I'm nowhere near Jacques Kallis:Shane Watson

Despite putting on a few good all-round displays in the T20I Cup, Shane Watson has been modest enough to admit that he finds himself nowhere near Jacques Kallis when it comes to being an all rounder.

"When I look at it, I find myself nowhere near Jacques Kallis simply because what he has achieved in all forms of the game," said a modest Watson, who has bagged back-to-back man of the match awards for his all-round efforts against Ireland and West Indies.

"Just in Test cricket to have played over 150 matches (156) and scoring at an average of over 58 (56 plus) and getting more than 250 wickets (280), is something that people just dream of. It is a privilege being out playing in the same era as him."

"He is a world class T20 player and look at the way he has adapted being a world class all-rounder. For me, if he is not the best, he will still be among the best couple to have played the game," added Watson, paying rich tributes to the South African all-rounder.

Watson has been in very good form with the bat and has provided some crucial wickets with the ball. Against Ireland, he got the wicket of Kevin O'Brien and in the game against West Indies he dismissed the dangerous Chris Gayle.??"I am trying to execute the simple things like bowling wicket to wicket. Against Gayle, my plan was to bowl as close as possible to his body. I didn't want to give him any room to swing his arm. Then no ground in the world would seem to be big enough for him. But I am disappointed that I couldn't execute my plans against Marlon Samuels."

The all-rounder feels that presence of David Warner and Mike Hussey has helped him bat freely.

"The manner in which Warner bats takes a lot of pressure off me. As far as Hussey is concerned, he has shown in IPL how good he is. He never seems to take any risk, yet he scores at a brisk pace. It's important that the top three in your batting line-up set up a platform," he said.

We are at liberty to advertise for new franchise: Srinivasan

BCCI president N Srinivasan refused to talk about the issue concerning IPL franchise Deccan Chargers as the matter was still in court. However, he mentioned that the Board can still advertise for a new team to be added to the Indian Premier League.

"I cannot comment on the matter (of Deccan Chargers) as it is currently sub-judice. I'm informed that the court may issue an order soon," Srinivasan told reporters after the Board's 83rd AGM.

"But as far as the Board is concerned, it is at liberty to advertise for another franchise. But that's a decision to be taken. If we have to go with nine teams, so be it," he added.

The Bombay High Court appointed retired Supreme Court Judge C K Thakkar as arbitrator to bring about a resolution to the dispute between BCCI and Deccan within three months. The issue between BCCI and Deccan Chronicles Holdings Ltd (DCHL) arose when the the Board decided to terminate Deccan Chargers from IPL.

Justice S J Kathawala ordered appointment of Justice Thakkar to mediate after the parties failed to come up with mutually acceptable names of arbitrators.

The DCHL had also made a plea to the court to stay BCCI's decision to terminate the franchise but the court chose to reserve the order.

The court further ordered DCHL to give Rs. 100 crore bank guarantee to BCCI within 10 days after it passes an order on the former's petition seeking a

Ganguly backs the new selection committee

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly backed the newly-appointed selection committee and said the Sandip Patil-led panel is "definitely better" than the one headed by Kris Srikkanth.

"It's definitely a better selection committee than the previous one," Ganguly told reporters a day after being replaced by Anil Kumble as BCCI's technical committee chairman.

Referring to the current selection panel, Ganguly said: "It's not an easy job and there would be criticism, but these guys understand cricket. They have the heart in the right place and they're trustworthy. I can't say much about (Rajinder Singh) Hans but I've played alongside (Vikram) Rathore and Saba (Karim) and I know Patil and (Roger) Binny... It's a very good selection committee."

Although he appeared disappointed, Ganguly chose not to express in as many words his ouster as technical committee chief.

"I should not be discussing these things when India are playing Australia in a crucial Super Eight match. I don't know why (I was removed), but I'm not too worried," he said.

Following India's back to back Test series losses to England and Australia, Ganguly had openly criticised the selection committee.

Asked if losing his place was anything to do him criticising the selection policy, Ganguly said: "I don't know. I don't know whether it's for two years or what... But it's not a contractual agreement."

Regarding Mohinder Amarnath's ouster from the selection panel, Ganguly termed it as unfortunate.

"A lot of things happen. You just got to deal with it. It's unfortunate," Ganguly said.

Having replaced Sunil Gavaskar as BCCI's technical committee head last year, Ganguly has been donning different roles - playing for state side Bengal and IPL franchise Pune Warriors, doing commentary besides handling the Board's job.

The Ganguly-led committee had made some bold decisions, bringing about several changes in the domestic structure that included doing away with the Elite and Plate divisions. Even the Ranji Trophy points system was changed, while the Challengers tournament was restructured.

It was a decision, taken in the aftermath of India's 0-8 drubbing overseas, to lay emphasis on away performance, Ganguly had said.

"The basic emphasis is to see that Indian cricket does well overseas. That is going to be the biggest emphasis for whoever is concerned with Indian cricket.

"The loss of eight Tests in a row has not been very good. So whatever amendments we make is to make sure we start playing well overseas. India will always play well at home," Ganguly had said as technical committee chairman earlier.

Patil appointed Chairman of Selection Committee

The Indian National Selection Committee underwent some change, as Sandeep Patil was appointed as the Chairman while Mohinder Amarnath was sacked after serving just one year in the panel.

Patil's appointment came as a surprise to many as his name wasn't much talked about as a possible candidate prior to the Board's Annual General Meeting which finalised the panel today.

The rest of the panel comprises Saba Karim who will represent the East Zone, Roger Binny will represent the West Zone and Vikram Rathore and Rajinder Singh Hans will represent the North and Central Zones respectively.

