Chennai, May 13
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar were among the seniors who were rested as the national selectors today recalled Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath and Bengal wicketkeeper Wriddhimaan Saha in India's 16-member ODI squad for the tour of the West Indies.

Karnataka paceman Vinay Kumar also found a berth, while Amit Mishra, Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma made a comeback to the team that will be captained by Gautam Gambhir. Young Suresh Raina was named his deputy. Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla and the temperamental paceman S Sreesanth, both of whom featured in India's World Cup-winning squad, were dropped from the team announced by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection committee here.

The three seniors - Dhoni, Tendulkar and paceman Zaheer Khan - who have been rested for the ODI series and the lone Twenty20 match, would be available for the Test series. The series starts with the Twenty20 match on June 4 followed by the five one-dayers, starting June 6. The three Tests are scheduled from June 20.

"Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan have been rested. They will be available for the Test series," Srinivasan said in a statement. Opener Virender Sehwag was not considered for selection as he will undergo a shoulder surgery, which will rule him out for four to six weeks. Paceman Ashish Nehra was also not considered as he is recovering from finger injury sustained during the World Cup.

Ambati Rayudu, who has been a prolific scorer in the ongoing IPL, failed to get the nod with the selectors preferring to go the more experienced Badrinath. Badrinath was rewarded with a berth in the squad for his excellent performance in the IPL and the domestic circuit. He has also had a fantastic Ranji season scoring a whopping 922 runs at an average of 131 and has followed it up with 349 runs in the IPL so far.

“This is the best possible side. I am sure there is good balance in the team and I am confident that they will do well and maintain the winning momentum," said chairman of the selection committee K Srikkanth. Pacer Praveen Kumar, who was unlucky to miss the World Cup due to an elbow injury, returns to the side along with Ishant, whose last ODI appearance for India came in August last year against Sri Lanka.

Ishant had been struggling for form but seems to have rediscovered it in the ongoing IPL where the 22-year-old is playing for the Deccan Chargers. Rohit last donned the national colours in the ODI series against South Africa in January earlier this year. The 24-year-old, who has been in decent form for his franchise Mumbai Indians in the IPL, has played 61 ODIs scoring 1248 runs at an average of 27.13.

With Dhoni rested, the selectors have included two wicketkeepers for the series - Saha and Parthiv Patel. The 26-year-old Saha has played three ODIs for India, the last of which was against New Zealand in December 2010. Patel is comparatively more experienced with 18 ODIs under his belt in which he has scored 290 runs at an average of 24.16.

The break to Dhoni also leaves the captaincy in the hands of Gambhir, who is not new to the job, having led the team to a 5-0 rout of New Zealand only last year. Dhoni had flown, at that time, to South Africa to acclimatise for a Test series that began six days after the last ODI against the Kiwis. The all-rounder's slot has expectedly gone to Yusuf Pathan.

Players who have done quite well in the ongoing IPL-IV like Rahul Sharma and Ambati Rayudu were ignored by the selectors while Chennai Super Kings’ Badrinath was preferred. Dhoni and Sachin will be joining the Indian squad for the Test matches that follow the ODI series.— PTI 

Chennai, May 13
All set for his "challenging" stint as India's cricket coach, Duncan Fletcher today said he would advise rather then dictate his world champion wards, as a rigid approach will not work with the high-profile side.

"It is a difficult place to play. I think you have got to make sure that you offer advises. You don't be dictatorial in your approach. There will be players to accept certain advice on how hard to play in the sub-continent. You know sometimes it works and sometimes it does not work," Fletcher said in his first press conference after being appointed coach.

"I do not think that there will be changes. It is not dictatorial in some degree and I think Gary Kristen followed my philosophy, as he came and spoke to me before taking the Indian job", he said. "I gave him a lot of advises as to how to handle situations and I think he took those on board. Gary was pushing me for the job and speaking to BCCI about my credentials. He realised that I have the right philosophy to coach India and I think hopefully he is right," he added.

Fletcher's predecessor Kirsten left the job on a high after guiding the team to the World Cup title and earned respect for his calm demeanour. Kirsten was in sharp contrast to his predecessor Greg Chappell of Australia, who fell out with the players due to his authoritative style of functioning.

