Tanvir Ahmed, Mohammad Yousuf left out of World Cup

Pakistan's selectors have displayed an unusual consistency in their ODI squad, retaining all players bar one involved in the New Zealand ODIs for their World Cup campaign. Fast bowler Tanvir Ahmed, who is part of the 16-man ODI squad in New Zealand, is the unlucky one, missing out.

In opting for continuity, the selectors have not picked the veteran Mohammad Yousuf, indicating that his career is all but over. And as had been widely expected, they have remarkably not named a captain or deputy so far, leaving open the possibility that Shahid Afridi, who has been the limited overs leader, may be replaced.

The 15-man squad is generally low on surprise, and given that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Shoaib Malik, four key players, are not cleared for selection, almost picked itself. It is a fairly fresh one also; eight of the players have no previous World Cup experience.

The batting spots are shared by a mix of the old and new, with Asad Shafiq and Umar Akmal the ones to keep an eye on, around Younis Khan. The presence of Misbah-ul-Haq will raise some eyebrows. He has only played two ODIs in 2010 and was dropped midway through Pakistan's last ODI series against South Africa.

The bowling has considerable variety, with Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz expected to share the bulk of pace duties. Sohail Tanvir has a chance to resurrect his career after two injury-struck years. Much might depend on the spinners, with Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman providing contrasting support to the threat of Afridi.

Yousuf made the 30-man preliminary World Cup squad but hasn't played a one-dayer since he was recalled for the series-decider against South Africa last November in Dubai and made only 3. Though he has played 281 ODIs for Pakistan, he scored only one half-century in 10 matches last year and his World Cup experiences have generally been poor: he has only two half-centuries in 13 career World Cup matches.

The situation with the captaincy has built up steadily over the last few weeks. There has been increasing speculation that Afridi may be removed, the board not pleased with his regular public statements, including criticisms of his own side. He was retained as ODI captain for the New Zealand ODIs but his personal performance in the last ten ODIs doesn't help his case. He averages 20.9 with the bat and 48.7 with the ball. The move to name Misbah as vice-captain for the New Zealand ODIs is seen as a means of putting pressure on Afridi.

But before leaving for New Zealand, Afridi said he was not worried about the position. "I am not worried about the captaincy, it never worries me," Afridi told reporters. "I have never run after the captaincy in my entire career. It is something for the cricket board to decide. If they feel I am the right man they will appoint me and if they don't they will make someone else captain.

"I am a senior professional and I know what I have to do. I have to lead the team to win the series and perform well as player. I know our winning the series will be very important because if we win in New Zealand it will give us a boost for the World Cup."

Squad

: Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal (wk), Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir, Ahmed Shehzad

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: WC theme song is for masses: composers

Dubai: With little more than a month to go for the ICC Cricket World Cup, the official song -- De Ghumaa Ke -- is already making a big impact in the sub-continent and the composers of the number Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy said they created it keeping in mind every section of the society.
As popular and critically acclaimed music directors of Bollywood, the trio has created an upbeat song, with versions in Hindi, Bangla and Sinhalese that will feature widely in the build-up to and during the tournament to be hosted jointly by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from February 19 to April 2.

"We thought about what one should expect of an anthem, and we wanted to compose a song that appealed to every cross-section of society.
"The title De Ghumaa Ke (literally meaning 'Hit it Hard') is a term you use whether you're watching your own local team or Sachin Tendulkar hit a six. That's the whole idea, a fun song that will catch on and we hope it gets the crowds chanting and dancing in the stands throughout the ICC Cricket World Cup," the composers said in an ICC statement.

ICC World Cup 2011 Sri Lanka 15 Men Squad: Jayasuriya, Vaas not in WC squad

Colombo: Sri Lanka's selectors have been unable to find a place for veterans Sanath Jayasuriya or Chaminda Vaas in the 2011 World Cup squad.
Announced late on Friday afternoon, the side is a predictable one led by Kumar Sangakkara minus Suraj Randiv, who at one stage was looked on as the leading spinner in the squad. Now he has been replaced by Ajantha Mendis with Muttiah Muralitharan in the fifteen names approved by the local Minister of Sport.
As Sri Lanka will play the bulk of their games on the island, with the one exception that against New Zealand in Mumbai, it was expected the squad would contain a group of spinners. There have been media speculation over the possible selection of Jayasuriya and Vaas, veterans of the 1996 side that won the event in Lahore.
One recent columnist accused the SLC interim committee of botching the Jayasuriya retirement story.
The main weakness in the squad is who will bat at six and seven, two areas where the team has shown a weakness in recent ODIs.
Sri Lanka 15 Men Squad:
Kumar Sangakkara ( Captain ), Mahela Jayawardena ( Vice captain), Upul Tharanga, TM Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedara, Angelo Mathews, Tissara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekera, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath

India's Big Hopes on ICC World Cup 2011

BCCI selection committee president, Kris Srikanth said on Sunday, despite recent disappointing results, the preparation for the next World Cup goes smoothly.
Kris Srikanth said, although India’s recent performance was disappointing, preparation for the next World Cup going ahead smoothly.
Srikanth said that the players are good, selectors and the BCCI also doing their best, said Srikkanth. Every series is like a World Cup for us.
Selectors keep an eye on all the major cricket matches is under-19, Ranji and Irani trophy matches to choose the right talented person for the future cricket.
Talking about injuries that have hit the Indian team, Srikanth said injuries are part of the game and sometime it is difficult for right replacement at the eleventh hour.
He is talking about injuries have hit the Indian team injuries are part of the game and sometimes hard to right replacement of team.
About Saturday’s match with Sri Lanka, where India lost, Srikkanth said, we lost wickets at crucial time.
However, he complimented the youngsters for doing well.

ICC and PCB resolve 2011 World Cup dispute

The ICC and the PCB have resolved their dispute over the staging of the 2011 World Cup. The PCB, which was stripped of its rights to host the tournament in the aftermath of the attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, will retain its host fees of US$10.5 million and also receive a payment as additional compensation for the loss of hosting rights. The two parties reached an agreement during a meeting between the ICC president David Morgan and the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt in Dubai. It is expected that the settlement will be signed later today, at which point the PCB will withdraw its legal proceedings against the ICC.

However, Butt told AFP that the PCB was aiming to include a clause in the agreement which would allow Pakistan to host some of the World Cup matches depending on the teams' approval. "We have also demanded to include a clause in (Thursday's) agreement that if the security situation improves in Pakistan, some of the World Cup matches be played in Pakistan subject to teams' acceptance," he said.

It was also agreed that the PCB would be free of its liabilities and obligations associated with hosting matches during the tournament, including the location of the tournament secretariat which had originally been set for Lahore.

"This resolution is good for world cricket and provides an improved platform for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 as we now have a degree of certainty surrounding the event that was not there while the dispute was ongoing, " Morgan said after the agreement was reached. "I am glad we were able to come to an amicable agreement and I believe this is a fair resolution for the PCB and the ICC."

He added that international cricket would return to Pakistan once the ICC deemed the security situation in the country was fit for teams to tour. "When the position in Pakistan, from a safety and security point of view, becomes satisfactory to the ICC and its specialist security advisors as well as to visiting teams, then international cricket will return to Pakistan," he said.

Butt, who had strongly opposed the ICC's decision to move matches out of Pakistan, welcomed the breakthrough. "The PCB is content with the settlement that has been reached," he said. "We are able to see this dispute from the other side. We realise also the logistical and administrative difficulties that would be associated with organising our matches in the other three co-host countries.

"Our number-one priority is that cricket in Pakistan must not be allowed to suffer unduly and I believe this agreement is the best possible outcome for the game," he said.

The PCB had reacted sternly over its loss of hosting rights for the tournament and had issued a legal notice to the ICC in May, calling the decision "discriminatory" and "legally flawed".

Six Sri Lankan cricketers were hurt in the attack on their team in March when they were touring for a two-Test series; other countries, prior to the tour, had refused to visit citing concerns over the volatile security situation in Pakistan. The PCB had also filed a case in the Lahore court against the ICC's decision to move the headquarters of the 2011 World Cup (the World Cup secretariat) from Lahore to Mumbai.

In June, the ICC ruled out the possibility of Pakistan's matches being hosted at neutral venues, including the UAE. It confirmed the decision to allocate Pakistan's share of the matches to the three other co-hosts, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The row showed signs of abating when, earlier this month, the PCB said it was looking for an out-of-court settlement to resolve the matter and added it was entitled to a substantial compensation for its share of matches being taken away.