Pakistan completes a clean sweep

Pakistan's bowlers sealed an emphatic 71-run win in the third and final Test against England here on Monday, inflicting a 3-0 humiliation on the Englishmen. Pakistan won the first Test here by 10 wickets and the second at Abu Dhabi by 72 runs.

Set a daunting 324-run target, England was bowled out for 252 with paceman Umar Gul taking four for 61 and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal (four for 67) to help Pakistan achieve a first-ever Test clean sweep against its opponent.

Pakistan has become the first team to win a Test after being bowled out for under 100, since 1907, when England, shot out for 76, beat South Africa at Leeds.

It was England's seventh series whitewash and its first at the hands of Pakistan. Pakistan has now recorded five series whitewashes, its last coming against Bangladesh in 2003. England's last series whitewash came in 2007 when it was routed by Australia 5-0.

Spinners dominate

So dominating were the Pakistani spinners that Ajmal finished the series with 24 wickets while Abdur Rehman had 19.

With the ball turning, it was always going to be a difficult task for the England batsmen, who have been unable to read the Pakistan spinners throughout the series, on a weary fourth day pitch at the Dubai Stadium.

England looked for solid partnerships after resuming at 36 for no loss but that never transpired. Pakistan could have wrapped the match earlier had it not dropped two crucial catches, the first off Andrew Strauss on 26 when wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal grassed a simple chance off Gul.

But that didn't hurt Pakistan as Rehman trapped the England captain in the very next over. Strauss challenged the decision by Australian umpire Steve Davis but his review failed.

Gul then let off Alastair Cook at 24 when he failed to hold a top-edge sweep off Rehman.

Ajmal then broke a dangerous looking 37-run stand between Cook and Jonathan Trott (18) by forcing a top-edge sweep which was smartly snapped up by Rehman at square-leg.

England, 89 for two at lunch, was still in with a chance with Cook (49) and Kevin Pietersen (18) batting well, but it lost four wickets in the space of 84 runs. It went to tea at 173 for six.

Pietersen, who struggled for runs in the series, hit Rehman for a boundary before hoisting him for a six to bring up England's 100. But, Ajmal struck from the other end.

Peach of a delivery

The off-spinner produced a beautiful delivery to bowl Pietersen through the gate for 18. He had a mere 67 runs in the series during which he was out to the spinners on five occasions.

In his next over, Ajmal produced another sharp turning delivery which caught the edge of Cook's bat and was smartly held by a diving Younis Khan, the lone slip.

Ian Bell (10) and Eoin Morgan (31) added 37 for the fifth wicket but again failed to produce a big score in the series as Gul dismissed them in the space of just three runs.

Pakistan took the second new ball at 196 for six and the first ball saw Gul dismissing Stuart Broad (18) and then Graeme Swann for one. Matt Prior was left high and dry on 49.

The teams will now play four ODIs and three T20s.

Scoreboard

Pakistan 99 and 365

England 141

England 2nd innings: (Overnight 36 without loss)

Andrew Strauss lbw b Rehman 26

Alastair Cook c Khan b Ajmal 49

Jonathan Trott c Rehman b Ajmal 18

Kevin Pietersen b Ajmal 18

Ian Bell c Shafiq b Gul 10

Eoin Morgan c Akmal b Gul 31

Matt Prior not out 49

Stuart Broad c Taufeeq b Gul 18

Graeme Swann c Shafiq b Gul 1

James Anderson c Khan b Ajmal 9

Monty Panesar lbw b Rehman 8

Extras- (4b, 8lb, 3nb) 15

TOTAL- (all out) 252

Overs- 97.3.

Fall of wickets- 1—48, 2—85, 3—116, 4—119, 5—156, 6—159, 7—196, 8—203, 9—237

Bowling- Umar Gul 20—5—61—4 (3nb), Aizaz Cheema 4—0—9—0, Mohammad Hafeez 5—2—6—0, Abdur Rehman 41.3—10—97—2, Saeed Ajmal 27—9—67—4.