Chandrakant Pandit, a wicketkeeper-batsman who played for India between 1986 and 1992, was named chairman of the junior selection committee.

Another change came in the form of the remuneration as the AGM decided to raise the selectors' annual remuneration from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 60 lakh, while for the junior selectors, it was raised from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh.

From East Zone, there were a number of contenders such as Debang Gandhi, Deep Dasgupta, Debashish Mohanty and Arup Bhattacharya but it was former India wicketkeeper-batsman Saba Karim who surprisingly got the nod.

Former paceman Abey Kuruvilla was being talked about as a strong contender from West Zone but he could not make it with Patil being preferred for the post.

Patil, played 29 Tests and 45 ODIs for India, scoring 1588 and 1005 runs in the respective formats. Post-retirement, Patil became the India A coach before being at the helm of the senior team. With him in charge, the Indian team had made the finals of the 2003 50-over World Cup. He later served as coach of the Kenyan national team as well.

Patil, in fact, ended up rubbing BCCI the wrong way when he served as one of the coaches in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League. He cut ties with the rebel league in 2009.

Binny played for India from 1979 to 1987. In his eight-year career, the all-rounder picked 47 wickets in 27 Tests and 77 wickets in 72 ODIS.

He was India's highest wicket-taker during the 1983 World Cup. The 57-year-old played for two states -- Goa and Karnataka -- in the domestic circuit.

BCCI's previous selection panel comprised of Srikkanth, Amarnath, Narendra Hirwani (Central Zone), Surendra Bhave (West Zone) and Raja Venkat (East Zone). Amarnath had replaced Yashpal Sharma last year.

Black Caps prepare to face hosts in T20 World Cup

Sri Lanka could be without spinner Ajantha Mendis for tonight's Twenty20 World Cup match against the Black Caps.
Mendis has had a hip injury since the opening group game of the tournament, and a call on his fitness won't be made until before the start of play in Pallekelle.
Nathan McCullum's putting his hand up to lead the Black Caps' attack against some of the best batsmen in the game.
McCullum says the low, slow pitches suit him - and he's out to make a statement.

"It's encouraging from our team's point of view and encouraging from my point of view as well because I've set myself some goals to really stamp my mark and make a statement for New Zealand in this world cup, and this is a great opportunity to do it."
He says the pitch starts to favour the bowlers in the late stages, so it's important to bat first.
"That definitely slowed up even more and more as our batting innings went on so I think that is something to be aware of - it may be a 10 or 15 run swing when you're batting first sometimes."
Sri Lanka has played all its games in the south of the country so far, and has been training at the old test ground since shifting base.

Bangladesh's dismal numbers in T20Is

How much ever one desires not to call Bangladesh a minnow any more, the Asian country's performance is such that it invariably gets them that tag, especially in the 20 over editions of the World Cup.

Over the four editions of the World Cup, including the ongoing one, Bangladesh have not really made their presence felt, accumulating numbers only in their losses column. In fact, they have such a bad record in the 20-over version of the world event that they have now registered 10 consecutive losses over the 4 editions put together, including the losses to New Zealand and Pakistan in World T20 2012.

Even when Bangladesh's performance in World T20s is put to comparison with some of the minnow nations, the Asian team fare quite poorly. Barring a win against West Indies in their opening match of the World T20 in 2007, Bangladesh have been disappointing as they have suffered only losses since that game - 10 as mentioned in the paragraph above.

Below is the table of teams listed by the worst loss ratio in World T20s and in this, Bangladesh are only slightly better than Afghanistan and Kenya, who have lost all their matches in the World events till date.

Simon Taufel to quit after World T20

One of the most respected umpires in world cricket today, Simon Taufel, will resign from his job after the World T20, which is currently underway in Sri Lanka. He will move from his on-field job to take up the post of 'umpire performance and training manager' with the ICC.

"Following the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012, I'm moving on from active international umpiring for personal and professional reasons. My wife and children have supported me immensely throughout my career and it is time for me to spend more time with them. My passion for cricket umpiring and personal professional development has shifted from on the field to off the field. In my new position as ICC umpire performance and training manager, I look forward to help create professional programmes and resources to support the current and future generations of cricket match officials. The new role includes working closely with the national cricket federations which is really exciting as is continuing to work with the entire cricket community in helping the development of our cricket umpires."

Taufel was the ICC's 'umpire of the year' for five consecutive years starting from 2004, and has umpired in 74 tests and 174 one-day internationals.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson paid tribute to one of cricket's most consistent umpires. "Simon has been one of the most respected umpires for over a decade due to his excellent decision-making and man-management skills. He has been a role model for umpires globally who look to him for inspiration and guidance. I am delighted that he will be working with us to groom and develop the next generation of elite umpires and have no doubt that he will be equally successful in his new role as ICC's umpire performance and training manager. In the meantime I know that Simon, a thorough professional that he is, will want to focus on the job at hand, that of getting things right on the field, something he has done as well as any other umpire in the history of the game."

De Lange out of Champions League.

Marchant de Lange, the South African fast bowler will not take part in the T20 Cricket League to be played in South Africa in October this year. He was a member of the Titans' squad. He is also a doubtful starter for South Africa's tour of Australia leter in the year as he recovers from a lower back stress fracture. He sustained the injury in June and is expected to return to action, only by November.

He is currently undergoing rehabilitation. The bowler would also examine his bowling action to see whether it could be modified to prevent similar injuries in future. Allan Donald, the bowling coach of South Africa is a part of a team that is helping Lange to make a swift and successful return to international cricket.

De Lange sustained the injury during the unofficial T20 tri-series between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in June but was included in the touring squad for the England Test series the following month.