John Wright : Sachin will bounce back

Former India and New Zealand coach, John Wright, has expressed confidence that Sachin Tendulkar will overcome his technical flaws and come roaring back into form during the forthcoming series against England. 

In an interview to the Hindu newspaper, Wright mentioned that Tendulkar has gone through these phases several times but reckons he is still good enough to come out on top. "If I recollect, Tendulkar underwent a similar period in 2002 when he was getting bowled a lot. During the West Indies series, the left-arm pacer Pedro Collins troubled him a lot. However, I think that this is not a matter of serious concern for I believe he is good enough to overcome the challenge. 

Tendulkar has endured a poor run since scoring his 100th international century in March in the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh. He has hit only one half-century in the IPL and struggled in the recently concluded CLT20. In the Test match series against New Zealand, he was bowled in all three innings when he batted, leading to questions about his technique. 

Wright expressed confidence that Tendulkar might score a century or double century in the series and added that playing against top teams like England and Australia will give him plenty of motivation. Wright's views were echoed by former Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist when he pointed out that periods of loss in form are unavoidable especially when one has a long career like Sachin Tendulkar. 

Wright stated that he was also not concerned about Virender Sehwag's poor form. "He is an exciting player. His record in the first innings of a Test match is ominous and he needs one good knock to turn the corner." 

MS Dhoni : misses first round ranji trophy

The Indian captain, MS Dhoni, will miss the first leg of the upcoming Ranji Trophy due to a cold and cough infection. The opening round of matches are scheduled to be held across various venues in the country from the 2nd to the 5th of November. 

All the marquee Indian players have decided to play for their respective Ranji sides. Not only will it give them some invaluable match practice ahead of the first Test against England starting in Ahmedabad from the 15th of November, but it would also add that extra sheen and kick off the revamped Ranji Trophy in a grand style and give the rest of the players that extra motivation for the rest of the season. 

Dhoni hasn't represented Jharkhand for the last five years. "For the last six or seven years, I have been playing for India regularly and this time the local association asked me whether I was fit or not. I told them that I have cough and cold and not to consider me for selection," Dhoni was quoted as saying at the opening of a fitness training centre in a South Delhi mall. 

Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Ishant Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina will be playing in the Delhi vs UP game in Ghaziabad. 

Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan will be playing for Mumbai against Railways while Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Pragyan Ojha are set to play in the game between Hyderabad and Punjab. 

Ravichandran Ashwin will be playing for Tamil Nadu in Orissa. Cheteshwar Pujara will represent Saurashtra against Gujarat while Umesh Yadav is supposed to play for Vidarbha against Haryana at Rohtak. 

Ranji Trophy (Opening Round) - Key Players: 

Mumbai vs Railways: Tendulkar, Zaheer, Rohit Sharma, Rahane 

Delhi vs UP: Sehwag, Gambhir, Ishant, Kohli, Raina 

Tamil Nadu vs Orissa: Ashwin, Mukund, Vijay 

Saurashtra vs Gujarat: Pujara 

Punjab vs Hyderabad: Harbhajan, Yuvraj, Ojha, Rahul Sharma 

Vidarbha vs Haryana: Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra 

Bengal vs Rajasthan: Manoj Tiwary, Ashok Dinda. 

Openers : Virender, Gautam out of form

Hey....! we look back at the history of the game of cricket, any team which has dominated a particular era have had one thing in common - they boasted of a very formidable opening pair. Be it Greenidge and Haynes for the West Indies in the 70s or Hayden and Langer for the Aussies in the first half of the last decade, these redoubtable opening pairs played a major role in the success of their team.

The same is true to a certain extent for the Indian opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, whose contribution was significant in the team attaining the numero uno spot in Tests last year.

After being pummelled in two away series by England and Australia, the Indian team now finds itself at number five in Test rankings. A major reason for their decline is the dismal form of the openers. Gambhir and Sehwag’s failure to perform individually and to provide decent starts to the team is best highlighted by the fact that the last time they shared a century partnership was way back in December 2010.

Indian cricket likes to live in a state of blissful oblivion where discomforting issues are camouflaged by claims of inconsequential success. The BCCI will never address the issue of a series of poor performances on foreign soil but will boast about the success of the IPL and the opportunity it provides to emerging players to compete with the best in the business. Amidst the hullabaloo over the team’s limited success in the shortest and the shorter format of the game, a few very significant issues are escaping the attention of the cricket administrators.

One issue which demands immediate thinking, planning and action is the future of Gambhir and Sehwag as openers in all three formats of the game. The Sehwag-Gambhir opening pair has failed to provide decent starts to the team in recent times. They will in all probability be retained for the home series against England. They may even manage a few decent knocks against the English attack in Indian pitches, but that will not do Indian cricket any good in the long run. Gambhir, although a very good player of spin bowling, looks vulnerable against the quality pace bowlers, especially on foreign soil.

Dhoni did take a step in the right direction by dropping Sehwag in a couple of matches in recent times but public opinion and media scrutiny compelled him to play it safe by including him in the following matches. India will need to win Tests in away series to regain the number one spot in Test cricket, something which they lost to the English team last year. Also since the next World Cup is slated to be played in Australia, it would be wiser to use the upcoming home series against England and Australia to build a team that would have the technical skills to put up a fight in foreign conditions.

The selection committee, the coach and the captain should sit together and discuss the options available and probably try somebody like Ajinkya Rahane in the home series before the tough test waiting in South Africa. Short term solutions like asking Yuvraj Singh to open will not be beneficial for Indian cricket.

