Muralitharan slams 'miserable' Warne

Muttiah Muralitharan has lashed out at Shane Warne, calling him a "miserable man" and declaring he would not speak to Warne at the unveiling of the new trophy that bears their names. Muralitharan was angered by Warne's suggestion that the ICC should have Muralitharan's bowling action analysed during a Test match, despite the fact he has repeatedly passed laboratory tests.

"I am very disappointed with what he said," Muralitharan told the Sydney Morning Herald. "He can't keep his mouth shut because he wants to keep making these comments. He must be a miserable man in his life. But that is his opinion and there is nothing I can do about it."

Warne is the world's leading Test wicket-taker with 708 victims but Muralitharan needs only seven more to overtake him and that could happen in the second Test, which starts in Hobart on Friday. The rift comes at an awkward time after the two champions were honoured with the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy, which will be held by the winner of the Australia-Sri Lanka Test series and will be unveiled by the pair on Thursday.

"Maybe he just doesn't want me to pass his record," Muralitharan said. "Why else would he keep saying these things? I will shake his hand [at the ceremony] and go straight off the field instead of trying to be friendly."

Warne wrote in his News Ltd column on Tuesday that checking Muralitharan's action during a match would offer "peace of mind" to everybody in world cricket and "surely Murali would want that". The comments came after a newspaper article on the weekend in which Warne's mentor, Terry Jenner, floated the idea of in-match testing for Muralitharan.

Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan in happier times © Getty Images

"Terry Jenner played cricket a long time ago and cricket is very different now," Muralitharan said. "So it doesn't matter what he says. But Jenner and Warne are still always commenting, commenting, commenting. It makes them feel important."

Muralitharan told the paper he and Warne were not on good terms before these latest problems, as he believed Warne considered Muralitharan had collected too many cheap Test wickets against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Although 163 of Muralitharan's Test victims have been Zimbabwe or Bangladesh players, he also has an outstanding record against England and South Africa and says he can only play whoever Sri Lanka is scheduled to face.

Muralitharan said he had no comment about the decision to use his name alongside Warne's on the new trophy. "That was the decision between the boards of Sri Lanka and Australia," he said. "I cannot say anything else."

GOLF SWING MECHANICS-MUST READ

What are the technical resorts behind the perfect golf swing? Beginners often find it highly useful to learn the golf swing mechanics that are in fact responsible for the success or the failure of long and short shots. You could hear many controversial tips about the way you should hold your head in order to control the golf swing mechanics. The phrase ?eep you head down?is often heard during golf classes, however, remember that the head should be kept down as long as it follows the swing. If it fails to do so, other golf swing mechanics such as shoulder move and weight shift also fail.

Moreover, golf swing mechanics slightly differ according to whether you want to perform a long or a short shot. For instance the use of precision scoring clubs such as wedges, only require 70% effort in the swing. In such cases the golf swing mechanics change so that you?l only use a semi-loose grip on the club and simply let it flow through. Your shoulders should be aligned with the slope for all the shots you take. The golf swing mechanics that apply when playing the wedges lay a higher emphasis on foot position. The right foot should be kept firm on the ground and only after hitting the ball may it come a little to the front.

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KC IBHRAHIM DIED AT 88

KC Ibrahim, who played four Tests for India against West Indies in 1948-49, has died at his home in Karachi. He was 88 and at the time of his death was India's oldest living Test player.

He made his Test debut in the first match of the 1948-49 series at home to West Indies, his sheer weight of runs the previous summer making him an automatic pick. Opening with Vinoo Mankad, he scored 85 and 44, but in his next six innings he made only 40 runs and he had retired by the time England toured in 1951-52.

Ibrahim's Mumbai team-mate, Madhav Mantri, said he was "a solid player and one who believed in staying at the wicket for as long as possible." He captained the Mumbai side that won the Ranji Trophy in 1947-48 and Mantri described him as "a fine captain, someone who believed in backing his players."

A top-order batsman who sometimes opened, Ibrahim made his first-class debut in 1938-39 and from 1941-42 onwards scored heavily in domestic cricket. He began that season with an unbeaten 230 and ended with 117 in Bombay's innings win in the Ranji Trophy final.

He reached his peak in 1947-48 when he scored 1171 runs at 167.29, including four hundreds, a record that won him the Indian Cricketer of the Year award for the season. He started the season with scores of 218*, 36*, 234*, 77* and 144, a total of 709 runs without being dismissed. In the last three innings of the previous season his scores had been 2, 2 and 4. He moved to Karachi in 1950 and that marked the end of his first-class career.

