ICC TEST BATSMAN RANKINGS

Here is the list of current top test batsman as on 31 May 2012.

1- S.Chanderpaul

2- A.B. de Villiers

3- J.H. Kallis

4- Younus Khan

5- K.C. Sangakkara

6- A.N. Cook

7- T.T. Samaraweera

8- M.J. Clarke

9- H.M. Amla

10- R.L. Taylor

PAKISTAN'S ONE DAY SQUAD

1- Mohammad Hafeez (vc)

2- Nasir Jamshed

3- Younis Khan

4- Misbah-ul-Haq (c)

5- Umer Akmal

6- Sarfraz Ahmed (wk)

7- Shahid afridi

8- Umer Gul

9- Rahat Ali

10- Saeed Ajmal

11- Abdur Rehman

12- Mohammad Sami

13- Asad Shafiq

14- Aizaz Cheema

15- Azhar Ali

16- Haris Sohail

17- Imran Farhat

Nasir Jamshed is ruled out from the tour due to injury.

SRI LANKAN ODI SQUAD

1- Mahela Jayawardene (c)

2- Angelo Mathews

3- Tilakaratne Dilshan

4- Jeevan Mendis

5- Lahiru Thirimanne

6- Kumar Sangakkara (wk)

7- Nuwan Kulesekara

8- Dinesh Chandimal

9- Sachithra Senanayake

10- Dilhara Fernando

11- Nuwan Pradeep

12- Lasith Malinga

13- Upul Tharanga

14- Rangana Herath

15- Thisara Parera

SRI LANKAN T20 SQUAD

1- Mahela Jayawardene (c)

2- Angelo Mathews

3- Tilakaratne Dilshan

4- Chamara Kapugadera           

5- Lahiru Thirimanne

6- Kumar Sangakkara (wk)

7- Nuwan Kulesekara

8- Dinesh Chandimal

9- Sachithra Senanayake

10- Kaushalya Lokuarachchi

11- Thisara Parera

12- Lasith Malinga

13- Upul Tharanga

14- Isuru Udana

PAKISTAN'S T20 SQUAD FOR LANKAN SERIES

1- Khalid Latif

2- Ahmed Shahzad

3- Mohammad Hafeez

4- Shoaib Malik

5- Umar Akmal

6- Haris Sohail

7- Shahid Afridi

8- Shakeel Ansar

9- Yasir Arafat

10- Umar Gul

11- Sohail Tanvir

12- Saeed Ajmal

13- Raza Hasan

14- Mohammad Sami

15- Hammad Azam

16- Nasir Jamshed

Lately, Nasir have been ruled out due to injury from the tour and no replacement has been announced.

ENG TEST SQUAD FOR THE FIRST TEST AGAINST WI

England has announced their 13-member squad for the first test against windies. Bairstow is the only uncapped player and Onions makes his comeback.

1- Andrew Strauss (c)

2- James Anderson

3- Ian Bell

4- Jonathan Trott

5- Tim Bresnan

6- Stuart Broad

7- Alastair Cook

8- Steven Finn

9- Jonny Bairstow

10- Graham Onions

11- Graeme Swann

12- Kevin Pieterson

13- Matt Prior (wk)

WI TEST SQUAD FOR ENGLAND SERIES

West Indies have announced test squad for the upcoming series in England. Brathwaite & wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh are dropped from the squad for the 11-match tour of England. Windies will play 3-test match series starting on 17th of May.

