Cricket : Money is not the reason for Sourav Ganguly's return to cricket !!!!!!

Sourav Ganguly will not be playing for money but to prove he is still "good enough" in this form of cricket, according to a top official of Sahara Pune Warriors.

In a dramatic decision which was the talking point in Indian cricketing circles on Tuesday, the IPL debutants announced that they were signing up the former Indian captain who went unsold in the last auction.

Director of the Pune franchise, said they had been in touch with the retired international for the last couple of days, but could only confirm him as a replacement for the injured medium pacer Ashish Nehra.

"The fees did not figure prominently in our discussion as he would be paid on a pro-rata basis for the remaining matches," he said.

Ganguly, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders for the first three seasons of IPL, told the media in Kolkata: "I was approached by them yesterday [Monday] and I've confirmed about my availability to them. I am leaving for Mumbai and the details will be announced there." Dismissing any speculation about change in captaincy, the Pune official said Ganguly will be purely be in the capacity of a player while Yuvraj Singh and Graeme Smith will continue to be the captain and vice-captain, respectively.

"The decision to play him or not rests completely with the team management. He is joining the side [in Navi Mumbai] and will train with the coach and support staff. I don't think he will be playing in our next match [against Mumbai Indians]," Sarkar said.

The move is, however, seen in some quarters as a desperate move by the IPL debutants, who are languishing at the bottom of the table with six consecutive losses from eight games and are also hamstrung by injuries.

"In the last four matches, we have lost from winning positions. We were also done in by injuries to four key players. Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lankan all-rounder was ruled out, Australian Twenty20 vice-captain Tim Paine and South African skipper Graeme Smith too are injured while Ashish Nehra too was battling with injury.

"We waited for Nehra's fitness report before getting the BCCI green signal," Sarkar said.

Incidentally, after Ganguly went unsold in the auctions last January, Subrata Roy, the Chairman of Sahara Group, had expressed interest in the possibility of taking him on board even in the capacity of a "mentor" — an idea that did not meet with the approval of the team's Australian coach Geoff Marsh

Cricket : Shehzad century steers Pakistan to victory

Opener Ahmed Shehzad struck his second one-day international hundred to anchor Pakistan to a confident seven-wicket victory over West Indies on Monday.
Shehzad hit seven fours and one six in his 102 from 148 balls as Pakistan successfully chased 221 for victory in the second ODI at the Beausejour Cricket Ground. Umar Akmal carried the visitors over the threshold with 12 balls remaining when he lofted a delivery from Dwayne Bravo to long-off for the final boundary of the match.
The result means that Pakistan take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series after winning the first game by eight wickets on Saturday at the same ground.
Pakistan have now won their last seven ODIs against West Indies, a sequence spread over the last four years.
"We made a plan at our team meeting and our guys stuck to it and that was good," said Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi.
"Shehzad is a very talented guy and he showed that he is capable of performing. He took his time, but chasing a small total, he could afford to do that and we won the game.
"I think our bowlers are doing a great job, and the fielding has improved because it is a very important area for us. Our batting has shown responsibility and we hope to maintain this discipline right throughout the series."
The visitors' spin bowling trio of Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez and Afridi had dominated on another docile pitch.
After Pakistan chose to field, West Indies were dismissed for 220 in their 50 overs - one less than the total they made in the first ODI.
Ajmal, Hafeez and Afridi shared six wickets for 102 runs in 30 overs between them, and only West Indies opener Lendl Simmons looked close to getting on top of them, leading the way with 51 from 48 balls, which included four fours and two sixes.
"We didn't make use of the key moments in the match," said West Indies captain Darren Sammy.
"We could have tried to squeeze their batsmen more and when we batted we got a good start, but did not capitalise on it.
"The spinners continue to bog us down, and we could have got a lot more on the board. It seems that whatever approach we have taken, we seem only able to get the same kind of total on the board. We have a lot more work to do."
Shehzad shared three successive half-century partnerships with Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq that put Pakistan firmly on course for their victory.
He glanced a delivery in the 44th over from Dwayne Bravo to deep fine leg for a single to reach his milestone from 143 balls.
"We tried to keep wickets in hand. It was not a huge total so I knew that I had to control my stroke-play and not get carried away," said Shehzad.
He was fortunate on 30 when he came close to being run out after pulling a delivery from Bravo to mid-wicket and Hafeez turned down the chance of going for a single.
Sammy fired his throw from mid-wicket wide of the stumps and the opener was able to regain his ground.
By the time he became the second wicket for leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo in the 46th over, Pakistan required just 30 from the final 28 deliveries which came with little trouble.
The third and fourth matches of the series will be played on Thursday and Monday at Kensington Oval in Barbados, with the final game coming three days later at the Guyana National Stadium.

