Dravid, Yuvi doubtful for 1st SA Test

Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh, both nursing injuries, are doubtful starters for the first Test against South Africa, coach Gary Kirsten said.

"Yuvi will be out for a while. He would be struggling for the first Test (against South Africa). And for Dravid, he is also not sure. It is a bit of concern because we want a full strength side against South Africa," Kirsten said.

Dravid had his cheek bone fractured by a Shahadat Hossain bouncer after which he retired hurt. Yuvraj too has a ligament tear in his left wrist, which ruled out his further participation in the ongoing second Test against Bangladesh.

India's first Test against South Africa begins on February 6 in Nagpur.

"It is a difficult situation we are in. But you cannot do anything about injuries. It's out of our control. We have to wait and watch and what stands for these players in the few days ahead," Kirsten said.

The South African, however, assured that Sachin Tendulkar was fine.

"Sachin is all right, he is fine," said Kirsten.

Tendulkar came tumbling down while trying to catch Tamim Iqbal off Virender Sehwag.

Kirsten said despite their injuries, Dravid and Yuvraj would not be sent home.

"It was quite a nasty hit on Rahul and we have to see if he needs to consult a specialist. He is not going back now.

"Yuvi had torn cartilages on his left wrist and but he will also stay back," Kirsten said.

Dwelling on the match, Kirsten conceded his bowlers were not too impressive.

"We did not bowl as good as we can though the wicket is not easy for the bowlers. After taking 300-plus lead, you want early breakthroughs and knock the opposition down as soon as possible. There might have been some impatience," he said.

Bangladesh rode on the record 200-run stand between Tamim Iqbal (151) and Jumnaid Siddique (55) to reach 228 for three, having lost two quick wickets in the final session.

"We are happy that we got two quick wickets towards the close. We did well towards the close of play. Zaheer Khan was getting reverse swing from his final overs. The wicket will deteriorate tomorrow and hopefully it will assist the spinners," Kirsten added.

"We are leading by 83 runs and we want to get early wickets tomorrow morning. There are two more days to go and we are backing ourselves to win the game," he said.

Asked about Tamim Iqbal's aggressive 151, Kirsten said, "He is an aggressive player. We have Virender Sehwag like him.

It is good for your team. An aggressive player at the top of order can damage the opposition but knocking off quick runs early on.

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Yuvraj sees orthopedic doctor

Yuvraj Singh on Sunday consulted an orthopedic surgeon after feeling pain in the little finger of his left hand.

India and Sri Lanka teams arrived in Rajkot on Sunday for the first one-day international of the five-match series, beginning Tuesday.

Yuvraj Singh on Sunday consulted an orthopedic surgeon after feeling pain in the little finger of his left hand.

India and Sri Lanka teams arrived in Rajkot on Sunday for the first one-day international of the five-match series, beginning Tuesday.

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Yuvraj, Dhoni win it for India

India romped home by six wickets against Australia in the third ODI after brilliant knocks by skipper MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.

Moises Henriques picked up his maiden ODI wicket on debut, getting rid of Yuvraj Singh, who perished for a fabulous 78.

Dhoni continued his good form with another ODI fifty as India inched towards a victory against Australia.

Yuvraj Singh stormed away to his half-century as India started to turn the heat on Australia.

Dhoni and Yuvraj stitched up a gutsy partnership to help India find a footing after Australia picked up three quick wickets.

Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir are back in the hut.

Mitchell Johnson knocked off Virender Sehwag's middle stump to give Australia the first breakthrough.

Sachin Tendulkar after looking in great touch for most part of his 47 ball 32.

Australia are 229 for five

Brilliant half centuries by Michael Hussey and skipper Ricky Ponting helped Australia post a challenging total against India on a turning wicket in Delhi.

Ravinder Jadeja snapped up debutant Moises Henriques to claim his second wicket of the match.

Harbhajan Singh picked up his first one of the match when Adam Voges lost his patience and consequently his wicket, holding out to Praveen Kumar in the deep.
Michael Hussey brought up his third ODI fifty after battling hard in trying batting conditions in Delhi.

Suresh Raina was perhaps lucky to get Cameron White, who did not seem to edge the ball before MS Dhoni pouched it up.

Ravinder Jadeja struck a lethal blow on Australia, claiming skipper Ricky Ponting, who perished for a well made 59.

Ponting played a captain's knock for Australia, bringing up yet another ODI fifty on a wicket that has been tough to bat on.

Yuvraj Singh struck in his first over to lure Aussie opener Shane Watson out of his crease as MS Dhoni whipped the bails off in a flash.

Watson and Ricky Ponting had started to accelerate for Australia after a slow but steady start to the innings in Delhi.

India's new ball bowlers kept a tight leash on Australia's opening pair, who looked solid despite a difficult track.

The Toss

Australia have won the toss and opted to bat against India in the third one-dayer of the seven-match ODI series.