1- Darren Sammy (c)

2- Kirk Edwards (vc)

3- Marlon Samuels

4- Shivnarine Chanderpaul

5- Darren Bravo

6- Adrian Barath

7 -Narsingh Deonarine

8- Denesh Ramdin

9- Assad Fudadin

10- Shannon Gabriel

11- Kieron Powell
12- Ravi Rampaul

13- Shane Shillingford
14- Fidel Edwards
15- Kemar Roach

INDIAN T20 SQUAD FOR ONE-OFF MATCH AGAINST PROTEAS

Indian squad for the only T20 match in South Africa had been announced

1- MS Dhoni (c/wk)

2- Virat Kohli (vc)

3- Ravichandran Ashwin

4- Ashok Dinda

5- Gautam Gambhir

6- Ravindra Jadeja

7- Praveen Kumar

8- Irfan Pathan

9- Yusuf Pathan

10- Suresh Raina

11- Rahul Sharma

12- Rohit Sharma

13- Manoj Tiwary

14- Robin Uthappa

15- Vinay Kumar

WEST INDIES NAMED SQUAD FOR TWENTY20 INTERNATIONALS

West Indies named a 14-man squad on Saturday for the two Twenty20 internationals against Kangaroos.

Fidel Edwards, Krishmar Santokie, Dwayne Smith, Nkrumah Bonner and Garey Mathurin who were not in the ODI squad, have been named in the T20 squad.

1- Darren Sammy (c)

2- Dwayne Bravo

3- Carlton Baugh (wk)

4- Nkrumah Bonner

5- Darren Bravo

6- Johnson Charles

7- Fidel Edwards

8- Garey Mathurin

9- Sunil Narine

10- Kieron Pollard

11- Andre Russel

12- Marlon Samuels

13- Krishmar Santokie

14- Dwayne Smith

PROTEAS SQUAD FOR THE T20 MATCH AGAINST INDIA

South African squad for the T20 match against India have been announce.

1- Johan Botha (c)

2- Farhaan Behardien

3- Faf du Plessis

4- Jacques Kallis

5- Colin Ingram

6- Richard Levi

7- Albie Morkal

8- Justin Ontong

9- Wayne Parnell

10- Rusty Theron

11- Lonwabo Tsotsobe

12- Morne van Wyk

13- Dane Vilas

SRILANKAN SQUAD FOR THEIR HOME TEST SERIES

Srilankan longest format squad had been announced, Randiv is recalled while Chamara Silva is dropped.

1- Mahela Jayawardene (c)

2- Angelo Mathews

3- Tilakaratne Dilshan

4- Tharanga Paranavitana

5- Lahiru Thirimanne

6- Kumar Sangakkara

7- Thilan Samaraweera

8- Dinesh Chandimal

9- Prasanna Jayawardene

10- Suranga Lakmal

11- Dhammika Prasad

12- Chanaka Welegedara

13- Suraj Randiv

14- Rangana Herath

NEW ZEALAND SQUAD FOR THE THIRD TEST

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has announced 14-player squad for the third test of the series against South Africa beginning on 23 March in Wellington.

1- Ross Taylor (c)
2- Trent Boult
3- Doug Bracewell
4- Dean Brownlie
5- Andrew Ellis
6- Danial Flynn
7- Mark Gillespie
8- Martin Guptill
9- Chris Martin
10- Brendon Mccullum
11- Tarun Nethula
12- Kruger van Wyk
13- Danial Vettori
14- Kane Williamson

Brownlie & Flynn have been added while Nicol & Arnel miss out on selection.

ENGLISH TEST SQUAD FOR SRILANKAN TOUR 2012

Here is England's test squad for their another tough spin test in Srilanka


1- Andrew Strauss (c)
2- James Anderson
3- Ian Bell
4- Ravi Bopara
5- Tim Bresnan
6- Stuart Broad
7- Alastair Cook
8- Steve Davies (wk)
9- Steven Finn
10- Monty Panesar
11- Samit Patel
12- Kevin Pieterson
13- Matt Prior (wk)
14- Graeme Swann
15- James Tredwell
16- Jonathan Trott

Morgan, Tremlett are dropped with the inclusion of Bresnan, Tredwell & Samit Patel.

AUSTRALIAN TEST SQUAD FOR CARRIBEAN

The National Selection Panel ( NSP) of Australia has decided on a squad for the test series

against Australia. They believed that five fast bowlers, two spinners and two wicket keepers will provide flexibility to the side.

