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Ravindra Jadeja’s strong showing in the Ranji Trophy has been rewarded with a maiden call-up to India’s limited-overs side for the tour of Sri Lanka. Medium-pacer Praveen Kumar, who was surprisingly dropped for the home ODIs against England, also makes a return. The selectors have made only two changes from the 15-man squad that took on England in the fourth and fifth ODIs two months ago, with Jadeja and Praveen replacing Harbhajan Singh, who is out with a hamstring injury, and batsman Virat Kohli.Jadeja, part of India’s World Cup-winning Under-19 squad and IPL champions Rajasthan Royals last year, made a compelling case for himself with his Ranji Trophy performances for Saurashtra this season. He was, by a fair margin, the allrounder of the tournament. Along with Mumbai’s Dhawal Kulkarni, he was the leading wicket-taker, with 42 wickets, and he scored 739 runs at 67.18 to finish sixth on the run-scorers’ list.The selectors have largely stuck with the team that beat England 5-0. Irfan Pathan, whose selection ahead of RP Singh during the England series raised eyebrows, retains his place. Praveen’s inclusion bolsters the pace attack, which also includes Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel. There is no place yet for Sreesanth, who is fit again after a prolonged side-strain problem.Praveen was not among the leading wicket-takers in the Ranji Trophy but was a key member of the Uttar Pradesh side that reached the final. His omission for the England ODIs had been a strange decision – he had backed up his performances in the CB Series finals against Australia last year with consistent, economical spells on subcontinental decks.With Harbhajan injured, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who spent the England series on the bench, keeps his place – had Harbhajan been fit, Jadeja was tipped to replace Ojha – as the lone specialist spinner. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, though, will have plenty of effective spin options: Yusuf Pathan, Jadeja, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh (who bowled plenty of overs during England’s visit).On the batting front, Rohit Sharma has been included despite his patchy form at the international level following an impressive CB Series last year in Australia. He performed well for champions Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, scoring two of his three hundreds in the final. Kohli missed out despite impressing in the absence of Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar in the ODIs in Sri Lanka last year.The short trip to Sri Lanka, which begins on January 28, comprises five ODIs and a Twenty20 international – the first in Sri Lanka. The Indian team will assemble in Chennai on January 25 – where they will practise under lights at the MA Chidambaram Stadium – and leave for Sri Lanka the next day. All but one ODI, the fifth at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, will be day-night affairs.India squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Pragyan Ojha.

Former chief operating officer of the PCB, Shafqat Naghmi has hit back at claims of financial irregularities by the PCB, claiming that the renovation work at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium may still be completed for Rs 184 million (around $2.3 million). Naghmi said that the figure had not spiralled to Rs 471 million as the present board had earlier claimed.The PCB stopped work on the project at the stadium – which is also the cricket board’s headquarters – on Friday after they discovered “massive irregularities” in the construction of the far end pavilion. Further, the architect behind the project was also believed to be a “buddy” of Naghmi’s.”It’s true that the initial cost was Rs 142 million, but it was revised to Rs 184 million and not at what the PCB is now claiming,” Naghmi told . “It’s an exaggerated revised figure and I have no idea from where this has come.”The present PCB regime had termed the project as a “monumental disaster” and “fraudulent tender”, with chairman Ijaz Butt placing the blame fully on the men they replaced last August in a strongly-worded, no-holds barred statement.According to the PCB statement, the project had to be stopped after the cost more than tripled to Rs 471 million from an initial Rs 142 million.However, Naghmi said the PCB had paid the contractor Rs 142 million and now only Rs 42 million remained to be paid to complete the project. “I talked to the contractor today and even he is willing to complete the project, but I don’t know why the PCB has stopped the renovation work,” he said.

