CSK: Squad List

The Company and management are involved in the development of Cricket and have been actively promoting and popularizing the game. Mr.K.S.Viswanathan and Dr.G.Natarajan our employees have been elected as Secretary and Joint Secretary respectively of The Tamilnadu Cricket Association (TNCA). Several senior officers have volunteered themselves to assist TNCA in various capacities like Finance, Legal, Umpires to name a few.

IPL 2010 Chennai Super Kings Squad, Schedules, Fixtures, Scorecard

Pakistan lack skill, passion, fitness: Akram | Pakistan Cricket | Live Cricket Score

“In order to win Test matches against powerful teams one needed special talent, skill, passion and mental fitness. The present Pakistan side lacks these traits. Unlike Twenty20 and one-dayers, Test cricket is like a long race,” Akram said.

Akram suggested that cricket authorities of the country should give chance to new players after consistent failure of the senior players.

“When the seniors are creating problems for the team and getting out after making only few runs, then why not include younger players as they will learn in a year and serve the country for at least two decades. And for this, captain, board and selectors must sit together, communicate and plan,” he told Deutsche Welle Urdu Service.

“But, unfortunately, I can’t see that happening. Yousuf is an inexperienced captain and made few mistakes. But he will learn art of captaincy in the long run,” he said.

The pace legend also added that Pakistan lost the second Test in Sydney because of they were scared of defeat.

Meanwhile, former skipper and senior player Inzamam-ul Haq, defending his old friend and ex-teammate Mohammad Yousuf, has said that he must not be alone blamed for the defeats in New Zealand and Australia.

“Look at the circumstances he accepted the captaincy in. And in Australia specially in Sydney, Pakistan held the advantage on first three days but lost the match on the fourth day due to inapt performances from all sides.

“It is very sad that we lost the match at a time when we were very much close to victory but lost due to players bad show on last day so they are responsible for the team’s defeat,” Inzamam said.

India, already assured of a place in Wednesday’s final against Sri Lanka, raced to 249 for four with seven overs to spare after their bowlers had restricted Bangladesh to 247 for six from their 50 overs.

Kohli century scripts emphatic win

Kohli drove Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan to the mid-wicket boundary to complete the victory as well as his century which followed two fifties in his previous two matches. His unbeaten 102 off 95 balls included 11 fours.

Bangladesh had an outside chance of an upset win when Shakib took their fourth wicket with India still needing 48 runs in 14 overs. But Mohammad Ashraful dropped Kohli on 83 and Suresh Raina on 12 in successive overs and the opportunity vanished.

Earlier, Shakib made a solid 85 off 97 balls, his 13th ODI half-century, after Bangladesh had been reduced to 95 for five.

Put in to bat, Bangladesh had their back to the wall at 95 for five, but Shakib and Mohammad Mahmudullah (64 not out) stitched a 102-run partnership to take Bangladesh to a respectable total.

Bangladesh made a poor start after opener Imrul Kayes (9) and Mohammad Ashraful (4) paid the price for their poor shot selection and departed in successive overs.

India’s new-ball bowlers Sudip Tyagi and Sreesanth troubled the Bangaldeshi batsmen but the edges flew here and there to the boundary regularly.

Pakistan captain Younus Khan was able retain second position in the rankings, but, by conceding 12 points following scores of 0 and 82, he fell nine points behind Gambhir, who has gone ahead of both the Pakistan batsmen without hitting a ball for the first time in his 25-Test career in which he has scored 2,271 runs at an average of over 54.  Gambhir’s 847 points is relatively low for a number-one position in modern times as usually a batsman nearer to the 900-point mark goes to the top, which reflects that he has benefited from some of the other top batsman being off their peaks.  The 27-year-old left-handed opener is the first India batsman after former captain Rahul Dravid  to top the batting chart. Dravid had briefly become the number one batsman after hitting centuries in each innings (110 and 135) of the Kolkata  Test against Pakistan in March 2005.  Dravid first achieved the top batting ranking in January 1999 and was number one for 36 Tests between 1999 and 2005.  Sachin Tendulkar  is the other India batsman in the last 15 years who topped the batting chart. He first led the table in November 1994 while last time he occupied the number one position was in August 2002 after the Leeds Test against England   Overall, Tendulkar has been number one batsman for 125 Tests between 1994 and 2002.