Fletcher, who coached England guiding them to a memorable Ashes triumph in 2005, has already had a chat with Kirsten on how to go about the new job. "I had a check with Gary when I was in Capetown, I had a meeting with him and also had a meeting with Eric Simons. Together, they have given some advise. I have checked with the other sides and noticed that they all work differently. Coaching the Indian team is a new challenge for me," Fletcher said.—PTI

Jaideep Ghosh
These are swinging times, ladies and gentlemen, entertainment unbridled and fun and games for all watchers. With the Indian Premier League on its last legs, the batsmen were swinging frantically, trying to get enough momentum to get themselves into that elite list of men going to the West Indies. But for all their oscillation, few found a launching pad and the likes of Ambati Rayudu did what they do best - be appreciated and forgotten.

There were other swingers too, like Paul Valthaty and a few others, who gave their arms some serious exercise, before the impending oblivion. Some bowlers found swing too, but at times too much of it, which combined with the wagging willow to send the ball flying into the stands and the said bowlers flying out of contention.

So when the final list came out, in came S. Badrinath, Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel (they swung more effectively, one assumes), as did Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Vinay Kumar. Among these, the last named, having taken some notes from Slinga Malinga, graduated to sling from swing, to his benefit.

Wriddhiman Saha to found his way onto the list, one assumes as a stepney for Parthiv Patel. Playing for Chennai Super Kings has swung his luck too, one sees.

Other swingers too grabbed the headlines. Shane Warne and Rajasthan Cricket Association secretary almost took swings at one another in what could be called a pitched battle. Warney boy got into trouble too, with the RCA complaining to the BCCI about the Rajasthan Royals’ captain’s behaviour. But now that the Aussie is leaving anyway post IPL, this issue is swinging towards some silliness. But this must have been the best show of the IPL.

Warney had also called Sachin Tendulkar a bad loser for complaining about the pitch after a loss to Royals. The cheek of the man! So Venkat Sunderam was summoned to go and make a pitch which didn’t suit Royals, in their home stadium. That makes a lot of sense, of course.

Chris Gayle swung into action with great relish, flinging abuse at the West Indies Cricket Board, who swung into retorts. Kieron Pollard swung at everything while Dwayne Bravo got some swing too. The West Indies tour could be fun!

Through all this, the cricket pendulum kept swinging. We are nearing the end of the IPL (praise the Almighty) and getting back to ‘regular’ cricket. How the fortunes will swing there, we will wait and watch. As of now, the action stays at home, with the IPL teams set to take a swing at the trophy.

Bangalore, May 13
With Chris Gayle in rollicking form, Royal Challengers Bangalore would have nothing but a place in the top-two in mind when they clash with an equally determined Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League match here tomorrow.

With six wins on the trot, Bangalore are barely two points away from ensuring a place in the play-offs and they could not have envisaged such a rosy scenario at the start of their IPl campaign. Three defeats and a wash-out against Rajasthan Royals had seen RCB tottering at the ninth slot with five points from six games. But the arrival of Gayle, albeit a replacement for the injured Dirk Nannes, has seen them storm the leader-board, barely a point behind Mumbai (11 matches) and Chennai (12 games) who have 16 points each. A victory for RCB would strengthen their chance of finishing among the top two and earn the right to play the winners of the eliminator (between the third and fourth placed teams), even in the eventuality of them losing the first semifinal. — PTI

Mumbai, May 13
Mumbai Indians would look to excel in home conditions and confirm a play-offs berth by getting the better of bottom-placed Deccan Chargers in an Indian Premier League clash here tomorrow.

After the humiliating 76-run defeat to Kings XI Punjab at Mohali, Sachin Tendulkar-led MI would be eager to get their act together and return to winning ways. It was a reminder of how fickle the T20 format could be for the star-studded Mumbai, who were shot out for a mere 87 in less than 13 overs chasing Punjab's 163.

The strong MI batting line up, led by Tendulkar, surprisingly came a cropper against Praveen Kumar's swing and unheralded Bhargav Bhatt's left-arm spin. MI have 16 points, the same as Chennai Super Kings but the better net run-rate has pushed the defending champions to the top spot after the victory over Delhi Daredevils.