Yuvraj has no lung cancer, says doctor

Doctors involved in the treatment of Yuvraj Singh have confirmed that the cricketer has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy in the USA.

Setting aside speculation about Yuvraj's medical condition, Dr. Nitesh Rohatgi and Dr. Anupama Hooda of Max Healthcare said here on Monday that Yuvraj had a condition called “extragonadal seminoma, located between his lungs.”

“It is not lung cancer. It is a rare tumour which forms less than one per cent of cancers,” Dr. Rohatgi said at a press conference here.

Dr. Hooda said the disease was “over 95 per cent curable” and the exact cause of it was not known.

The doctors and Yuvraj's family, through his spokesperson, pleaded with mediapersons to respect their privacy. They made it clear that details of Yuvraj's illness and location of his treatment, supported by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), would not be revealed anymore.

Meanwhile, BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a release that the Board had been in touch with Yuvraj's family members.

“His family values the affection and concern the media has for Yuvraj. The Board would like to appeal to the media to respect the privacy of Yuvraj and his family members at this critical juncture. Periodic media releases regarding his health status will be issued by the BCCI,” Jagdale said.

The ace cricketer had contacted Dr. Rohatgi and his hospital in mid-January. “Since our meeting we have been coordinating his present treatment and will continue close follow-up,” Dr. Rohatgi read out from a statement.

“On Wednesday, Yuvraj will begin the third of his nine weeks of chemotherapy in the USA. As expected, in the first few days Yuvraj did not feel very good, he felt nauseous, but starting this week he will be hopefully on the mend. Yuvraj has shown tremendous courage and kept his spirits high all this while.

“The chemotherapy has been planned, to ensure that Yuvraj can return to full fitness and readiness for cricket. Yuvraj should be able to start active training in about 10 weeks. I feel that Yuvraj the person will be cured of this cancer and most likely Yuvraj the cricketer will return with the same fervour that he had when he left. Hopefully, he would be on the field by first week of May,” said Dr. Rohatgi.

“The USA-based team has specially been chosen because of their vast experience with sportsmen and they have had many positive outcomes, more importantly, seen the athletes return to field.”

According to the doctors, the star cricketer had been playing video games, going for long walks, jogging and reading books, including those by top cyclist Lance Armstrong who had made a remarkable recovery himself after being treated for testicular cancer.

Kochi IPL franchise decides on legal action

Rendezvous Sports World (P) Limited, co-owner of Kochi franchise has finally decided to challenge the termination of Kochi Tuskers Kerala (KTK) from the Indian Premier League in court.

KTK was thrown out of the hugely popular league after just one season after it failed to honour its financial commitments to the Board of Control for Cricket in India on September 19 last year ‘on an irremediable breach in the terms of contract'.

A team of RSWPL was in the city the last couple of days seeking support for the revival of the team from State Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Sports Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar.

The move to take the BCCI to court, incidentally, comes just before the players' auction for the IPL season IV scheduled for Saturday.

The RSPWL through a release said it would get the Kochi team back into IPL. “RSWPL will be taking legal action against the termination of the franchise and is confident that it will be successful in getting the team to play this season.

We were really positive today: Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja, adjudged Man-of-the-Match here on Friday, said the Indians did not want to let the 4-0 rout in the Test series impact their morale going into the shorter formats of the game.

“The team was upbeat. We were really positive out there today. We fielded very well. Those early run-out kept them on the back foot,” Jadeja said.

The all-rounder, who effected two vital run-outs and bowled his left-arm spinners with a fair measure of control, added, “It was nice that we got our victory here. We will be playing our first match against Australia in the triangular ODI series here on Sunday.”

Jadeja conceded it was not easy for the spinners to operate on the pitches here. “The ball does not grip the surface. So I tried to mix it up. Bowled slower and mixed my pace.”