1- Michael Clarke (c)
2- Shane Watson (vc)
3- Michael Beer

4- Ed Cowan
5- Peter Forrest
6- Brad Haddin (wk)
7- Matthew Wade (wk)
8- Ryan Harris
9- Ban Hilfenhaus
10- Michael Hussey
11- Nathan Lyon
12- James Pattinson
13- Ricky Ponting
14- Mitchell Starc
15- David Warnar
16- Peter Siddle

Watson, Beer and Pattinson returned, Forrest named for the first time and Marsh omitted while Cummins was not considered for the series in Carribeans.

AUSTRALIAN T20 SQUAD

With their relatively new T20 captian Bailey, kangaroos will look for their first t20 series victory under him as series with India was drawn, in Windies they are having a good chance as they also were finalist in previous edition of so called T20 worldcup hosted in Carribean.

1- George Bailey (c)

2- Shane Watson (vc)

3- Daniel Christian

4- Xavier Doherty

5- Peter Forrest

6- David Hussey

7- Michael Hussey

8- Brett Lee

9- Nathan Lyon

10- Clint Mckay

11- James Pattinson

12- Matthew Wade (wk)

13- David Warner

WEST INDIAN ODI SQUAD FOR THE HOME SERIES AGAINST AUSSIES

West Indies selectors have selected this 13-man squad for their big test on their home soil against top ODI dog i.e. Australia 

1) Darren Sammy (c)

2) Danesh Ramdin (wk)

3) Tino Best

4) Davendra Bishoo

5) Darren Bravo

6) Dwayne Bravo

7) Johnson Charles

8) Sunil Narine

9) Kieron Pollard

10) Kieran Powell

11) Kemar Roach

12) Andre Russell

13) Marlon Samuels

Uncapped Johnson Charles have been picked while Best, Bishoo, Dwayne Bravo are recalled & Barath, Hyatt, Martin, Jason, Rampaul & Simmons are dropped from the side that toured India last year.

AUSTRILIAN ODI SQUAD FOR WEST INDIES TOUR 2012

Here is Australian squad for the ODI series against West Indies in West Indies starting from 16 March at Kingstown

1- Michael Clarke (c)

2- Shane Watson

3- George Bailey

4- Daniel Christian

5- Xavier Doherty

6- Peter Forrest

7- Brad Haddin (wk)

8- Ben Hilfenhaus

9- David Hussey

10- Michael Hussey

11- Brett Lee

12- Nathan Lyon

13- Clint Mckay

14- James Pattinson

15- Mathew Wade (wk)

16- David Warner

KIWI SQUAD FOR THE SECOND TEST AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA

New Zealand's 14 man squad has been selected for 2nd test match against South Africa in Hamilton starting from Thursday

1) Ross Taylor (c)

2) Brendon Mcculum

3) Martin Guptill

4) Kane Williamson

5) Rob Nicol

6) Andrew Ellis

7) Danial Vettori     

8) Mark Gillespie

9) Chris Martin

10) BJ Watling

11) Tarun Nethula

12) Trent Boult

13) Doug Bracewell

14) Brent Arnel

First test was drawn as the fifth day was washed out due to rain and Proteas hopes were shattered to be no.1 test side on the cut off date i.e.1st April.

SRILANKAN SQUAD FOR ASIA CUP

     With Srilanka in the finals of CB series, it will fancy its chances to win the Asia cup as the South Asian Islanders have excellent record in this tournament & have played final of Asia cup more than the other two Asian giants. 14 member squad have been selected for this purpose which include the returning of seekkuge prasanna and Lakmal.

Rangara Herath and two other fast bowlers Parera and Welegedara have been rested as test series against England will be played soon after the Asia cup.