However, Mumbai have one more match in hand and if they win their last three games, including two at home, they would finish on top of the heap. The return to the Wankhede track, offering bounce, would be welcomed by the free-stroking Mumbai batting line-up from which only four reached double figures in the rout by Punjab. — PTI

Hyderabad, May 13
Saina Nehwal is grabbing headlines for her differences with mentor Pullela Gopi Chand but the star Indian shuttler today played down such media reports. It is not that way. He is chief national coach and he has to concentrate on all. That (reports about differences) is not correct," Saina said.

The Hyderabadi insisted that since Gopichand cannot travel with her all the time because of his responsibilities as national coach, she chose to train with Bhaskar Babu.

The media reports said claimed that Gopichand feels Saina's focus has deviated a bit from the game in the wake of her success and thus he is unhappy with her. On her performance in the just concluded Malaysian Open, where she lost to world number three Xin Wang of China to end runner-up, Saina said," I am happy with my performance in the Malaysia Open. I could defeat some Chinese players in the event. I am happy about it."

Saina did not read too much in her shock first round exit from the Indian Open Super Series tournament in New Delhi last month. "It happens, there was home pressure. I was confident of doing well. It was just a bad day," she said. With Sudirman Cup, Thailand Open and Singapore Open approaching, the world number four wants to carry her good form into these events. "All these competitions occupy the focus now," Saina Nehwal said. — PTI

Jalandhar, May 13
Delhi walked all over Tamil Nadu in the men’s section while the Mumbai eves squandered a first-half lead and lost to Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 1-3 in the Federation Cup-2011 hockey tournament here today.

Tamil Nadu began on a positive note, with S.H.J. Athuvan finding the target in the 4th minute. But Delhi came back with a telling response through Mohit (21st minute) and Amit (29th minute) in a match which saw both teams mounting pressure on each other.

Tamil Nadu picked the game from the word go but lost tempo against the fine attacking moves of the Delhi side. Till half-time the winners were leading 1-2.

The second half saw Delhi in good attacking mode with Surender (46th minute) and Pradeep Khatri (50th) finding the target. Two minutes later Munish Rana struck the board with a cracking hit followed by continuous raids which saw Surender (56th) and Gagandeep (63rd) steering the score to 7-1.

New Delhi, May 13
Pinki Jangra (51kg) was the lone Indian pugilist to strike gold at the Arafura Games and the 'Best Boxer' trophy provided the icing on the cake even as two of her compatriots settled for silver medals after losing in the finals of the event in Darwin, Australia.

The 21-year-old Jangra beat Siona Fernandes of New Zealand 18-13. The National Games gold medallist was down a point at 4-5 in the opening round. — PTI

The Indians lost 3-6 6-3 5-10 to their unseeded rivals in the second round in one hour and 12 minutes. The Indians were playing their first match after getting a bye in the first round.

Scoreboard
Kochi Tuskers Kerala
McCullum lbw b Bipul 32
Jayawardene run out 76
Jadeja lbw b Piyush 17
Hodge c Marsh b Bipul 4
Shah run out 23
Parthiv c Karthik
b Srivastava 0
Gomez lbw b Harris 2
Vinay not out 1
Extras (lb 4, w 19) 23
Total: (7 wkts; 20 ovrs) 178
Bowling: Harris 4-0-42-1, Bhatt 4-0-36-0, Bipul 4-0-32-2, Srivastava 4-0-34-1, Piyush 4-0-30-1.

Kings XI Punjab
Gilchrist c Parthiv b Singh 9
Valthaty b Singh 17
Marsh c & b Singh 42
Karthik c Jayawardene
b Singh 69
Hussey not out 21
Mandeep not out 15
Extras (lb 2, w 6) 8
Total: (4 wkts; 18.5 ovrs) 181
Bowling: RP Singh 4-0-25-4, Sreesanth 3.5-0-38-0, Vinay 3-0-28-0, Hodge 2-0-26-0, Parameswaran 2-0-23-0, Gomez 1 -0-12-0, Jadeja 3-0-27-0.