Australian captain George Bailey said, “They (the Indians) really lifted their fielding. The four run-outs hurt us. We did not bat well.”

On the decision to shift Matthew Wade — the hero from the first game — from an opener's role to a middle-order slot, he said, “One of the things we wanted to do this week was to try different people in different slots. That Wadey was able to contribute in both the positions is pleasing.”

Leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, injured in the first game and bravely operating with a bandage on his bowling hand here, came in for praise from Bailey. “It was courageous of him to bowl with a big bandage on his hand. He does not turn the ball a great deal but gets good bounce. He bowled well.”

All eyes on Jadeja at IPL auction

Team owners, a few iconic players and number-crunching executives will walk the razor's edge, while 144 cricketers are set to go under the hammer during the Indian Premier League's player auction at the ITC Royal Gardenia Hotel, here on Saturday.

The teams, numbering nine after the disbanding of the Kochi Tuskers Kerala outfit, found their core personnel during last year's auction. Only a few names amidst the latest list, will trickle off auctioneer Richard Madley's tongue, and make the cut as managements fit in those rare missing links in their respective squads.

The buzz is big on Ravindra Jadeja and he is expected to gift a lighter wallet to whoever wins the bidding war. Teams ranging from defending champion Chennai Super Kings to Pune Warriors are all interested in the all-rounder, who played for Kochi Tuskers last year.

Pegged at a base price of $100,000, Jadeja is likely to attract a hefty price, within the $2 million cap, which quite a few team owners have unlike Pune Warriors and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have retained Sourav Ganguly and Chris Gayle respectively. The Saurashtra player might well end up in a tie-breaker situation if two teams bid at the maximum cap of $2 million.

Eight Indians in fray

In the bidding list, eight Indians are in the fray, all from the erstwhile Kochi Tuskers team, with the exception of V.R.V. Singh. It also remains to be seen whether franchises will be keen on V.V.S. Laxman, who has a reserve price of $400,000. Last year, the names of Brian Lara and Ganguly evoked a deathly silence. Among the rest, R. Vinay Kumar will draw attention, especially from Royal Challengers Bangalore that is keen to regain its local fervour. Last year too, RCB's chief mentor Anil Kumble and the rest did bid for Vinay, before a tight purse meant that Bangalore had to yield to Kochi's demands. Besides Kumble, Rahul Dravid too will be present at the venue in his present role as captain of Rajasthan Royals.

Overseas contingent

The bulging overseas component (136) in the list features Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brendon McCullum, Peter Siddle, James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Mark Boucher to name a few, while former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood is now a British citizen and comes in as an ‘English' player.

The fancied names may be many, but Ireland's Kevin O'Brien, who slammed the England bowlers during a match-winning century in a World Cup game here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, could well draw in the heavy dollars.

Though the foreigners are a massive presence, the majority will go unsold as teams are allowed only 11 overseas players, and most outfits have already slotted in their key ‘non-Indian' players.

A team like Pune Warriors, that is likely to miss its indisposed skipper Yuvraj Singh, might look at gaining a key foreign player.

The IPL's top-brass and team owners were huddled in a meeting about the rules pertaining to the auction, late on Friday night and more midnight oil is bound to be burnt as rival think-tanks slot in their varied choices.

And for men like Jadeja, Vinay and Parthiv Patel, who are nursing the belated delight of an Indian victory in Australia, it will be time to check their phones and the internet while tracking their market-value in the IPL, which is hustling towards its fifth season, commencing at Chennai on April 4.

Team India finally on top down under

A victory would have seldom tasted sweeter. A sense of relief in skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and opener Gautam Gambhir — the two men in the middle — and the rest of the team in the dugout was palpable.

When Gambhir whipped paceman Clint McKay through widish mid-on in the final over, India had won its first game overseas in 16 matches (including all formats) after suffering defeats in 13 of them. The Indians, lifting their game and successfully chasing 132, had finally broken a spell of setbacks.