The other India batsmen to have achieved number one positions in their careers are: Gundappa Viswanath (seven matches in 1975), Sunil Gavaskar (46 matches between 1978-80) and Dilip Vengsarkar (17 matches between 1987-88).  Both the Test and ODI batting rankings are now headed by India batsmen, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni in number one position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen and Yuvraj Singh  second.  However, with only 10 points separating Gambhir from third-placed Kumar Sangakkara  of Sri Lanka, the top order is expected to change again, of course depending how the Pakistan and Sri Lanka captains perform in the third and final Test, which starts in Colombo from July 20.  The only other change in the top 20 is Thilan Samaraweera, who slipped one place to 21st position, which has allowed Australia’s Mike Hussey to return to the top 20.  Outside the top 20, Tillekeratne Dilshan dropped one place to 28th, Kamran Akmal has fallen two places to 33rd and Misbah-ul-Haq has slipped eight places to 40.  The only big movers in the latest rankings are Pakistan opener Fawad Alam  who entered the table in 52nd position after his 168 on his Test debut, and Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal whose century in the second innings has helped him rocket 22 places to 62nd spot.  There is also a change at the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers for the first time in more than three years with Muttiah Muralitharan  handing over the baton to South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn .  Steyn had briefly joined Muralidaran in number-one position after the second Test against India in Ahmedabad in April 2008. However, Steyn had failed to go top of the table on his own after a disappointing third Test in Kanpur.

For Muralitharan, it is the first time that he has dropped to second position since February 2006. This is due to the due in part to him missing both the Tests of the ongoing series due to injury and a player loses one per cent of his ratings for every match he misses.  Others to make an upward movement are Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul, who has gone up two places to 15th position, Bangladesh spinner Shakib Al Hasan (up by four places to 33rd), Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath (up by four places to 46th), West Indies  fast bowler Darren Sammy (up by 12 places to 53rd), Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal (up by 22 places to 54th) and Sri Lanka fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara, who has rocketed 28 spots to 56th place.

Those who have failed to maintain their rankings include Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis , who has slipped one place to 29th spot, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza, who has dropped two places to 40, and Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Aamer, who has fallen 10 places to 72.  Jacques Kallis  continues to lead the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders with Mitchell Johnson of Australia in second, New Zealand’s  Daniel Vettori third.

In ‘The Future of Cricket: The rise of Twenty20′, Buchanan writes: “At the end of the (inaugural IPL) tournament I told something he did not want to hear. ‘I really think your game was off the pace and the more you play T20, the more harm you will do yourself,’ I told him.  “Sourav responded to my frank assessment by claiming he had at least one more year of 20-over cricket in him. He told me his main aim was to get into the Test side against Australia, an aim he did achieve before announcing his Test retirement,” Buchanan observed.  “He basically said to me: ‘Thank you for your concerns, but I don’t agree with what you are saying’.”  Buchanan felt the advent of Twenty20 was a bit late for players like him and that it would have harmed the brand that Ganguly himself was.  “…Ganguly had created an incredible brand for himself in India. It might seem strange, but this is why I question his suitability for and need to play T20. I am concerned that he will erode his brand, his stature, by playing in the IPL,” Buchanan said.

Overall, the Australian finds Ganguly “a man of contradictions” but in the same breath he also says the left-hander is “a fascinating character” and “psychologists would find him intriguing.”

The 56-year-old former Australia coach confessed he could not understand Ganguly till the end of inaugural IPL season.

“Our captain Sourav Ganguly, the Prince of Kolkata, or Dada as he is affectionately nicknamed, is a fascinating character, a man of contradictions. I am sure psychologists would find him intriguing,” he said.

“I found him a gentleman to work with yet I finished the tournament still feeling I didn’t know him,” he said.

Buchanan also tried to explain Ganguly’s habit of turning late at toss in the 2004 series against Australia which infuriated rival captain Steve Waugh.

“I went into the IPL with an open mind about Sourav, who had been an antagonist of Australian sides I coached. He is a lovely person but he lives in his own world.”

“He used to drive Stephen Waugh crazy by being late for the toss. That might have been partly strategic, but also he was simply unaware of its importance.

“He would be in the rooms, in his own world, when he would be told it was time for the toss. He would not be ready and would have to get changed before meeting his by-now irritated opposing captain,” he said.

Buchanan insisted Ganguly’s trait of irritating the opposition was not always pre-meditated.

“Ganguly has always had the ability to mentally unsettle his opponents. It was not always by design but Waugh saw it as lack of respect and common courtesy.

“At times, I feel Sourav is guilty of that, but on the other occasions, I believe he is simply in his own world and loses track of time. He gives off impression that everything will happen in good time, but it will be in his good time. He is not too concerned about other people’s views about him,” he said.

Buchanan said Ganguly was “not arrogant” but “mercurial” as far as his habit of reaching late was concerned.

“…that is not to say he is arrogant. I have always found him very humble, polite and respectful, but to have him somewhere arrive on time… Well, let’s just say he was mercurial,” he added.