Cricket : Zulqarnain Haider returns to Pakistan

Five and a half months after fleeing to London from the UAE on the morning of an ODI, Zulqarnain Haider, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper, has returned home, having secured security assurances from the government about his safety and that of his family.

Haider landed at Islamabad airport on Monday morning and was swiftly escorted by security personnel to the office of Rehman Malik, the Interior Minister, who had convinced him to come back from London. Haider, who turned 25 on Saturday, had announced last week that he was prepared to revoke his application for asylum in the UK and return to Pakistan and resume his playing career. However, soon after that, there was confusion; some channels reported that he was reconsidering his decision after receiving threatening phone calls in the aftermath of his decision to return. But later he clarified to other channels - as well as leaving an update on his Facebook page - confirming that he would be returning as planned. Haider also recorded the threatening calls he had received, parts of which were aired on some Pakistani channels.

"I am happy to return," he said on Monday afternoon, after a meeting with Malik. "I have met Rehman Malik and the sports minister and they have provided me foolproof security," he said.

"When I landed at the airport everything was superb. They have given me superb accommodation and have lived upto their promise. I have just talked to them and briefed them on what happened to me. When I meet Ijaz Butt [PCB chairman] I will share with him too.

History Of Cricket

This time cricket is the most popular sports in the world.Basically In south Asian People's are fun of cricket,then lets see the history of Cricket..

The origins of cricket are very vague, and many theories have been put forward suggesting its origins. Hard Studies and research have been conducted to trace it's history and they have come out with different versions. However it is commonly accepted that the game originated from a very old leisure activity indulged by shepherds. The shepherds used crook and other farm equipments to hit a ball like deceive which used to be made up of wool or stone.

The first evidence of cricket being played was recorded in the year 1550, by the pupils of Royal Grammar School, Guildford. In the year 1611 it is reported that two young men from Sussex were punished for playing cricket instead of going to the church. The first match is recorded to have been played at Cox heath in Kent in the year 1646.Earlier cricket used to thrive greatly as a gambling game. People used to place huge amounts of bets in matches and thus the game started to get recognition. Cricket was in fact a major gambling sport towards the end of the 17th century. It is recorded that in the year 1679, a 11-a-side match was played with stakes as high as 50 guineas per side.

During the 18th century cricket survived and thrived due to the huge amounts of money via monetary backing and gambling. The first instance of a match to be played between counties in England is recorded to be on 29th June in the year 1709. This match was played between Surrey and Kent at Dartford Brent.

The 18th century also witnessed the emergence of two types of cricket players. They were known as the retained player and the individual player. Generally the retained player was the servant of the lord and a cricketer as well. On the other hand the individual player was free to play anywhere with his skills. Basically it was something like the player could play anywhere with the amount of skill.

In the year 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club also known MCC was created. The MCC has since then gone on to become one of the most prominent bodies in world cricket. Cricket in its initial days were restricted to the aristocratic class of England. Cricket gradually went on to become the national game of England.

The late 18th century was a very crucial phase for the development of the game, both within and outside Britain. The game was spread far and wide mainly due to England’s imperialism. Wherever they went, the game went with them and thus spread outside England. The first official match was held between Canada and United States was held in the year 1844.

In the present times, cricket has its own following of loyal fans. The International Cricket Council, better known as the ICC is the governing body in world cricket. The ICC was founded on the 15th of June in the year 1909. All laws relating to One day Internationals and Test Cricket are framed and implemented by the ICC.

About Cricket !!!!!!!

Cricket is a game of two teams between eleven players. It is played with the bat and ball as well as it is divided into six overs. Cricket game is established with the team sport. It is the most popular sport in the world.

In the cricket, there are three types of bawlers like fast bawlers, spin bawlers and medium pace bawler. The ball has bounces only one time before reaching the batsman. In the sport of cricket, the bawling is like a action of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batsman. It is played on the grass field and roughly in the oval shape.

All batsman plays the ball with the wooden type of cricket bat and the remaining members of the bawler's team stand with the different positions. In this game if the batsman not out, then they run between the wickets and exchanging ends with the second batsman.

Two-on fields umpires preside over a match. One empire stands on the behind of the bawler's wicket and the other one stands with a side view of the batsman.

The cricket field consists of the large oval shaped with the grassy ground. Its diameter is usually between 450 feet to 500 feet. The parameter of the field is known as boundary and the boundary is marked with the painted line or with a rope. casino table game

The main purpose of the bawler's team is to get the each batsman out and the purpose of the batting team is to score as many runs.