He was in poor health for the last few years of his life. During India's 2006 tour to Pakistan, a couple of journalists went to visit him. One of them, Jasvinder Sidhu, from the Hindi daily Amar Ujala, remembers: "He didn't want us to photograph him. He said, 'I don't want my friends in Bombay and Delhi to see my current state. Tell them I'm fine.'"

GAMBHIR AND AFRIDI GET INTO A HEATED ARGUMENT

Kanpur: India vice-captain Yuvraj Singh played a dominating knock of 77 runs and took one wicket to guide India to a 46-run victory against Pakistan in the third One-Day International here at the Green Park Stadium on Sunday.

Put into bat by the visitors, Yuvraj, who was adjudicated the man of the match, hit the ball hard for the big shots along with aggressive running between the wickets to guide India to a competitive total of 294 for 6.

In reply Pakistan folded up for 248 in 47.2 overs.

The left-handed batsman, who was in devastating form, sent the visitors on a leather hunt and then bowled well to help India take a 2-1 lead in the five-match ODI series.

He also shared a solid 100-run partnership with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who hit a cavalier 49 off 52 balls.

For Pakistan, the highlight was Salman Butt’s sparkling innings of 129 runs from 142 balls studded with 17 fours. But it couldn’t translate into a win as Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Butt fought a lone battle on his way to his 4th ODI century against India playing some fine strokes in the process but didn’t get enough support from the other end.

In company of Misbah-ul-Haq, he tried to keep his team in the hunt by sharing a solid 80-run partnership but the required run-rate kept on mounting.

The loss of three top-order batsmen – Afridi, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf – pushed Pakistan right on the back foot.

The tourists were always fighting a lost battle with no specialist batsmen to take charge in the slog overs.

India opened the bowling with R P Singh, and Irfan Pathan who got the breakthrough claiming the wicket of the hero of the last match played here in 2005.

Shahid Afridi, who opened the innings with Butt, tried to hit one shot too many and perished for 12.

The wickets of Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf gave India the much-needed impetus. The three pacers bowled with control; Zaheer Khan, who had a rather forgettable game at Mohali, returned with commendable figures (25 for 1 in seven overs).

Runs dried up when Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were introduced into the attack.

The target got stiffer as Pakistan were up against an asking rate of 10 in the last twelve runs. Eventually they fell short by 46 runs.

INDIAN INNINGS

Earlier, the openers, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, got away with some streaky edges and largely struggled against the pace of Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul.

Pakistan, as their wont, were sloppy on the field and missed a few catches. To start with wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal dropped an easy catch of Ganguly on the very first ball of the match off Shoaib Akhtar, followed by Tendulkar getting a life off the bowling of Umar Gul when Misbah-u-Haq failed to get his hands to the ball.

After the initial jitters, India’s most successful opening pair found their touch as they went after the bowling. Ganguly was the first one to take the initiative as he charged down to hit a six of Gul over long-on. Though Gul extracted swing, the Indian opening duo took him on. India’s most reliable opening pair shared a stand of 68 in just over ten overs.

Sohail Tavir was introduced into the attack as the first change and that did the trick for Pakistan. He bowled with control and stifled the scoring rate and soon snared both the openers.

Tanvir induced an edge off the little master and this time Akmal took a fine catch behind the stumps. A few overs later he bowled Ganguly for 39 (46 balls, 4x4, 1x6); at that stage the Bengal southpaw was going great guns. Tanvir finished with 2 for 26.

Thereafter, some tight bowling by the Pakistanis kept Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh quiet for some time. Abdur Rehman, who replaced Rao Iftikhar, scalped Gambhir. The Delhi southpaw continuing his rich form looked good but failed to get a big one at Kanpur.

Skipper Mahnedra Singh Dhoni and deputy Yuvraj Singh took their time to settle down while Pakistan bowlers maintained a disciplined line.

Yuvraj subsequently released the pressure by spanking two sixes Abdur Rehman. Dhoni doubled the joy for India, biffing two more sixes off Shoaib Malik in the very next over.

Shahid Afridi and Abdur Rehman started leaking runs, with the former conceding 57 in 7 overs. Rehman too was expensive giving away 58 in his 7 overs.

