchanan – who have scored only 89 runs between them in nine innings. India also have two – Hanuma Vihari and Akshdeep Nath – who’ve scored only 113 in ten. India’s batsmen have scored seven half-centuries in five matches, but their highest individual score is Chand’s 78 against Zimbabwe.Bosisto’s been dismissed only once in five innings in this tournament – he was run out against South Africa – and has an average of 189.Ravikant, who’s playing his first Under-19 tournament for India, is their highest wicket-taker: 11 in four games. Despite Australia’s strength being pace, offspinner Ashton Turner has been their most successful bowler, with ten wickets in five games.Australia have conceded 66 wides and two no-balls in their progress to the final. India have conceded 36 wides and six no-balls.Quotes”It certainly helps having played a side before. So there’s not so much of the unexpected. Having said that, I think each time you play an opponent, they are going to be slightly different. They are not going to do the same thing over again. Come Sunday, we know to expect a tough opponent. We know we’re up for a contest.”
“Trying to approach it [the final] as a normal game, it’s not that easy. All of us are excited and I hope by tomorrow everything sinks in. Right now, let the boys enjoy and let them have fun. But tomorrow, once we go to the practice nets, we’ll again start talking about game plans – how we need to play the finals, what we need to do.”

Misbah-ul-Haq is satisfied that Pakistan have done enough to strengthen their batting ahead of the Test series against South Africa

Firdose Moonda in Abu Dhabi13-Oct-2013Misbah-ul-Haq is satisfied that Pakistan have done enough to strengthen their batting ahead of the Test series against South Africa. After dropping Mohammad Hafeez, who failed to score more than 25 in last ten 10 Tests innings, Pakistan will have two inexperienced openers in Khurram Manzoor and one of the uncapped duo of Ahmed Shehzad or Shan Masood, but Misbah is certain the new-look top two can produce.”The conditions suit us, especially our batting. Our openers have very good records on these two grounds [Abu Dhabi and Dubai],” he said. “The team is in good shape and we will really give South Africa a hard time.”This will be the first time since 2010 in the UAE, when the venue started being used as Pakistan’s home, that they will not have a top two consisting of Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar, who were successful in these conditions. In eight Tests against South Africa (2), Sri Lanka (3) and England (3), they had three century stands, three half-century partnerships and averaged 44.87. Individually, they had one big hundred – Taufeeq’s 236 against Sri Lanka – and five half-centuries.The lack of experience of that kind could be something for Pakistan to be concerned about, especially when considered in its context. Pakistan’s younger batsmen have not performed up to expectations and have left a large amount of the work for the likes of Younis and Misbah, but the captain is backing the younger guys to come good this time.”We had a few concerns with the batting line-up but over the practice games most of the guys did well,” he said. “We have good confidence going into this Test match, especially in the batting line-up. The runs scored by the openers is a big positive for us and a good sign for our team.”Shehzad and Masood both scored half-centuries for Pakistan A against the South African attack they will face in the Test series. Although the Sharjah pitch did not offer much in the way of seam or spin, they handled South African quick bowlers with impressive patience upfront and good technique later on, and took on the spinners in a way that underlined their ability against slower bowling.The rest of Pakistan A’s line-up also profited in the practice game. Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq scored 54 and 42 respectively. In the other warm-up fixture, Younis carried on from where he left off in Zimbabwe with a century in the Pakistans game against the UAE, while Adnan Akmal scored 71 at the top – perhaps an indication he may be deployed in that capacity – and Abdur Rehman got a half-century as well. Manzoor had slightly less to feel comfortable about, after he was dismissed for 1.Misbah believed conditions which will be less hostile than what they faced in South Africa earlier this year will serve as motivation for the team to continue building on their commendable showing – given that they don’t play at home – during his time as captain. “In my time as captain, this bunch of guys has really performed well. When I took over, we were under pressure because of what happened with the spot-fixing scandal, but this team really kicked off and the young guys played really well. Keeping in mind that we are not playing at home and not playing much cricket, still this team is playing really well.”A lot of the younger generation have never played a match in Pakistan and the adjustment has been challenging for them. Misbah said they are slowly starting to see the UAE as an adopted home and getting used to thinking of it as their own. “We’ve been playing here for the last three years so it feels like playing at home,” he said. “We want to prove to the world we are still a good team.”

MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings captain, has put his side’s crushing loss to Mumbai Indians down to a lack of focus following their seven-game winning streak in IPL 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff06-May-2013MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings captain, has put his side’s crushing loss to Mumbai Indians down to a lack of focus following their seven-game winning streak in IPL 2013. The batting in the chase of 140, Dhoni said, was “a comedy of errors”.”Before the match our coach Stephen Fleming was a bit worried about us being complacent. I think that was on the cards after winning seven games in a row. Mentally we were not into this game at all,” Dhoni said after the game. “We should have got 140. There was a comedy of errors, especially, in the batting department.”Super Kings folded for the lowest score in IPL 2013, bowled out for 79 in the 16th over. The Mumbai Indians bowlers were very efficient, but several of the batsmen threw away their wickets. While it was a nightmare evening for the team, Dhoni said he was happy they were shaken up at this stage of the tournament. “I think it was a good wake-up call for us,” he said. “With a few more games to go, we got it at the right time.”Coach Fleming reflected Dhoni’s thoughts: “It was the first day in the tournament which we would like to forget. I guess the positive part about this defeat is that it happened now. Four more games are left [for Super Kings in the round-robin stage] and it’s a pretty long tournament to maintain your standards.”But winning seven in a row was a pretty good effort. The nature of the competition is such that it [winning eight consecutive games] has not been done before. There is a reason for that because getting up every day, performing well and being consistent is tough work. Today we were not just good enough to do that.””There was a comedy of errors, especially, in the batting department.”•BCCIBoth Dhoni and Fleming agreed that Super Kings’ bowlers did a good job. “The way we started the match was fantastic. We also got wickets at regular intervals,” Dhoni said. “[Dwayne] Bravo bowled really well. It was a mistake on my part that I didn’t give him another over. Having said that, death bowling still remains a concern.”Fleming said the pitch was a bit different from the usual offerings in the IPL, but that did not justify his team’s implosion. “It was a little different to what we have been playing on. The spongy nature of the Mumbai wicket made stroking the ball a bit difficult. There wasn’t a lot of sideways movement or lot of spin. Just the nature of the bounce was a bit different to any other pitch. But that’s not an excuse for being bowled out for 70-odd.”For the second time in the tournament, R Ashwin received a rather baffling promotion up the order. In the game against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Ashwin opened with Super Kings chasing 120. Here, with Super Kings 18 for 4, he came out at No. 6 ahead of Dhoni. Fleming said that decision was taken to try to stabilise the innings before the finishers came in. “Ashwin is a capable bat. The most important thing was stopping the wickets.”In not chasing a big total, it did not matter wasting two-three overs. We have faith in Ashwin and thought if he can get a 10 to 20-run partnership going with Hussey it may change the game with the likes of Dhoni and [Ravindra] Jadeja to come.”

Diana Edulji, the former India Women captain, has hit out at the “discriminatory” attitude of the BCCI, and said the board is not interested in running women’s cricket beyond paying “lip service”

Abhishek Purohit29-Jan-2013Diana Edulji, the former India Women captain, has criticised the “discriminatory” attitude of the BCCI and said the board is not interested in running women’s cricket beyond paying “lip service”. She warned that the women’s game in India is in danger of dying out if the current situation persists.Edulji, one of India’s pioneering woman cricketers, was on the BCCI’s women’s committee and was also manager of the Indian Women team in 2009. It was a “dream” when the BCCI took over women’s cricket a few years ago – in line with ICC regulations – but now the bubble has burst.”The BCCI is running women’s cricket because they have to run it, because the ICC is now running both men’s and women’s cricket,” Edulji told ESPNcricinfo. “Otherwise, there is no women’s cricket. They cannot play under any other banner. I would say it is an insult to women’s cricket to be treated this way.”She was scathing about the gender-based double standards prevalent in the game’s administration. As an example, she spoke about how the India Women team preparing for the Women’s World Cup had been put up in a centrally-located but budget hotel before being shifted to the luxury Taj Mahal Palace hotel a couple of days ago.”I was driving and on Marine Drive I saw this whole bunch of red t-shirts coming. I realised it was the India Women team,” Edulji said. “They were walking from Sea Green [the hotel] to the Wankhede [Stadium]. I stopped my car, and the way they greeted me, I felt nice, but I also felt that this is the Indian national team, and they are walking on the street?”And where are they playing? Police Gymkhana, Hindu Gymkhana, Bombay Gymkhana? Would any men cricketers play there?”India’s international and domestic women cricketers had to make do with significantly lower match fees and other benefits, Edulji said, and combined with a sustained lack of exposure, there was little motivation to take up the game apart from pure love of the sport. “The players should be getting the maximum. The irony is, in women’s cricket it is the other way round; the selectors get the maximum, then come the match referees, and then come the players. So how are you going get girls to come into cricket? And what is the domestic match fee? Rs 2500 (US$ 47 approx). Where are you going to eat, if you stay in a four-star hotel? And for T20 it is even less, Rs 1250.”Despite consistently being among the top-ranked players in the world, Edulji said India captain Mithali Raj had little chance of being recognised in public due to the lack of visibility of women’s cricket in India. “I may be boasting. Still, when I go to movies or restaurants, I am still recognised. But I am sure if Mithali is with me, she won’t be recognised. It is sad. I still feel nice when someone comes up to me and introduces me to their children. And why shouldn’t these girls get the recognition? Jhulan [Goswami] is a Padma Shri [winner], she’s an Arjuna awardee, so is Mithali.”However, Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said the board was giving women’s cricket adequate support. “Women’s cricket has come under BCCI’s wings in 2006. Since then, the board has done an excellent job with it,” he said. “We have extended the best of facilities to women cricketers. All the state associations have thrown open all their training facilities to the girls. Besides, virtually every team has all the requisite support staff, including a coach, a physio and a trainer.”All the girls are very happy with these facilities. The board is focussing on shorter formats for women’s cricket because almost all the international calendar revolves around T20s and ODIs. And the women’s committee’s suggestion of splitting the inter-state competitions into Plate and Elite group has been accepted. Next year onwards, top 10 teams will play each other, thereby increasing the level of competition.”