1-Mahela Jayawardene (c)

2-Tillakaratne Dilshan

3-Upul Tharanga

4-Kumar Sangakara (w/k)

5-Dinesh Chandimal (w/k)

6-Lahiru Thirimanne

7-Angelo Mathews (vc)

8-Farveez Maharoof

9-Thisara Parera

10-Nuwan Kulasekara

11-Suranga Lakmal

12-Lasith Malinga

13-Seekkuge Prasanna

14-Sachithra Senanayake

INDIAN SQUAD FOR ASIA CUP 2012

After disappointing tour down under, Indian selectors have believed in these 15 players to defend their Asia cup title beginning from 11 March in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

1-Gautam Gambhir

2-Sachin Tendulkar

3-Virat Kohli (vc)
4-Rohit Sharma

5-Manoj Tiwary

6-Suresh Raina

7-Yusuf Pathan

8-Ravindra Jadeja

9-Irfan Pathan
10-MS Dhoni (c/wk)

11-Ravichandran Ashwin

12-Ashok Dinda

13-Rahul Sharma

14-Vinay Kumar

15-Parveen Kumar

Sehwag, Zaheer and Yadav have been given rest. While Tendulkar will search for his 100th hundred as India looks forward to another title under Dhoni’s captaincy.

PAKISTAN SQUAD FOR ASIA CUP 2012

After disappointing performance against England in ODI’s and T20’s, Pakistan looks forward to another limited over competition in Bangladesh having new coaching staff and squad selected by newly formed team of selectors.

Following are the members of  national team for the event starting from 11 march with the opening match between host Bangladesh and Pakistan

1- Mohammad Hafeez

2- Nasir Jamshed

3- Azhar Ali

4- Younis Khan

5- Misbah ul Haq

6- Asad Shafiq

7- Umer Akmal

8- Hammad Azam

9- Shahid Afridi

10- Sarfaraz Ahmed

11- Umer Gul       

12- Saeed Ajmal

13- Abdur Rehman

14- Wahab Riaz

15- Aizaz Cheema

Shoaib Malik, Adnan Akmal and Imran Farhat are dropped and Junaid Khan is injured so he is not available for selection. Nasir Jamshed alongwith wicket keeper Sarfaraz have been recalled. Other members remain the same from the series whitewash against England.

SPIN TWINS GUIDE PAKISTAN TO A HISTORAL SERIES WIN

 The undervalued underdogs of the cricket world now seemed to be on a rapid rise to their past glorious position as they were during late 80's and early to mid 90's. It’s not long ago, when I was hearing many people murmuring, to ban them for the sake of the game, which even then, was quite harsh as one could see terrorism, mismanagement & corruption exist in may parts of the world. But surely that period was arguably the worst period in green shirt's cricket history, with team's below par performance, spot fixing misery, unity and disciplinary problems within team and cricket board

Current scenario makes us evident that they had learned great lessons from that gloomy period and now they deserved respect. Soon after the three players were sent to jail, Pakistan started their winning ways with consistency, winnings bilateral series against New Zealand in their home after drawing couple of  test against South African and a narrow one day series defeat by 3-2 and then reaching semi-finals of world cup.

But the appointment of uncontroversial, resilient, determined and discipline captain, MISBAH-UL-HAQ (yet to be defeated in any series as captain) has take Pakistan to new heights and with the support of new chairman Zaka Ashraf and management, Pakistan has become the team to beat.

Misbah is often being heavily criticized for his defensive and steady approach especially while batting, but this approach has proved to be blessing in disguise for Pakistan and this victory over the top rated side in test rankings has answered each and everyone. 

 Infact world have appreciated their outstanding performance. Even the Indian media, (against their historical tendency), have praised the current owner of number 5 test spot.

Also the international commentators were compelled to praise, as I find Sanjay Manjrekar tweeting: 'Well done Pakistan!

Masters of unpredictable brilliance!'

And Pommie also congratulating Pakistan :-)

After Ajmal’s heroics in the first test which came to end only in 3 days, second time around England better their resistance for one additional day of play as they were comprehensively beaten in their innings to finally lose a test series after being undefeated in their previous nine. England dominate first 3 days of the 2nd test only to bundled out for 72 (their lowest score ever against the host away from home) on a penultimate day of the match.

