Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has already warned the opponents not to underestimate Aussies' abilities, especially in the World Cup, where they have an impeccable past record.

"I don't really care where we start the tournament. It is irrelevant. I think going into the last World Cup there was negativity around us. We lost the Commonwealth Bank series in home and also lost to New Zealand before the last World Cup. So there were a few doubts around our team but we went there and won the World Cup. I don't think it really matters too much what's happening in the lead up,"

Ponting had said. Australian team has considerable amount of experience of playing in sub-continent conditions and also boasts a very good record here. "We are pretty confident coming into the World Cup just beating a pretty good English side 6-1. We are in really good shape and confident. We have the momentum going around.

"There is no doubt that Australian cricket team has pretty good record in World Cup and bigger events but as I said we are not thinking about it right now. We have a really good squad and we will be doing everything to the best of our ability," Ponting said.

The Aussie skipper, who is returning after an injury lay-off that saw him miss the last Ashes Test and the entire ODI series against England due to broken finger, will be looking to get back into rhythm in the two practice games against India tomorrow and South Africa on February 15.

"My finger is doing pretty well. I am looking forward to play in the two practice games against India and South Africa," he said. — PTI

New Delhi, February 12
Steve Waugh should know. The man has won the World Cup, and practically everything else thrown at him. So when he talks of conversion rates, one should listen.

What Waugh was referring to was the win-loss ratio. He was highlighting how Australia always won more than they lost, and that is what made them world-beaters. The fact that they could always pull something out of an invisible hat and one player or the other would invariably get something going for the side and win matches.This conversion rate is something that applies to batting too, and this is where the Indian team has been flagging.

While the nation goes ballistic about how Indian were runaway favourites to win, the fact is that the batting, especially the middle-order, is an area of concern.

At the risk of sounding a little uncharitable, India had played badly enough to go down 0-5 in the series in South Africa. All South Africa needed to do was to score 250, and India would lose. This happened in three of the five matches. India won twice, once when South Africa failed to chase a very pedestrian 190, and again when Pathan and the tail-enders somehow dragged India past a very average target of 220.

The entire series saw just four half-centuries and one hundred, shared among three players – Pathan getting the hundred and one half-century, Virat Kohli two 50s and Yuvraj Singh one. The rest were average, or below that.

When the combination changes again, with Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir back at the top, Kohli may well sit out, which will be ironic, given that he is in great form. Sehwag it seems, wants to play long innings, which goes the very fabric of his batting philosophy. Also, if he has to think of long innings, there surely is a big hollow in the middle that needs to be filled. Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina haven’t looked convincing.

Hopefully this gets sorted out towards the initial stages of the tournament rather than the business end. In fact, getting to the business end could very well depend on how many runs our middle-order batsmen manage to score.

Chennai, February 12
Backed by solid performances from the top order batsmen, title contenders South Africa scored a thumping eight-wicket win over Zimbabwe with 26.3 overs to spare in their first warm-up match of the ICC World Cup at the M A Chidambaram Stadium here tonight. After bundling out Zimbabwe for 152 in 41.5 overs, South Africa went about the task of chasing in a clinical style hammering the required runs in just 23.3 overs.

Jacques Kallis, who has recovered from rib injury, struck a quick-fire 49 off 39 balls making good use of the platform laid by openers captain Graeme Smith (41, 54 balls, 3x4, 1x6) and Hasim Amla (45, 33 balls, 7x4) as South Africa coasted to a deserving win scoring 153 for 2 with more than half of their allotted overs left.

Walking in at the fall of Amla's wicket with the total at 69, Kallis in his inimitable style went after the bowlers in aggressive manner and succeeded with his big hits (three six) fast forwarding South African chase for a deserving win.

Kallis' performance not only put at rest doubts about his fitness since recovering from a rib injury he suffered during India's recent tour but also boosted the confidence of Smith as Proteas hope to win their elusive World Cup.

The match turned out to be a one-sided affair after Zimabwe frittered away a good opportunity to gain match practice putting up a insipid batting display and failed to last allotted 50 overs.

But for the efforts of Brendan Taylor (40, 57 balls, 3x4) and Sean Williams (35, 60 balls, 2x4), who came in at No.7, sticking to the crease and stitching up valuable partnerships, they could have been in deeper trouble. As far the Proteas bowling, Smith rotated his bowlers using eight of them to assess their adaptability to the slower wickets in the sub-continent conditions.

Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir impressed with a three-wicket haul like experienced fast bowler Morne Morkel as the two ripped apart the Zimbabwean batting line-up. — PTI

Chandigarh, February 12
The fight for ‘the Cup that counts’ is about to start in a few days. And we can talk about the players -- this one is a match-winner; that one is the weak link. This team is the favourite. That team can surprise a few. But the difference in ability (of the players) is not too great. They are more or less evenly matched. The difference in strategy, however, can prove to be the BIG difference.

The teams that plan well (and of course execute those plans as well) can just be a few notches ahead of the rest of the bunch. While there could be many points that could make a difference, here are a few that could be telling:

ONE: There is no point in having great players and variety in your team if those players are only going to warm the bench. Players like Imran Tahir, Jason Krejza, Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla, just to name a few. Sure, such players bring depth and variety to the squad but they can only contribute if they are selected in the Playing XI.

TWO: Powerplays. When should the batting powerplay be taken? Most teams leave it till the very end and don’t have wickets in hand to capitalise on the field restrictions. So, they just end up wasting it. This period needs to be used judiciously.