Opening is a specialist position and specialists should be deployed to guard the fortress and lead the attack against the opposition. A perfect example would be Aakash Chopra who was brought in to the side to counter the then mighty Aussie attack in 2003-2004. Although he did not manage to score big runs he did the job of seeing off the new ball to perfection. Technical prowess is a must for an opener to survive and succeed especially in foreign conditions. Our very own Sunil Gavaskar would be a perfect example of this characteristic.

Indian batsmen have always been susceptible to short balls in the pacey and bouncy wickets of Australia, South Africa, England and New Zealand. However the irritating part is that they have not improved on this aspect of their game and this weakness is exploited by every team even to this day. A champion team needs to compete and triumph in all parts of the world and not just in their own backyard. The Indian team was thrashed 4-0 in their last two series in England and Australia and it is high time that remedial measures be taken to avoid such embarrassments in the future.

There are no shortcuts to success in the Test arena and India would do best to bring about some drastic changes in the way the game is managed in the country. Preparing some fast and bouncy wickets at home would be a better option than primitive methods like practising with a tennis ball. The board could also encourage promising players to participate in foreign domestic leagues rather than asking them to play the IPL which destroys all the characteristics required for success in Tests.

Pietersen: waits T20 decision

Eventually, Pietersen admitted on Wednesday: "I did send what you might call provocative texts to my close friends in the South African team.

"The texts were meant as banter between close friends. I need to rein myself in sometimes. I apologise to Straussy and the team for the inappropriate remarks at the press conference and for the texts.

"I truly didn't mean to cause upset or tension particularly with important games at stake."

Throughout his tenure as captain, Strauss, for whom Thursday's match represents his 100th Test and 50th as captain, has tried to keep Pietersen, his predecessor as skipper, on board.

So it was no surprise to hear Strauss say on Wednesday that he felt "let down" by Pietersen.

"I feel a little bit let down by Kevin, if I'm honest," said Strauss.

"But this isn't an issue between me and Kevin. It's a broader issue than that and it's very important that I act in the best interests of England cricket team.

"It's not a personal thing. I've always got on very well with Kevin, which is why some of the stuff has been quite surprising to me."

Strauss acknowledged Pietersen's apology by saying: "It's a step forward, it's a step in the right direction. But this issue hasn't just been about the text messages.

"There's been a bit more of a broader issue about trust and mutual respect, and that issue I'm very keen to resolve.

"If we're going to resolve those issues we need to do it face to face, away from the media spotlight and away from PR companies and press releases.

"That's not helping any of us at this stage."

Strauss no longer plays Twenty20 cricket and Pietersen will also have to mend some fences with England Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad.

The allrounder said he'd no role in a parody Twitter account for Pietersen. The account - KP Genius - was set up by a friend of Broad, Richard Bailey, and had been thought to have contributed to the strained relations Pietersen felt within the England dressing room amid suggestions some of his team-mates were involved.

But Broad insisted: "I would like to confirm that I had no involvement in this whatsoever.

"As has been widely reported Mr Bailey is a friend of mine, but we had no conversations regarding this issue at all and I am pleased that he has now decided to close the parody account down."

England batsman Kevin Pietersen will discover by Saturday if his apology for sending "provocative texts" to South African players has come in time to salvage his hopes of playing in the World Twenty20.

Throughout months of escalating tension with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) hierarchy, Pietersen has always expressed the wish to help England defend the trophy they won in the Caribbean two years ago when he was named man of the tournament.

Saturday is the International Cricket Council deadline for teams to name their final squads for this year's edition, in Sri Lanka starting in September.

Pietersen's apology, issued Wednesday, came too late to save his place in the team for the third and final Test against his native South Africa at Lord's starting on Thursday.

Last weekend England dramatically dropped Pietersen from their squad for Lord's, even though he scored a brilliant 149 in the drawn second Test in Leeds.

Pietersen was axed for failing to reveal the contents of those text messages, some of which were said to contain criticisms of England captain Andrew Strauss.

Irfan pathan: Enjoys success

His impressive show during the recently concluded limited overs cricket series in Sri Lanka has taught Irfan Pathan to "enjoy each and every small moment of success" that comes his way.

"After being out for two years due to injury, this is one thing I have learnt. I need to enjoy each and every small bit of success that comes my way. I have to seize happiness from each and every moment on cricket field," Pathan toldPTI in an interview on Thursday

"I have realized that whatever has happened in the past is history and I can't afford to look too ahead towards future. But I can control my present and work hard to make things happen. That is exactly what I am trying to do. Grab each and every moment," the 27-year-old, who won two Man-of-the-Match awards said.

"A good delivery like the one that swung into Dilshan and I got him bowled in the T20 match is certainly satisfying but at the same time my innings of 34 not out is also equally significant as it was very important in the context of the match. These are little successes that I have started enjoying. It lifts your morale."

The Lankan series has by far been the best one for Irfan where he got a five-for in one of the ODIs, had couple of cameos as well as a match-winning performance in the one-off T20.

On whether he has now cemented a place in the Indian team, he said, "You can never say you belong to a certain place. I believe that only if I perform, I will be a part of that dressing room. I will have to keep contributing in whatever little way I can."

Having tasted the flavour of Test cricket, he wants to get back into white flannels in near future. "I have my own set of dreams and playing Test cricket is certainly on top of that list. I want to perform well in the limited overs version so that when Test cricket comes calling, I am up and ready for it," the all-rounder said.

Having played at the Premadasa Stadium during the ODIs, Pathan is confident that Team India will do well during the upcoming World T20 Champiopnship starting from September 18.

"We now have a fair idea about the Premadasa strip. It's a good batting wicket but obviously dew will be factor during the evening matches," Pathan assessed.

The cricketer, who is taking a short break, plans to travel to Bangalore to train at the NCA provided the weather in Baroda is not conducive for outdoor practice.