Scorecard

The West Indians had a rough start to their New Zealand tour, Auckland completely dominating day one of their three-day match at the Eden Park Outer Oval. Riding on captain Richard Jones’ unbeaten 186, Auckland finished the day on a commanding 359 for 2 after electing to bat.The West Indians enjoyed a good beginning after drizzle forced a delayed start, Fidel Edwards dismissing Martin Guptill for 10, edging to slip. But Jones, in partnership with left-handed opener Tim McIntosh, crafted a 223-run stand that deflated the attack. After helping Auckland to 134 for 1 at lunch, Jones moved briskly to his century. McIntosh fell for 78 shortly before tea, taking his tally for the summer to 418 runs at 69.00, but Jones found another able ally in Reece Young, on 56 at stumps. The two have added 125 so far.Jones, who has played one Test and five ODIs for New Zealand, hit 25 fours and three sixes in his 13th first-class century. Playing in his 108th match, the 35-year-old Jones will resume day two just two runs short of equalling his personal best of 188.The West Indians will resume hoping for a better showing from their bowlers. First Test hopefuls Kemar Roach and Sulieman Benn went wicketless, while Edwards was expensive. Fast bowler Lionel Baker, who impressed in a 3-0 ODI loss to Pakistan last month, collected McIntosh’s wicket.They will expect more from their batsmen on a pitch where domestic cricketers have enjoyed batting this season. Last week’s domestic State Championship match between Auckland and Wellington yielded 974 runs for only 12 wickets in a rain-reduced affair.This fixture is the only practice match for the tourists ahead of the first of two Tests against New Zealand, starting in Dunedin next Thursday.

Scorecard
Baluchistan nearly pulled off what would have been a fantastic win after following on and taking five wickets in Punjab’s chase of 76. Bad light stopped play 3.3 overs in to the chase at which point Punjab were at 17 for 5.At the start of day four, Baluchistan were struggling in their follow-on at 42 for 2. They soon slipped to 45 for 3 when Mohammad Talha had Zulfiqar Babar caught behind for a duck. It looked like Punjab would get their first win of the tournament by an innings when the first-innings top scorer Bilal Khilji fell for 13. But No. 6 Saeed Bin Nasir began a rescue effort with a fairly attacking innings; he scored 16 fours and two sixes in 150-ball 119. He added 45 with Saeed Anwar jnr and 106 with Kamran Hussain (52). But it was Hussain’s eight-wicket stand with Gulraiz Sadaf (48) that gave Baluchistan the lead.Punjab would have thought the match was sealed when they needed a little over four an over at the start of the chase. Even when they lost their first wicket with ten on the board, things looked upbeat. But then four wickets fell – Asad Ali took two in two balls – with the score at 17. The match at this point could have gone either way though Punjab may have chosen to be cautious rather than lose any more wickets. In the end bad light ended what would have been an exciting finish. Asad took 3 for 1 and and Hussain took 2 for 16.

Scorecard

Michael Klinger continued his incredible career rejuvenation since moving to South Australia with an unbeaten double-century that gave the Redbacks a handy lead over Western Australia. At stumps on the third day Klinger was on 221 and South Australia had ground their way to 6 for 434, with an advantage of 125.Klinger moved to Adelaide during the off-season after managing two centuries in a decade in and out of the Victoria line-up; he has now matched that number in his first four games with South Australia. Klinger has 582 Sheffield Shield runs at 116.40 this season and is nearly 300 clear of his nearest rival.He batted right through the third day at the Adelaide Oval and had faced 475 deliveries. Klinger had a strong ally for much of the time as Cameron Borgas found some much-needed form and registered his third first-class century.Borgas made 105 in their 265-run partnership before he was caught behind off Trent Kelly. It was a tough day for the Warriors bowlers; by the close of the hot and tiring day all but two Western Australians had been used by the captain Marcus North.Aaron Heal and Adam Voges stopped Callum Ferguson and Graham Manou from offering too much support to Klinger, but by then the first-innings points already belonged to the Redbacks. By the close North even threw the ball to the opener Liam Davis and his first over for his state ended Aaron O’Brien’s innings on 24 and spelled the end of a long, hot day.