Unarguably the best spin duo of the recent times held responsible for the devastating batting collapses of visitors. Three out of four innings, they were completely out of their sorts.English top 7 may average more to slow bowler than pacers but they might have faced spin bowlers of this quality for the first time. Ajmal pick 7 more to add to his tally of 10 in the first test and the duo was well supported by Mohammad Hafeez but Abu Dhabi test would be unforgettable for the orthodox left arm spin from either team as both Panesar and Abdur Rehman took 6-for in the 2nd innings. Abdur Rehman had his first 5-for and what a moment having it against the best team in spite not having got big score to defend.

The unexpected heroics started before as host had not even pass the 70 run deficit when four of their top order batmen had depart and then a 88 run association was handy between Asad Shafique and Azhar Ali as it does make difference in the end and suddenly from nowhere, they are on the verge of historical clean sweep against inventors of the game.

INDIA THRASHED BY IMPRESSIVE AUSSIES

 India continue their miserable run in test arena on foreign soil by suffering yet another whitewash after 4-0 defeat in England in 2011,this time against mighty Australian side.

They were completely outplayed in every department of the game and deservingly met their 7th test series whitewash defeat in history (3 or more test in a series) which is the highest number of this type of humiliation by any team.

Their opener can't gave them good starts, middle order continue to struggle on fast, bouncy and lively wickets, their heavyweight but condition-oriented batting line-up seemed to be utterly impotent.Only Kohli could score a century otherwise batting was almost at its worst. Sachin was also seemed to be under pressure regarding 100^th hundred hype as he was not able to score big.

As one can expect, Indian bowlers struggled to take wickets, Clarke and co. piled up huge scores to eliminate any chance of Indian team even able to compete.

Michael Clarke was the highest run getter of the series with a double and a triple century (only the 3rd batsman in the history to do so in the same series after the great Bradman and Hammond)

Ponting also revive his diminishing reputation with couple of big tons to make sure that over-rated visitors continues to struggle. Occasional burst from Zaheer and Yadav couldn’t harm Aussies, which  were quite organized even in their rebuilding phase.

 

Just midway through the series, there was lots of  talking engoing on regarding future of the three veterans-Sachin, dravid and Laxman. It now seems to be end of a great era of Indian batting and now for regaining the respect, many efforts will be required and it would be a long process. Furthermore Indian tendency of losing outside subcontinent and in testing conditions is also worth questioning about their abilities, mental toughness and handling of quality pace bowling. 

Apart from performance, their abusing acts,the frustration that they showed to crowd and living in the past that they were used to winning back in India showed their attitude and lack of professionalism.  

2nd Test on historically a batting friendly venue

After the England's misery due to Ajmal's mystery in the first test, all eyes are set for yet another exciting & absorbing contest from tomorrow in Abu Dhabi, a ground looking forward for  4^th double hundred in its only 3^rd test match.

Exclusion of  Tremlett and Cheema are the only expected changes from England and Pakistan respectively on a pitch usually considered nightmare for the bowlers. No major changes are expected from both the teams as host looking forward to carry on momentum whereas visitor to fight back from their shameful defeat.

Once again all eyes will be on Saeed Ajmal (now in top 3 in the latest ICC test bowler’s rankings), he has to delivered continuously to prove to the world that he is currently the best spinner around. Toss could be an important factor as some grass was on the wicket couple of days before the match (which may have been removed).

PAKISTAN-ENGLAND SERIES 2012

Finally the most anticipating test series of 2012 has began with the further rise of mysterious offie(Saeed Ajmal),who destroys English batting lineup with his second ten-for to help Pakistan a 10 wkts victory in the first test of the series.
Saeed Ajmal took career best 7/55 in the first innings to fold visitors for only 192,from where they could never recovered and loss the test after more then a year.