Buoyed by their emphatic victory in the last game, a confident India will seek to keep the momentum going in the third ODI.

India would be hoping to exploit a slow and low track.

With the seven-match series tied 1-1, both the teams will be keen to regain the initiative in what promises to be a thrilling floodlit contest at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.

While the Indians looked a confident lot, the Aussies have a few problems to sort out, particularly in their bowling department with pace spearhead Brett Lee ruled out of the series because of an elbow injury.

The spate of injuries to some of their key players has weakened the World Champions to some extent and a depleted bowling attack have only compounded their misery.

Teams:
India: SR Tendulkar, V Sehwag, G Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, SK Raina, MS Dhoni*†, RA Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, A Nehra, P Kumar, I Sharma.

Australia: SR Watson, RT Ponting*, CL White, MEK Hussey, AC Voges, MC Henriques, MG Johnson, GA Manou†, NM Hauritz, PM Siddle, DE Bollinger.

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Yuvraj doubtful for opening match

Yuvraj Singh is not a certain starter for the first of the seven-match ODI series against Australia, beginning Sunday in Vadodara. Yuvraj, who picked up a finger injury in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy in South Africa last month, and has been out of action since, batted and fielded in the nets on the eve of the match.

However, India are likely to play safe and not risk a hurried return. MS Dhoni, India's captain, did not give too much away when asked about Yuvraj's status. "All I can say is that Yuvraj will surely be available for the second match," Dhoni said.

Asked if Yuvraj's unavailability for the opening game was always going to be the case when the squad was selected, Dhoni refused to comment on the playing XI. "You will get to know about it tomorrow."

During practice sessions ahead of the series, Dhoni and Suresh Raina too got hit in the nets, but the 'niggles' don't seem to be a concern right now. "Well, most of the guys are fit, to be precise," Dhoni said. "At times you get injured during the practice sessions, and that is part and parcel of the game, but if it happens too many times in the same span, you can say you are a bit unlucky. Most of the guys have small niggles, but they are not major injuries."

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Yuvi: 50-over cricket here to stay

Yuvraj Singh does not foresee the demise of 50-over cricket though he feels that Twenty20 has overshadowed other formats.

"There is no doubt that Twenty20 has taken over a lot of cricket but 50 overs is here to stay," Yuvraj said.

"We got 50 overs World Cup which is a big thing," he told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of Mangalore United team in the Karnataka Premier League.

Tendulkar had come up with a new proposal to save the 50-over format from the Twenty20 wave, suggesting that One-day matches be split into four innings of 25-over-a-side.

"I am for 50-over cricket. I think we should have 25 overs a side to start with. We should have 25 overs first for one side and then the other," Tendulkar had said.
Yuvraj said all the three formats of the game -- Test, ODI (50-overs) and Twenty20 -- have their own charm.

"Test cricket is also important but I think Twenty20 is very entertaining, that's why we all love it," he said.

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Yuvraj jumps to No.2 after WI series

It was an Indian one-two in the ICC ODI Rankings as dashing left-hander Yuvraj Singh zoomed to a career best second place, in the table topped by his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Despite winning the four-match series against the West Indies, there was, however, no such good news for India as Dhoni's men missed a chance to reclaim the second spot in the ICC ODI Championship and remained third.

India needed to win all their matches against the West Indies but they went down in the second tie at Sabina Park even though it could not deny them a 2-1 series win in the Caribbeans.

Yuvraj made scores of 131, 35 and 2 in the three matches against the West Indies while the fourth ODI in St Lucia was washed out yesterday. His series contribution helped him jump two places and he now sits behind Dhoni who has consolidated his number one position.

Dhoni, whose place was under threat from Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Yuvraj, produced a consistent performance to strengthen his position at the top.

The wicketkeeper-batsman made scores of 41, 95 and 46 not out to walk away with the player of the series award.

Dhoni now leads Yuvraj by a comfortable 44-point margin.

The team-mates are likely to resume their battle for the top spot in September when India plays Sri Lanka and New Zealand in a proposed tri-series in Sri Lanka.

Yuvraj's leap by two places means Chanderpaul and Gayle have dropped one place each to the third and fourth places respectively.

There was bad news for India opener Gautam Gambhir, who has slipped four places to share 20th spot with New Zealands Ross Taylor. Gambhir scored 57 runs in the series with his highest score being 44 in the third ODI at St Lucia.

Yuvraj, meanwhile, has fallen out of the top five of the ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders.

The left-arm spinner remained wicketless while conceding 53 runs off six overs in the series and his failure to pick up a few wickets means he has slipped five places to eighth position.

Yuvraj's fall has benefitted the Pakistan duo of Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi, who have risen to joint-third spot, and the fifth placed Jacob Oram.

In the bowlers' charts, Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh lost three places to 26th while Praveen Kumar dropped six places to 33rd.

Ishant Sharma, however, managed to move up two rungs to 39th.