Targeting the spinners both these batsmen went for their shots taking India past the 250 mark.

But Dhoni fell to Shoaib Akhtar, one run short of his fifty. Later Rehman claimed the wicket of danger-man Yuvraj who fell for a well-made 77 off 95 balls, hitting 4 fours and 3 sixes.

India maintained a high run rate even as they lost wickets towards the death. Irfan Pathan lit up the run riot in the last two overs scoring 17 runs off just 7 balls.

INDIA WON THE THIRD ONE DAY...

Indians won the third one day international today with ease by 46 runs. Earlier india scored 294 in 50 overs .Chasing 294 pakistan provided an aggressive start and failed to reach the target after the top order collapses.Though all the wickets falling at one end, Salman butt scored a fine century and provided a little bit of hope till the end of the match. But with the help of indian spinners,india managed to pierce the wickets at regular intervals and sent pakistan to the pavilion at 248 .Earlier yuvraj scored a fine 77 who was declared "man of the match"and dhoni scored 49 runs who provided a 100 run partner ship for the third wicket with yuvi. Hope indians will win the next one day and clinch the series..

INDIA AND PAK FINED FOR SLOW OVER RATE

India and Pakistan cricket teams have been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during their second one-day international at Mohali on Thursday. International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Roshan Mahanama imposed the fines after both the teams were ruled to be one over short of their targets when time allowances were taken into consideration, a spokesman for the ICC said on Friday.

In accordance with the ICC Code of Conduct regulations governing over-rate penalties, players are fined five percent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount. “As such, rival captains Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Shoaib Malik have been fined 10 percent of their match fee while their players have each received five percent fines,” the spokesman added.

He said Mahanama spoke to both captains after the match and reminded them of their sides’ obligations to complete their overs in the time allocated in the futur

Selectors are muppets headed by a joker' - Atapattu

Marvan Atapattu launched an astonishing attack on the Sri Lankan selectors, calling them a set of muppets headed by a joker. His statements came at the end of the third day of the first cricket Test against Australia at the Gabba, with Sri Lanka fighting to stave off a heavy defeat.

"Sri Lanka cricket at this moment of time is not going in the direction it should be going, especially with a set of muppets headed by a joker. I don't give credit to the way they have handled selections," Atapattu said at the end-of-play press conference.

"If they had handled selections properly we should have a good back-up team. For some reason we don't and at the age of 37-38 people have to come and play for Sri Lanka when it comes to tough tours like this. If selectors are there only for going on tours and getting perks it is a waste of time."

Atapattu had not been originally picked by the selectors in the team to tour Australia and was only included after a request made by Sri Lanka's sports minister Gamini Lokuge.

Sri Lanka's national selection committee comprises Ashantha de Mel (chairman), Don Anurasiri, Ranjith Madurasinghe and Jayantha Seneviratne.

Atapattu, returning to Test cricket after nearly two years and international cricket after a traumatic six months, top scored for Sri Lanka with a patient 51 in the first innings and stitched a 53-run opening partnership with Sanath Jayasuriya in the second after Sri Lanka had been forced to follow on.

Atapattu also said people were trying to create an impression of disunity within the team. "We are a happy dressing room at the moment. A section of people has been trying to say that it is divided, but it is not so. We don't have problems inside the dressing room but people from outside are trying to create unpleasantness through the media and by statements made by ex-cricketers to displease us. I don't think they have succeeded," said Atapattu who turns 37 on November 20.

Commenting on the day's play Atapattu said: "We didn't do justice to our talents and the potential we had in the dressing room in the first innings. We got some good balls early in the innings but that's not a good enough excuse. It is much easier batting in the second innings.

"There is only the invariable bounce that you got to be worried of. We should be able to get a good partnership or two going tomorrow and hopefully be in a better position."

Atapattu said facing Brett Lee was always a challenge to any batsman in the world. "I really enjoy facing him. Each delivery is a different challenge that you have to face."

I DEDICATE MY CENTURY TO WOOLMER-YOUNIS

It was Younis Khan’s excellent batting that saw Pakistan level the five-match ODI series against India as the tourists successfully chased down 322 with one ball to spare.

It was undoubtedly, one of the best knocks in Younis Khan's career and he choose to dedicate it to his late coach Bob Woolmer.

"I want to dedicate my century to Bob Woolmer. The way he worked with us for so long was commendable. He always wanted me to do this. This is for him," said Younis after the second One-Dayer.

