T20 World Cup

Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara has won the toss and elected to bat first game of the season this year at Twenty20 World Cup.

The Kiwis have left out Kyle Mills, Daniel Vettori indicated offspinner Nathan McCullum will open the innings on a slow turning wicket.
“We would have batted as well.

We need to restrict them and bat well later on. The warm up games were good. We have left Mills today. We may ask Nathan McCullum to open the bowling today as well.,” said Vettori.

Sri Lanka meanwhile have dropped Sanath Jayasuriya down to number six in the order and will open the batting with Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

New Zealand team – BB McCullum, JD Ryder, MJ Guptill, LRPL Taylor, SB Styris, GJ Hopkins†, JDP Oram, DL Vettori*, NL McCullum, SE Bond, TG Southee.

Sri Lanka team – TM Dilshan, DPMD Jayawardene, KC Sangakkara*†, ST Jayasuriya, CK Kapugedera, AD Mathews, LD Chandimal, SL Malinga, M Muralitharan, BAW Mendis, UWMBCA Welegedara.

Sir Lanka has team–up to play the tournament and hopes to start with bang against New Zealand.

With a smashing hit and strong batting skills by the player which includes Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene. Last year, these players were the favorites who reach to the semi finals once again in the Caribbean.

The trio-Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene enjoy the right mix of the game which they recently played at the IPL. Though, Jayawardene performance was awesome after being promoted to open the batting for the Kings XI Punjab while Sangakkara and Dilshan had to struggle a lot.

During the warm up session, Sri Lanka effort fall flat though they get a hand on experience to show the talent with full confidence with a squad that is regarded as one of the best in the shortest formats of the game. Read more »

India skipper MS Dhoni has set an alert to his players to take up the challenge against Afghanistan, when the two teams meet on Saturday in a Group C clash in St Lucia.

India skipper MS Dhoni: He said his team cannot afford any type of slip-up against the minnow’s at the Beaysejour Stadium. Although highly unlikely a defeat against Afghanistan could put India out of contention for the super eights.

“If you ask me, I would not consider our opening match against Afghanistan as a practice game. I don’t take my opponents lightly. At the end of the day you have to win whichever team you play,” said Dhoni.

“I don’t know much about them. It is good in a way because if we know too much about a side then you are thinking too much about them. However, our preparation will remain the same as if you are playing the best opponent in world cricket,” he said.

“We can’t really relax against whichever team you are playing. At the end of the day you are representing India and you have to be at your best when you turn up on the field,” Dhoni added. Read more »

West Indies vice-captain Dwayne Bravo has excited about the fact that he will be playing at his home and thrill to show his skills in the World Twenty20, which will be taking place on Friday, Guyana.

Bravo who was representing Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has back home with lot of enthusiasm and wish to give all his efforts to, when West Indies play Ireland in the second match of a doubleheader at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence Friday.

As per the Trinidad Express, bravo expressed his feeling and he said, “’You can expect energy from me always. Whenever I step on the cricket field, it is guaranteed that I will give the team 100 percent,”

‘It is part of my job as vice-captain to also be that livewire in the team and also to support Chris (Gayle) who has been doing a good job as the team leader”, he added. Read more »

Team India is West-Indies-bound for the T20 World Cup, but the most successful batsmen of IPL Season 3 is not boarding that flight. Sachin Tendulkar will be missed by every Indian, but India skipper MS Dhoni says, “we must respect Sachin’s decision to retire from T20.”

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Dhoni, who also spoke about winning the IPL and lots more, said of course the team would miss Sachin, but “I respect his decision, whatever he says because he has done well, given his services to Indian cricket for the last 20 years, if he decides something than we should just respect it.”

The Captain is sure the presence of his Chennai Super Kings teammate, opener Murli Vijay, will stand the team in good stead. The in-form Murli has come in at the last minute for Virendra Sehwag, who has dropped out of the tournament. Read more »

India go into the World Twenty20 determined to avoid a second big failure in three years in the Caribbean with a solid all-round performance.

India, who suffered a humiliating first-round exit in the 50-over World Cup in the West Indies in 2007, need to show their depth in batting, especially after losing hard-hitting opener Virender Sehwag to a shoulder injury.

With record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar not part of the T20 side since 2007, the onus will be on skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh to put up a formidable batting show.

India were in a similar situation ahead of the last year’s tournament in England, but the result was a big disappointment for their fans as they failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

They travelled to England just a few days after the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa, with coach Gary Kirsten citing “fatigue” as one of the reasons for the team’s failure.

The limbs will be tired this time also as Indians played virtually non-stop cricket for more than a month in the recent IPL which ended five days before the Cup, but Dhoni downplayed the fatigue factor.

“We will be going into the Twenty20 fully prepared, though we will have very little time to refresh ourselves,” said Dhoni.

“As professionals, we are always committed to giving our best. There can be no excuse for failure.” Read more »