After negotiating a compromise with the Trinidad’s first-team players, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) has offered to compensate the players they recruited as replacements for the Stanford Super Series.Members of the replacement squad were offered “ex gratia” or compensatory payment by the TTCB after the board reached a compromise with the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) over the participation fee for the squad originally picked for the tournament.The reported that the payouts could amount to around $3000 per player for the 14 replacements, called up after a standoff developed between the original squad and the board.”We met with them today and gave them an ex gratia payment, but right now we don’t know if there is a legal position,” TTCB chief executive Forbes Persaud was quoted as saying on Wednesday. “One person was absent and the majority of them accepted.”Trinidad and Tobago play the opening match of the Stanford Super Series against the Stanford Superstars on October 25, before taking on Middlesex, the English domestic Twenty20 champions, and the England national side. The match against Middlesex will have a total prize of US$400,000 at stake.

Forget the cocoa tea, green tea or coffee this morning. Could we get some clarity instead, please? When there is so much silence, you know that there must be something going on that the authorities would prefer we knew nothing about.Whether it’s the wheelers and dealers of Wall Street deciding which size cardboard box they will need to take their personals with them, PNM politicians strategising after being exposed as a rabble of boldfaced liars last Friday, or the Stanford 20/20 people wondering how they can minimise the impact of a damaging revelation, this is indeed the environment in which spinners come into their own.Now is not the time for pace like fire and yorkers speared directly into leg stump. No sir, you have to take that shiny, incriminating new ball and rub it vigorously on the turf. To hell with the rules, of course, before tossing it to the trusty tweaker, who will toss up a bewildering assortment of googlies, doosras and gazunders (I learnt that one from an Australian journalist. It’s their equivalent of a “rat”, you know, that “goes under” your bat) to divert attention from the burning issue.And the burning issue related to the Stanford Superstars squad, apart from any speculation you may wish to venture into, is one of simple arithmetic. According to a report carried in the Barbados-based , on Wednesday, two members of the Stanford Superstars squad originally selected to face England on November 1 in the US$20 million winner-take-all clash in Antigua failed drug tests.Here’s what Dr Adrian Lorde, chairman of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO), was quoted as saying:”Caribbean RADO was contracted to do the drug tests for the Stanford Superstars, as we were for the Stanford 20/20. We did drug tests and there were two adverse analytical findings, which is the equivalent to two positive tests. I can’t say who they (the players) are. I received the results myself. They had a number of the sample. That number was passed onto the Stanford management and then they would identify who that cricketer is. I didn’t have the actual name.”Shivnarine Chanderpaul, voted eight days ago as the ICC’s Player of the Year, will join the squad following his commitments with Durham in the English county season. Okay, so all seems well, while the news that Dwayne Bravo has been replaced by Darren Sammy is not surprising, even though the lingering ankle injury which requires surgery is not explained.

Is it possible, however, that the mundane matter of confirming Bravo’s injury setback would then necessitate a reason why Xavier Marshall is out and Travis Dowlin is in? Maybe, but in any event, we were given the information dry so and left to stand and wonder.On the same day, though, that the was bussing the mark on the positive tests, the was quoting “reliable sources” in revealing that Marshall’s omission was related to a “major breach” of the Stanford disciplinary code.While it is eminently possible for political and financial spinners to take two and two and make five, cricketing spinners are not blessed with such gifts. Inevitably, and especially in the absence of any clarification from anybody with any authority to give it, it is assumed that Marshall’s “major breach” is associated with one of the “adverse analytical findings”.But that’s one. Dr Lorde said there were two. So, who’s the other?This is certainly the sort of distraction that the Stanford people would want to do without. Yet surely they are to be commended for insisting upon the very highest standards in every respect of their 20/20 programme, never mind who is eliminated for violating the disciplinary code.Whether it is the business of the Stanford organisation, the West Indies Cricket Board or the administrations of the home territories of the two players concerned, this is not about naming and shaming anyone, but being honest and up-front over a matter that will leak out at some time anyway.Isn’t it better, more professional and more mature to just simply say it as it is and deal with the expected fallout than run and hide while all sorts of speculation is swirling around? If they feel they are protecting the players, then they really don’t know this mauvais langue place called the Caribbean. Nobody’s perfect, but the way to properly manage errors, shortcomings or poor judgement is not to pretend that nothing has happened.Compare this situation with the sending home of Australian allrounder Andrew Symonds from the one-day series against Bangladesh in Darwin a couple weeks ago. Within 24 hours of the penalty being imposed on the player for going fishing instead of attending a mandatory team meeting, there was a formal statement from Cricket Australia which followed two days later by comments from the captain Michael Clarke.In other words, there was no leeway for wild speculation. We really need to grow up around here.

