Pakistan coach Waqar Younis backs comebacks for Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif

Pakistan’s national cricket coach Waqar Younis has backed an international comeback for convicted spot-fixers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif , saying that they should not be treated any differently from the rehabilitated Mohammad Amir.

“The way I see it if Butt and Asif perform well in their comeback in domestic cricket why can’t they be considered for a second chance to play international cricket? All the three did the same wrong and also underwent the same punishment so why should they be treated differently,” Waqar told ‘Geo News’.

Butt scored a hundred in his first competitive match in five and half years on Sunday in the national one-day championship while Asif took two wickets to leave an impact on the same day Amir left with the national team for New Zealand.

Waqar’s support for Butt and Asif to be treated equally as Amir is in contrast to recent statements of Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shaharyar Khan and national T20 captain Shahid Afridi who have said the duo’s case differs from Amir and it will not be easy for them to make a comeback.

Afridi went as far as to say that Butt and Asif don’t deserve to be given a second chance like Amir as they had lied for three years and had the audacity to criticise the Pakistan team when they were banned for five years.

“I don’t know what Shahid (Afridi) is thinking maybe he has his reasons but generally I think Butt and Asif deserve same chance as Amir and if they show form and fitness, why not consider them for selection?” Waqar said.

Asked how he had come around to forgiving Amir and accepting him back in the national team, Waqar said he just felt it was time to move on.

“Look we basically cut their hands by banning them from all cricket for five years, it was a strong punishment for what they did. Now that they have served their punishment and appear to have learnt their lesson why shouldn’t they be given a second chance, it could also be good for Pakistan cricket. There has never been any doubt about their cricket abilities,” he said.

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Rohit Sharma Breaks Plethora of Records During First India vs Australia ODI at WACA, Perth

Indian opener Rohit Sharma on Tuesday slammed his ninth century during the Perth ODI against Australia and in the process broke a number of records. Rohit struck an unbeaten 171 off only 163 balls, studded with seven sixes and 13 fours. 

The 28-year-old Rohit looked confident right from the start and mixed caution with aggression. After losing partner Shikhar Dhawan (9) early, Rohit joined forces with Virat Kohli (91) to lift India from a hole.

Sharma and Kohli were involved in India's highest second-wicket partnership against Australia in Australia. The duo stitched together 207 runs for the second wicket, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar-VVS Laxman's 199-run partnership. Overall, this is the fifth-highest partnership for India against Australia in ODIs.

Here are some other records that Rohit created:

# Rohit became the first Indian batsman to score a century at Perth.

# His 171 also broke Viv Richards' unbeaten 153, scored in 1979, to be the highest individual innings in ODIs in Australia against Australia.

# He became the fastest player to complete 1,000 ODI runs against Australia.

# This was also his third century against Australia.

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ICC to collaborate with MIT for uniform decision review system

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to commission one of the world’s leading technology institutes in an effort to achieve a uniform decision review system.

ICC chief executive David Richardson told journalists in Cape Town on Tuesday that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been asked to report by May on the various systems in place around the world.

“In particular they are looking at edge detection and ball tracking,” said Richardson.

“Their findings will be discussed at our meetings in June and the aim is to achieve a uniform system with the agreement of all the Test-playing countries.”

Richardson said the technology issue was one of four priorities for the ICC in 2016.

A major priority is to give context and meaning to bilateral series, in particular Test series.

Richardson has recently started a process of consultations with chief executives from Test-playing countries.

He was due to meet later on Tuesday with the chief executives of South Africa and England during the second Test between the two countries at Newlands.

Richardson stressed that discussions were at an early stage but said his personal view was that a Test league system, possibly with two divisions, could be considered.

The other priorities are to have a successful World Twenty20 tournament in India in March and April and ‘Project USA’ to unlock the potential of cricket in the United States.

“There are more people playing cricket in the USA than Zimbabwe and about as many as New Zealand,” said Richardson.

“There are about 80 leagues but it is very fragmented. The USA Cricket Association is currently suspended from the ICC and we have put in an advisory group in an effort to get cricket on a sound footing in America.”

Richardson revealed that there had been an exploratory meeting with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to discuss the possibility of cricket being part of the Olympics.

“The IOC would want a proper format of 11-man cricket, such as Twenty20, and they stress that cricket must be united in wanting to be in the Olympics,” said Richardson.

Richardson said the earliest cricket could be in the Olympics would be 2024 but for that to happen there would need to be agreement soon.

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BCCI postpones decision on Chandila, Shah till January 18

A decision on the fate of tainted cricketers Ajit Chandila and Hiken Shah, who have been charged with corruption, was postponed till January 18 by the BCCI’s disciplinary committee after the third accused in the matter, Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf, sought more time to present his case.

Chandila and Shah have already been questioned by the three-member committee, headed by President Shashank Manohar and comprising Jyotiraditya Scindya and Niranjan Shah.

Rauf had been issued a notice by the panel to respond to the allegations against him. The official, who has been charge-sheeted in the spot-fixing case, was declared a “wanted accused” along with 15 bookies from Pakistan.

In the meeting held on January 5, the panel decided to give more time to Rauf to respond.

“The Disciplinary Committee of the Board met today in Mumbai. Mr. Hiken Shah appeared in person, made oral submission and a written reply to the findings of the Enquiry against him. The Committee considered the request of Mr. Asad Rauf to give him more time to respond to the findings of the Enquiry against him,” BCCI said in statement.

“The Disciplinary Committee will meet on Monday, 18th January, 2016 at Cricket Centre,” it added.