Elaborating on his brilliant innings off 117 off 110 balls, studded with nine fours and two sixes, Younis said modestly, "I can’t hit big shots so I score through reverse sweep and stuff like that. I have to steal my shots as I am not a big hitter of the ball, like Misbah or Afridi."

The day that saw about 640 runs being scored on a good track, the Pakistan vice-captain said that his team was always confident of chasing India's total.

"We always knew that we had a chance. Had India posted some 340 plus runs, it would have been a problem. But we knew that they had been 20-30 runs shorter and one big innings would get us nearer to the target. And we knew our middle-order was good and we had to give last 6-7 overs to Afridi," said Younis, who hit his third ODI century career in Mohali.

But he disagreed that it was him or Afridi who turned it around for Pakistan.

Giving credit to pacer Umar Gul, the 29-year-old said, "On this wicket, 350 would have been a huge ask. So I would say that Umar Gul’s second spell proved crucial. Getting the breakthroughs in the form of both the set batsmen - Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir at the right time did the trick for us. Had those two been there the score would have automatically accelerated to 350. And chasing another 20-30 runs would have been difficult."

Younis, meanwhile, refused to term Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision to bat first after winning the toss as a wrong one.

"The decision to bat first was a brave one and it was a positive decision. I don’t think there was anything wrong in that. They failed to get their partnership going in the middle and that ultimately went against them. Shoaib and Gul bowled really well in their second spell to restrict the Indians."

IS INDO-PAK MATCHES "A WAR WITH OUT WEAPONS"

he biggest series of the cricketing world about to kick off as Pakistan comes to India with a new Captain, with plans to take revenge on India, this time for the T20 World Championship loss. That was topic of discussion on the show Face The Nation with Bhupendra Chaubey: Is Indo-Pak cricket still a war without weapons?

On the panel to debate the issue was former cricketer and chief selector Kiran More, member of the editorial board of DNA Ayaz Memon and Pakistan Cricket Board spokesperson Ehsan Malik.

A decade ago, writer Mike Marqusee gave the title to his book that the Indo-Pak cricket is like war being fought without weapons. Does that comment still hold?

“Sport is supposed to be a substitute for war. But I would underplay this war metaphor where India-Pakistan cricket is concerned. In ’61, when Haneef Mohammed came to Bombay, his hand was slashed by a fan, in ‘89 Shreekanth was attacked in by fans in the Karachi stadium but a lot has changed since then. In 2004, the Indian team and fans could go all over Lahore with the Indian flag, which was unthinkable before and the Pakistan team in ‘98 got a standing ovation in Chennai. So the players have played each other a lot so it has become a far more open environment,” said Ayaz Memom.

Sporting war?

The fact is whenever Indo-Pak relations at a political and diplomatic level have hit a low, it has always been cricket that has been used as an platform to vent feelings.

“It was earlier so but not anymore. I think the media has done a great job. Even the Captains the teams have had in the recent past have not been very aggressive. Inzamam-ul-Haq, for example, and Shoib Malik have been great regarding building relations,” said Kiran More.

Could it be that since the average age of the team has come down, we see less of on-field tantrums?

“I would not like to disagree to that but there are more important reasons for it. I agree with Ayaz and Kiran that it can’t be called war. There is such an intensity because in both the countries, cricket is more than passion, it’s almost a religion,” said Ehsan Malik.

INDO-PAK SERIES

India-Pakistan series time table and Indian team

From 5th November onward cricket lovers can enjoy the exciting ODI and test tournament series between India and Pakistan. Pakistan will play 5 ODI and 3 test matches in India, which will start from 5th Nov and last with 8-12 Dec test match. In cricket, it is always an exciting experience to the watch any game between these two rival teams, therefore we can hope for great exciting tournament ahead. India has done surprise move by resting Rahul Dravid for the first two ODI matches. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are now again back in the India attack. Also Praveen Kumar a pace bowler from Utter Pradesh is new induction in team, he is selected for the team because his good performance in the regional games.