ScorecardKent moved up to third in the Championship table after taking seven points from a rain-ruined draw against Surrey at Canterbury. The visitors are still languishing at the bottom, 19 points adrift of safety with two games remaining, after claiming the same reward from the limited play possible.The final session was enlivened by the attacking strokeplay of Robert Key and Joe Denly as they added 159 in 21 overs for the first wicket in an attempt to gain another point in the 34 overs available. So tight is the title race that even the smallest gains could be crucial. Surrey, too, were hunting for an extra point and set attacking fields which allowed runs to flow, but in the end it all came to nothing as bad light closed in with 12 overs remaining.Denly and Key gave a demonstration of their successful one-day opening partnership, something they haven’t been able to replicate in four-day cricket, as they tore into Surrey’s attack. Only Jade Dernbach went at less than six an over as the pair cracked 23 fours along with three sixes for Denly, who was eventually caught behind off Alex Tudor.After neither side wanted to set up a final-day run chase it was all about how many bonus points could be bagged. In passing 300, Surrey managed three, as did Kent for claiming nine wickets before Mark Ramprakash declared.Surrey squeezed their way over 300, with Usman Afzaal hitting 67 and Matthew Spriegel an unbeaten 42, after Amjad Khan threatened to clean up the tail with a double-wicket maiden. When Spreigel drove Khan for four Surrey edged ahead in the points race, but Ryan McLaren bowled Saqlain Mushtaq to even the scores again.Surrey are still odds on for relegation, but can at least prepare to have the services of Shoaib Akhtar for their final two Championship matches after he completed his visa paperwork.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former ICC and BCCI president, has filed his nomination for the election to the post of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president, his first step in returning to cricket administration after his faction had lost the BCCI elections to the Sharad Pawar-led group in 2005.Dalmiya is confident of a successful comeback to a position that he had previously held for 13 years. “We are very confident and 100% sure that our panel will win. I will talk about my plans once the results are out,” Dalmiya told Cricinfo.Dalmiya brushed aside suggestions on problems that will emerge between the BCCI and the CAB if he becomes president. “The law is in favour of the association and me … and there will be absolutely no problem,” he told reporters. “Nothing can stop me from contesting the elections.”Dalmiya was expelled from the BCCI in December 2006, and he subsequently resigned as CAB president. The expulsion prevented him from holding any post in the BCCI or its affiliates, but the Calcutta High Court stayed the decision around a year ago, allowing him to contest the CAB elections. However, the appeal was still pending in court when the elections were held last year, and Dalmiya stayed out of contention.Dalmiya was chargesheeted for alleged embezzlement of funds during the 1996 World Cup earlier this year, but he was immediately granted bail by the Mumbai metropolitan court. The case hearing has been adjourned till December 29.The CAB elections will, in all likelihood, see Dalmiya contest against Prasun Mukherjee, the incumbent, for the president’s post. Mukherjee is expected to file his nomination on Monday.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Sri Lanka couldn’t get Virender Sehwag out, but Ajantha Mendis found a way around him, dismissing most of the others cheaply, before Harbhajan Singh enacted a similar turnaround to restore the balance at the end of day two in Galle.It was an eventful three sessions: Sehwag was imperious as he scored his fifth double-century even as he lost partners at the other end; Malinda Warnapura and Kumar Sangakkara threatened to run away with the match, but Harbhajan pulled Sri Lanka back with a four-wicket burst in the final session.Sri Lanka dismissed the last six Indian batsmen for 51 runs; India repliedby taking four of their batsmen for 55. WhenSangakkara and Warnapura were going hell for leather, it seemed they wouldtake Sri Lanka’s second innings out of the equation, but then Harbhajan cameup with one of his best spells in recent times.Warnapura, especially, showed he had learned a lesson or two from Sehwag. Hesaw his opening partner, Michael Vandort, get out in the first over, andthen played at and missed a few times against Zaheer. But all along he keptpunishing even the smallest errors of length. Zaheer’s fourth over was themost expensive of the series: Warnapura took four successive boundaries toreach 24 off 18 balls.The Indian bowlers looked helpless in the face of Sangakkara’s determination to set right a minor dip in his form. Sri Lanka raced to 50 in 8.5 overs, and by the time spin was introduced Sri Lanka had scored 60 for 1 in 11 overs. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan brought in some control, but their fortunes were not changing just as yet: just before tea, Dinesh Karthik made a mess of a regulation stumping chance off Harbhajan when he couldn’t even collect the ball with Sangakkara way down the wicket.When India came back from tea, they continued with the pressure tactics, and Warnapura yielded, giving Gautam Gambhir a difficult low catch at short cover. The ten overs preceding that dismissal had yielded 15 runs. Harbhajan took heart from that wicket and got a leading edge from Sangakkara, which he caught himself, just in case. Two new batsmen were in, and Kumble and Harbhajan were finally being treated with the sort of respect they have been used to.Harbhajan went round the stumps and trapped Thilan Samaraweera with aslider. In the same over, he got Tillakaratne Dilshan with one that bounced and turned in sharply.In thefinal overs Harbhajan twice came close to getting his fifth: first he beatMahela Jayawardene with a sharp offbreak from round the stumps; thefield umpire thought it would have gone down the leg side, and the reviewsaid no different. Prasanna Jayawardene offered Gambhir a sharp chance atforward short leg, but Gambhir couldn’t cap the good day he had had in thefield with another catch.