Vibrant fielding

Vibrant fielding — the mercurial Ravindra Jadeja was adjudged Man-of-the- Match — and steady bowling set up India's convincing eight-wicket win in the second KFC Twenty20 international at the MCG here on Friday before a mammoth crowd. The two-match series ended in a 1-1 draw.

The left-handed Gambhir made the right moves with his unbeaten 60-ball 56. He worked the ball around, found the gaps, and displayed the footwork and finesse of an accomplished stroke-maker.

He was also involved in partnerships.

The opening pair of Gambhir and Sehwag put on 43 in 6.3 overs before the latter was picked up at cover off a full toss from left-arm wrist spinner Brad Hogg.

Then, Gambhir and the positive Virat Kohli added 54 when Kohli edged a Mitchell Marsh delivery that seamed away. 'Keeper Matthew Wade dived to his right to take the catch.

Crucially, India continued to have a left-right combination in the middle with Gambhir rotating the strike effectively and the threat from Lee and Hogg was negated effectively.

Then, Gambhir and Dhoni closed out the match with an unbeaten 38-run association.

The Indians had buzzed on the field earlier.

There was plenty of energy on view as the men in blue chased hard, dived to stop powerful drives crossing them, cut down the angles smartly and threw with speed and accuracy.

Jadeja's efforts

Symbolic of India's elevated levels of fielding was Jadeja at backward point. He was electric as he swooped and released the sphere in a flash.

Indeed, Jadeja's precise throws led to the run-outs of Aaron Finch (36 of 26 balls) and Australia skipper George Bailey during a critical phase.

India's fielding made a difference and the mercurial Jadeja was at the heart of it all.

And a direct hit from cover by Rohit Sharma sent back the dangerous Wade (32 off 29 balls).

The Indian fielding complemented the bowling as the visitor created the pressure after the host had elected to bat.

On a surface offering the pacemen a fair measure of carry, India's three-spinner ploy represented a risk but the team-management stuck to its game-plan.

R. Ashwin did not operate with the new ball this time around but the pace pair of Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar performed a fair job for India early on.

Although the two strayed down the leg-side on a couple of occasions, they hit the right areas more often than not and managed to move the ball. Praveen, in particular, achieved telling deviation.

The Australians decided to give Finch an opportunity at the top of the order which meant it was he and not first game hero Matthew Wade who walked out with David Warner.

The impressive Finch whipped Vinay over mid-wicket and square-cut Praveen for boundaries but the explosive Warner fell early; the southpaw was held well by Gambhir running back at deep-square-leg off Praveen.

Then, the hopelessly out-of-form Shaun Marsh dabbled at a Praveen delivery darting across him.

Sehwag struggled to hold the edge from the southpaw but managed to keep the ball in the air long enough for 'keeper Dhoni to pouch the catch.

The Indians had done a reasonable job in restricting the Aussies to 42 for two in the first six power-play overs.

Then, the spin trio held centrestage. Ashwin — bowling wicket-to-wicket and varying his speed — did not provide the batsmen either room or width. Rahul Sharma, releasing the ball from a lovely high-arm action, varied his trajectory intelligently.

And Jadeja revealed the tightness of an orhodox left-arm spinner in control.

The Aussies failed to build sizable partnerships. David Hussey (24) threatened briefly before he succumbed to Jadeja's change of pace.

The in-form Wade surfaced at No. 6 and struck a six with brute power off Rahul over squarish mid-wicket but Rohit's sizzling throw took him out.

There was also a gripping piece of action when Rahul had Mitchell Marsh stretching out and Dhoni pulled off a lightning-quick stumping.

The Indian bowling and fielding created the opportunity. For once, the batsmen did not miss out.