Indian team for the first two ODI-

1) Virender Sehwag
2) Gautam Gambhir
3) M S Dhoni (captain)
4) Yuvraj Singh
5) Sourav Ganguly
6) Sachin Tendulkar
7) Robin Uthappa
8) Rohit Sharma
9) Murali Kartik
10) Zaheer Khan
11) R P Singh
12) Irfan Pathan
13) S Sreesanth
14) Praveen Kumar


Time table of the matches -

1st ODI Nov 5 at Guwahati
2nd ODI Nov 8 at Mohali (D/N)
3rd ODI Nov 11 at Kapur
4rth ODI Nov at Gwalior (D/N)
5th ODI Nov at Jaipur (D/N)

1st test Nov 22-26 at Delhi
2nd test Nov 30-Dec 2 at Kolkata
3rd test Dec 8-12 at Bangalore

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T-20 defeat is history

The Pakistan cricket team arrived in Delhi later on Thursday for five one dayers and three Test matches.

Talking to the reporters, Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik said that Twenty20 World Cup defeat against India is history and whichever team would handle pressure better will win the forthcoming series.

Alleging there is no tension between the two teams, he said Indian team is in great form, especially Yuvraj Singh.

Malik called cricket between India and Pakistan enjoyable and said his team wants the most of it.

He also said he had no problems with the senior players in his team, who give him their cooperation.

Frontline seamer Asif not in team

Unfortuntely for Pakistan, they are without their frontline seamer Mohammad Asif, who is most likely to miss the entire one day series due to continuing problems with his elbow.

Asif missed the recent one-day series against South Africa due to the same injury, after breaking down while bowling in the second Test against the Proteas at the Gaddafi Stadium last month.

The pacer had earlier undergone an MRI scan, and the report wasn't very encouraging.

An official confirmation of Asif's pull out is expected later in the day. The PCB hasn't announced any replacement so far.

Sri Lanka topple Warne's All-Stars at Hong Kong Sixes

An All-Stars team containing some of the greatest names in world cricket was beaten in the final of the Hong Kong Sixes on Sunday by a team of little-known Sri Lankans.

Over two days of carnival cricket, the All-Stars - featuring captain Shane Warne, Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath and Anil Kumble - had produced explosive cricket in the tournament's unique five-overs-an-innings format.

But their run of success came to end when the young Sri Lankans refused to be intimidated and posted 127 for three after five eight-ball overs, a total that proved too much for their illustrious opponents, who made 111 to lose by 16 runs.

Also in the All-Stars squad were Zimbabwe's Heath Streak, England's Geraint Jones and Craig McMillan of New Zealand, who won the man of the tournament award for his brutal batting, though he went for a golden duck in the final.

Sri Lanka's surprise star was captain Indika De Saram who, under the Sixes' quirky rules, scored 40 in the final after returning to the wicket having earlier retired not out for 32.

Kaushalya Weeraratne (32) and Jeewantha Kulatunga (28) also helped carry the side to its first-ever Hong Kong Sixes victory, which brought with it a winners' cheque of $100,000.

In the All-Stars' final innings, Test cricket's top scorer Brian Lara reminded the crowd of his glory days with four sixes lofted over the hospitality marquees.

Geraint Jones, currently out of favour for the England wicketkeeper role, was a late call-up but his fielding caught the eye and in the final he scored three huge sixes off his first three balls.

Former Australian strike bowler Glenn McGrath was on the subs bench for the title-decider after dislocating a finger while fielding earlier in the day.

The weekend saw nine national teams compete against the All-Stars in 21 matches that lasted fewer than 45 minutes each.

With the game's big hitters letting loose at the tiny Kowloon Cricket Club, 275 sixes were scored and at least 40 balls were lost.

England, who fielded Twenty20 specialist Darren Maddy and rising star Luke Wright, fell in the quarter-finals.

India had earlier crashed out at the qualifying stage to the disappointment of their vocal supporters and the Sixes' organisers, who are keen to boost the event's TV audience in the massive south Asia market.

New Zealand and Pakistan were the losing semi-finalists. Shane Warne, 38, said he had enjoying playing alongside some old friends and rivals.

"This has been my first Sixes and it has been a great couple of days. After we won the first few games, we really wanted to win the whole thing.

"Watching Brian (Lara) out there brings back some bad memories of bowling to him," he joked.

"Glenn (McGrath) is obviously an old mate and Anil Kumble I have total respect for. We talk a lot about leg-breaks."

The tournament, first held in 1992, produces frenetic cricket in which six-a-side teams bat for only five overs each and every fielder has to bowl, apart from the wicketkeeper.

Up until the final the overs are six balls each. It has a long record of attracting the game's greatest names, with Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar and Andrew Flintoff all appearing in past years.

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