‘I have never asked for captaincy’
Karachi: Pakistan’s under-fire captain Misbah-ul-Haq has made it clear that he is not worried about losing the captaincy and is ready to serve the national cricket team in any capacity. Misbah, whose captaincy and batting has come under severe criticism for its apparent defensive mode, insisted he was under no pressure because of the reaction that had come after Pakistan lost the second Test to lowly ranked Zimbabwe in Harare and levelled the two-match series 1-1. “I have never asked for the captaincy or demanded it. Even now it is for the Pakistan Cricket Board to decide on the captaincy issue. Whatever they decide is acceptable to me,” Misbah told reporters after arriving in lahore from India where he led the Pakistan domestic T20 champions, Faisalabad Wolves in a disappointing Champions league campaign.
Afridi confident of good show Karachi: Pakistan cricket team might be facing a lot of criticism for its dismal show against a lowly ranked Zimbabwe recently, but all-rounder Shahid Afridi feels that the players have the ability to put up a good show in the upcoming “home” series against South Africa, starting in Abu Dhabi on October 14. Insisting that the players only needed to change their mindset, Afridi said, “We have a very good team and we just need to change our mindset, that’s all and I am sure we can put up a good fight in the series. “We should enter the field without fear of defeat and just give our best till the final ball is bowled.”
Sibsankar replaces Mandeep
New Delhi: Sibsankar Roy on Monday replaced all-rounder Mandeep Singh in the India Blue Squad for the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy after the latter was ruled out for three weeks due to a finger injury. “Mandeep Singh has sustained a finger injury, and has been ruled out of action for three weeks,” BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement. The tournament will be played in Indore from September 26 to September 29.
SlC gives clean chit to Perera
Colombo: Sri lanka Cricket on Monday denied reports that all-rounder Thisara Perera indulged in match-fixing during this year’s Indian Premier league, saying that it has full faith in its players. SlC rebuttal comes in the wake of a media report which stated that a Mumbai-based bookie fixed an IPl match for Rs 6 crore after striking deals with four players of Sunrisers Hyderabad. The players mentioned in the report were Thisara Perera, Hanuma Vihari, Karan Sharma and Ashish Reddy. The report quoted a bookie, who apparently took the players’ names in his statement to the Mumbai police crime branch. SlC, while denying that no intimation on the incident has been given to them by the Indian authorities, said it had “the full confidence in all its players.” Perera is currently playing in the ClT20 representing the Sunrisers.
all-round Hooda thrash Zim
Visakhapatnam: Deepak Hooda produced a fine all-round performance to help the Indian Under-19 cricket team register a comprehensive 148-run win over Zimbabwe in the opening match of the Quadrangular Under-19 One-Day Series, here on Monday. Hooda sizzled with the bat smashing an unbeaten 83 and then grabbed two for 37 with his tight medium pacers to set up an easy win. Earlier, opting to bat, the Indian colts rode Hooda’s quickfire knock and 15-year-old Sarfaraz Khan’s run-a-ball 55 to post 291 for six in their 50 overs. Promoted up the order at No 6, Hooda used his long handle to great effect as he clobbered Zimbabwean bowlers during his 55-ball knock hitting five fours and an equal number of sixes in the process.
‘no mechanism to convince Rauf’
Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board has no mechanism in place to “convince” retired Test umpire, Asad Rauf to go to Mumbai to face spot-fixing charges, an official said on Monday. PCB’s legal advisor, Tafazzul Rizvi said that there was also no extradition treaty between Pakistan and India so the issue was a difficult one to respond if the Mumbai courts issued summons for Rauf to appear in person for examination. “One thing is clear that he is a retired umpire and this is a matter between him and the Mumbai police and the IPl and ICC. The PCB is not a party to this. The PCB has no mechanism to force or convince him to go to Mumbai in case a summon are issued to him,” he said.
‘Don’t harp on srt’s retirement’
Mumbai: Advising the media to stop harping constantly on the retirement plans of Sachin Tendulkar, Cricket Board’s senior employee Prof Ratnakar Shetty on Monday said here that the senior India cricketer is the best person to decide on the matter. “There have been so many debates on this. I have always said that no one else is better than him to talk about his retirement. So please stop worrying about that. He has been playing international cricket for the last 20-21 years,” Shetty said on the sidelines of the event. PNS/Agencies