Scoreboard

Australia: D. Warner c Gambhir b Praveen 8 (8b, 1x4), A. Finch (run out) 36 (23b, 6x4), S. Marsh c Dhoni b Praveen 0 (2b), D. Hussey c & b Jadeja 24 (29b, 1x4, 1x6), G. Bailey (run out) 3 (4b), M. Wade (run out) 32 (29b, 1x4, 1x6), M. Marsh st Dhoni b Rahul 13 (13b, 2x4), B. Lee (not out) 6 (4b, 1x4), C. McKay c Dhoni b Vinay 0 (1b), B. Hogg lbw b Rahul 4 (4b, 1x4), X. Doherty (run out) 1 (1b); Extras (w-4): 4; Total (in 19.4 overs): 131.

Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Warner), 2-20 (S. Marsh), 3-49 (Finch), 4-54 (Bailey), 5-93 (Hussey), 6-119 (M. Marsh), 7-121 (Wade), 8-121 (McKay), 9-130 (Hogg).

India bowling: Praveen 3-0-21-2, Vinay 4-0-25-1, Kohli 1-0-7-0, Jadeja 3-0-16-1, Rahul 3.4-0-29-2, Raina 1-0-10-0, Ashwin 4-0-23-0.

India: G. Gambhir (not out) 56 (60b, 4x4), V. Sehwag c S. Marsh b Hogg 23 (16b, 2x4, 1x6), V. Kohli c Wade b M. Marsh 31 (24b, 3x4), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 21 (18b, 2x4); Extras (w-4): 4; Total (for two wkts. in 19.4 overs): 135.

Fall of wickets: 1-43 (Sehwag), 2-97 (Kohli).

Australia bowling: Lee 4-0-24-0, McKay 3.4-0-25-0, Doherty 3-0-29-0, Hogg 3-0-19-1, M. Marsh 4-0-30-1, Hussey 2-0-8-0.

'The boys are ready and motivated'

Middle-order batsman Suresh Raina, unfazed by the Test debacle, said India would play “different cricket” and give a better account of itself in the shorter formats of the game.

“We won the ODI series here last time. We have also won the World Cup. It's almost the same set of players, and you will see different cricket from India,” said Raina.

The disappointing show in the Test series would have little effect on the young team, and Raina took pains to stress the point. “The Australians played better cricket in the Test matches. They executed their plans well, and bowled in the right areas.

“Unfortunately, we didn't bat well in pairs. Hopefully, we will do well in the next series,” he added.

Well prepared

Raina's confidence stemmed from the fact that most of the youngsters have prepared well for the forthcoming series.

“The youngsters have done well in the last couple of months. So, we hope for the best. There are a lot of youngsters who have played and done well at home recently. I played three to four domestic games, and also got a double century,” he said.

Raina believed that the present tour would be useful for the youngsters, as the next World Cup, in 2015, is scheduled to be held in Australia and New Zealand.

“We will play the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and the youngsters would benefit a great deal in this regard,” Raina said.

He said that Australia should watch out for the young Indians in the shorter versions, and not keep gloating about its Test success. “The boys are motivated and keen to do well in the upcoming series. Twenty20s and ODIs are a lot different from Tests,” Raina said.

Working hard

About his preparation for the current series, Raina said: “I went to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, and also worked on my wrist position on the bouncy wickets at the NCA and in Mumbai. I worked with Sandeep Patil,” he said.

India has not done well in Twenty20s of late, be it a bilateral series or a big event like the World Cup. This is reflected in the rankings as the team is currently No. 7, just ahead of the West Indies.

“We have to do well. Fielding is going to be a major factor here. We have to take catches and effect run-outs. We have good all-rounders who can hit the ball hard and take wickets. We have variety in the bowling department, thanks to bowlers like Praveen [Kumar], Irfan [Pathan] and Vinay [Kumar]. Hopefully, you would see an improved performance.”

The spunky youngster is hoping that a good show in the limited-overs leg of the Australian tour would open the doors for him in Tests again.