Rauf has claimed innocence and has not visited India thereafter ever since the allegations came up against him.

The two players, on the other hand, had earlier met the committee members in person on December 24. The panel had given them time till yesterday to file a written response to the charges of spot-fixing against them.

Chandila was arrested by the police for trying to spot-fix IPL games in 2013 along with Rajasthan Royals teammates S Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan, both of whom have been banned for life by the BCCI.

Shah, on the other hand, approached one of his colleagues from first-class cricket, who was also a member of one of the IPL teams.

The approached player had reported the matter to his franchise, which passed on the information to the Anti Corruption Unit of the BCCI.

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Ambati Rayudu, Unmukt Chand to lead India 'A' and 'B' in Deodhar Trophy

New Delhi: Baroda batsman Ambati Rayudu has been appointed captain of the India 'A' side in the upcoming Deodhar Trophy, while Delhi's Unmukt Chand will lead India 'B' in the three-team event.

The two teams feature all the prominent Ranji Trophy performers this season with top run-getters like Shreyas Iyer of Mumbai, Sudip Chatterjee of Bengal and one of the leading wicket-taker Krishna Das of Assam getting a call-up in the two teams.

"I am happy but do not want to think too much about this India A call-up. My job is to score runs and I know I will be rewarded. I also think I would not need time to adapt as we have just played Hazare Trophy and now we are playing Mushtaq Ali T20. So I am in limited overs mode," left-handed Chatterjee, who has scored four centuries this season told PTI from Nagpur.

Rayudu, who captained Baroda in the current Ranji season, will lead a 15-member strong side in the revamped version of the tournament. The event, which earlier featured Zonal teams, will now have India 'A' and 'B' sides apart from the Vijay Hazare Trophy champions Gujarat.

The 'A' side has prominent names like Amit Mishra, Parvez Rasool, Naman Ojha and Varun Aaron to name a few.

The 'B' team also features young India aspirants like Shreyas Iyer, Sheldon Jackson, Karn Sharma and Mayank Agarwal.

The tournament is slated to be held between January 24 and 28 and will feature four 50-over matches across five days.

Squads:

India'A': Murali Vijay, Jalaj Saxena, Mandeep Singh, Ambati Rayudu (C), Kedar Jadhav, Naman Ojha, Parvez Rasool, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddharth Kaul, Sreenath Aravind, Varun Aaron, Krishna Das, Sudip Chatterjee, Faiz Fazal

India 'B': Unmukt Chand (C), Mayank Agarwal, Baba Aparajith, Shreyas Iyer, Sheldon Jackson, Dinesh Karthik, Stuart Binny, Karn Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Nathu Singh, Shardul Thakur, Pawan Negi, Sachin Baby, Suryakumar Yadav.

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Mumbai teenager scores 652*, breaks schools record

Pranav Dhanawade, a 15-year-old cricketer from Mumbai, broke a 117-year-old record on Monday by smashing 652 not out off 199 balls, to notch up the highest individual score in minor cricket.

Representing Smt KC Gandhi School, Kalyan, in the HT Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament, Dhanawade surpassed the score of 628* scored by Arthur Collins in 1899. He also broke the record for the highest individual score by an Indian cricketer in minor cricket, previously held by Prithvi Shaw who scored 546 in the Harris Shield in 2013-14.

Dhanawade, who played as an opening batsman, struck 78 fours and 30 sixes in his knock against Arya Gurukul School bowlers to lead his side to 956 for 1 on the opening day of the two-day match in Kalyan.

"I have always been a big-hitter," Dhanawade told the Hindustan Times. "When I started I never thought about breaking the record. The focus was never that. I just played my natural game, which is to attack from the word go.

"After reaching 300, my coach Harish Sharma told me to play on. I did not know of the world record, but we had the Indian record [Shaw's 546] in mind."

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India explores day-night options for Duleep Trophy

The BCCI tours and fixtures committee has recommended to its technical committee to consider playing day-night games with the pink ball in the Duleep Trophy. The Duleep Trophy is a inter-zonal first-class tournament, which was not held during this first-class season because of a crowded calendar. The next Duleep Trophy is likely to be played at the start of India's next season, during which the national team is expected to play 13 Tests at home.

A BCCI release said the committee discussed "various options" to bring more fans to Test matches in the coming season. The idea of day-night Tests has the support of India's Test captain Virat Kohli. Just before the first day-night Test, in Adelaide, Kohli had said: "I'm glad the two teams have actually agreed to play an official Test like that as an experiment. Credit to Australia and New Zealand, both, that they have decided to do this. Hopefully it will be better for the game. It will be a step which we all might remember few years down the line. Let's hope so.

"It is a step towards something. If it is officially put into place it will be something different, it will be something exciting. As cricketers we all should be willing and accepting of the fact that we need to step forward and contribute to the game however possible. If this is a step towards improving the excitement and the popularity of Test cricket, then I think every team should be in for it."

The problem anticipated with playing day-night matches during the first-class season in India is that a majority of it is played in the winter, which makes dew a big factor.

If the proposal is implemented, this won't be the first day-night first-class match in India. The Ranji Trophy final of the 1996-97 final was a day-night affair. It was played with a white ball in the month of April.

"I played in a five-day Ranji Trophy final in Gwalior that was a day-night fixture, and it was one of the best first-class matches I ever played in - the main reason being that we played in front of a big crowd for a change," Sanjay Manjrekar wrote of the match. "But clearly the white ball was an issue in that game and so the experiment was not repeated."

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