THREE: Reverse-swing. A lot of teams have bowlers who can reverse-swing the ball. But when do you use these bowlers? The ball gets old and scuffed enough to reverse only by the 25th over. And you have a compulsory ball change after 34 overs when you get a newer ball that does not reverse. So, basically you just have about ten overs to use those reverse-swing bowlers.

FOUR: Duckworth-Lewis. With rain almost always being around the corner in places like Sri Lanka, the captain and the coach will need an up-to-date D/L chart in their pockets at all times. Or else, Shaun Pollock will tell you what happened to his team against Sri Lanka in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

FIVE: Dew factor. Dew will certainly play a role in all day/night matches. The ball will do a bit more under lights but for that you will have to first grip the ball. So the teams will need to keep the dew factor in mind while choosing to bat or bowl (depending on their strengths).

SIX: Death bowlers. Who do you go to in the death overs? Spinners or pacers? Of course, the standard drill is to go the speed merchants as they can fire in the yorkers. But against teams like England and South Africa, who have a mental block against good spinners, it might not be a bad idea to let the spinners bowl at the death.

Of course, there will also be other things like choosing the right end to bowl from for a particular bowler, keeping the breeze in mind, choosing the right batting order etc.

The World Cup has also been the stage where teams have come up with brand new ideas, none more innovative and bizarre than New Zealand in 1992, when spinner Dipak Patel opened the bowling and pinch-hitter Mark Greatbatch opened the batting. Lanka’s Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana started the trend of opening the batting with pinch-hitters at both ends.

So, some more brand new ideas at this World Cup cannot be ruled out. With very little separating the top teams, the brains that can come up with some fresh concepts to surprise others might just have a bit of an advantage over the rest of the field.

Patiala, February 12
Fine performances by Services batsmen S.J. Singh and J.S. Beniwal enabled their team beat Jammu & Kashmir by six wickets in the North Zone Ranji Trophy one-day match played at Dhruv Pandove Cricket Stadium here today. Services won the match in the 40th over.

Singh scored 84 off 82 balls, with the help of 11 boundaries and three sixes. Beniwal scored 52 runs, hitting three boundaries as Service romped home in the 40th over. For J&K, Rasool took two wickets for 15 runs off seven overs.

New Delhi, February 12
A total of 24 National Sports Federations (NSFs) have conveyed their acceptance of the Sports Ministry to incorporate age and tenure limits and other good governance practices prescribed by the Government, which are based on the Basic Universal Principle of Good Governance recommended by the Olympic Congress.

According to a Ministry release here today, the NSFs are who have agreed to follow the guidelines are:

Athletics Federation of India, Badminton Association of India, Table Tennis Federation of India, Indian Boxing Federation, Gymnastics Federation of India, All-India Football Federation, All-India Carrom Federation, National Rifle Association of India, Handball Federation of India, Indian Golf Union, All-India Karate-Do Federation, Rowing Federation of India, Indian Powerlifting Federation, Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, Mallakhamb Federation of India, All-India Tennis Association, Tennikoit Federation of India, Volleyball Federation of India, Tenpin Bowling Federation (India), Yachting Association of India, Tug-of-War Federation of India, Indian Weightlifting Federation, School Games Federation of India, Badminton Association of India and Sepak Takraw Federation of India.

BRIEFLY

Windies beat Kenya by 61 runs
Colombo: Ramnaresh Sarwan hammered an aggressive 123 as West Indies recorded an emphatic 61-run win over Kenya in their World Cup warm-up game, here today. Sarwan played sheet-anchor after his side were reduced to 65 for four in the 20th over to take West Indies score to 253 for eight in 50 overs after they were put into bat at the R Premadasa Stadium. Coming in to bat in the 10th over with his side reeling at a precarious 32 for three, Sarwan single-handedly took West Indies to a competitive total. He took the Kenyan bowlers to task and hit 11 fours and five sixes in his 125-ball innings. — PTI

Foolproof security at PCA
Mohali: Punjab Cricket Association today promised foolproof security arrangements during the two league matches and one semifinal tie of the Cricket World Cup here next month. "As ICC is holding the World Cup, they have hired a retired DGP-rank officer to draw up overall security plan for all the eight centres in India including the PCA. Our association is also extending all cooperation to the ICC and local police in ensuring foolproof security for the three matches," PCA Secretary M P Pandove told reporters here. — PTI

Lanka record emphatic win
Colombo: The Sri Lankan top-order batsmen got some good practice ahead of the World Cup as they thrashed minnows Netherlands by a huge 156 run margin in a warm-up match at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground, here today. The home team scored a massive 351 for five in 50 overs and then bundled out visitors for 195 in 47.3 overs. Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara opted to bat on a flat track as home team send the 'Oranje' brigade on a leather hunt. — PTI

Consistency the key: Clarke
Bangalore: Their confidence sky high after drubbing England, Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke today said consistency would be the key when his team begins chasing a record fourth consecutive World Cup starting February 19. "Our ODI form has been pretty consistent over the last 12 months. We have really played some pretty good cricket and it was great to win the ODI series against England. We can take a lot of confidence out of that especially after the tough start to the summer we had," Clarke said during an open media session here today. — PTI

Kochi want Ganguly in think-tank
New Delhi: Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene will lead new entrants Kochi to the Indian Premier League (IPL), and the franchise is trying to persuade Sourav Ganguly to join the team's think-tank. Kochi chairman Mukesh Patel said Jayawardene will lead the team in its debut season. The franchise bought the former Sri Lankan skipper for $1.5 million in January. "We are happy to have Mahela. He is a great leader and getting him was on top of our priority list. I am sure we will have a great team under him," Patel told IANS, adding that the franchise would soon finalise the name for the team and its logo. — IANS