The collapse that Sri Lanka faced paled in comparison with the two India hadendured. India went from 167 for 0 to 178 for 4, and then from 278 for 5 to 327all out, and both collapses were triggered by Mendis, who was facing thefirst big test of his short career. Sehwag read him and went after him,taking 70 runs off the 77 deliveries he faced from him. But that failed tointimidate Mendis, who stayed accurate, made the batsmen play almost everyball, and earned his first five-for in Tests.After the wicket of VVS Laxman, who took his overnight stand of 36 with Sehwag to 100 before hitting a long hop from Mendis straight to midwicket, Mendis began to toy with the tail. Karthik seemed in no mental shape to play high-quality spin bowling; his lack of confidence showed when he didn’t ask for the review after he was eventually given out: replays indicated the topspinner from Mendis would just have brushed off stump.Mendis then repeated the now-famous carrom ball that got Rahul Dravid in thefirst Test to Harbhajan Singh: it broke away at a rapid pace and took thetop of off.The story of the day, though, remained Sehwag, who scored 61.09% of India’s runs. This was the 11th consecutive hundred he had converted into a 150-plus score. He also became the second Indian to carry his bat through, and passed 5000 Test runs.It is a shame that some of Sehwag’s best innings have come when histeam-mates have been struggling for form. Only two of his 15 centuries – allscored at a maddening pace – have resulted in victories for India. Aftermany a quick Sehwag hundred, the other batsmen have either folded or slowedthe pace down so much as to deprive the bowlers of sufficient time in whichto force a result. Something similar seemed on the cards here, but thedifference this time was that Sehwag was around for the duration to makeamends for the collapses.Muttiah Muralitharan, surprisingly ineffective in the innings, began bowlingwith an in-and-out field. Sehwag smartly resorted to opening the face of his batand finding twos. Mendis, back for a new spell, was welcomed with a six; theoff stump at the non-striker’s end prevented another certain boundary in thesame over.As the wickets fell, Murali at the other end started to rip his doosras, ending Anil Kumble’s resolute innings, and Zaheer Khan’s brief one. When Zaheer, the No. 10, launched into an irresponsible sweep off Murali, Sehwag was on 195. At 199, with just two overs to lunch, Sehwag refused the single twice, preferring to shield Ishant Sharma rather than get to the mark. Off the last ball of the over, he then nonchalantly flicked to deep square leg for a single.The rest of his team owed him an apology for the lack of support – 307 oftheir 326 runs were scored by three batsmen – and Harbhajan went some waytowards doing so. Whether it was enough remained to be seen.