Hyderabad to host India-New Zealand Test

Hyderabad will be the venue for the second Test between India and New Zealand in November, according to a revised schedule announced by the BCCI on Wednesday. 

New Zealand will play three Tests and five one-day internationals in India in November-December. The opening Test will be held in Ahmedabad and the final match in Nagpur. 

"Hyderabad will be the new Test centre and has been allotted the second Test against New Zealand," Indian cricket board secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement. 

Venues for the two one-dayers were changed, with Jaipur hosting the second match and Baroda the third. 

Schedule: 

Nov 4-8: First Test, Ahmedabad 

Nov 12-16: Second Test, Hyderabad 

Nov 20-24: Third Test, Nagpur 

Nov 28: First one-dayer, Guwahati 

Dec 1: Second one-dayer, Jaipur 

Dec 4: Third one-dayer, Baroda 

Dec 7: Fourth one-dayer, Bangalore 

Dec 10: Fifth one-dayer, Chennai
© AFP

Kumble becomes chairman of the NCA

Anil Kumble on Wednesday was appointed the chairman of the National Cricket Academy by the BCCI.

"Kumble is an excellent cricketer. He has the knowledge of the game and is Bangalore-based. So he can look after the academy very well," BCCI president Shashank Manohar said on the decision taken at the annual general meeting.

"The Board has purchased about 50 acres of land in Bangalore where the Board is developing its academy. According to all of us, Kumble is the best choice for that post," Manohar said.

When asked about his commintments when playing for IPL, Manohar replied "He does not work for 365 days for the Bangalore franchise, neither will he work for 365 days for the NCA. We have a director in Sandeep Patil to look after 

Kumble on replacing Ravi Shastri, said "The way I see it, it's an opportunity to put together a structure that will help in the development of young cricketers," "The role of the NCA is not just to churn out cricketers, but to churn out really good personalities and well-rounded individuals.

"This is not something that will happen in a year or two. It's a continuous process for various sets of cricketers, right from the youngsters who are in the NCA to those who come back to it at different stages."

The position will help Kumble pursue his ambition of guiding India's young cricketing talent.

India, Australia set for a tough battle

After the recently concluded series involving England and Pakistan, which doused the game into disrepute and its fans into a state of disbelief and the CLT20 series, which in many purists' eyes is not cricket at all; a Test match between two of the most competitive teams in the world today backed by thousands of fans throbbing for a glimpse of the stars will be exactly what the game needs to regain its lost glory.

India and Australia have always had a healthy competition and the two nations have played games that'll be etched in memory for a long time. Australia were humbled 2-0 the last time these two sides met in India and they will be looking to avenge the humiliating series defeat with victory.

Australia, in the past, have had a fearsome bowling line up to combat the Indians' star studded batting list. But perhaps for the first time, Australia will be touring with a weakened bowling attack. The retirement of Glen McGrath and Shane Warne has left the bowling attack severely depleted and they are trying hard to find someone to fill their massive shoes. They will be hoping for one of their bowlers to really pull their socks up and deliver the goods in India.

While Australia last played in July against Pakistan in England, India's last Test exposure too was around the same time against Sri Lanka. Both the series ended in a draw, with Australia squandering a 1-0 lead to Pakistan and India fighting back from a 1-0 deficit to draw level in the series. The teams have had ample time to relax and gear up for the series, but what will be interesting to see will be the performance of the players who were at the CLT20 in South Africa only a few days ago. Among the Indian players, captain Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay were there till the last match, as were Australia's Doug Bollinger and Mike Hussey. India also had Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid representing their franchisees and their fans will be fervently hoping that the good touch that they displayed, especially Sachin, has not deserted them and fatigue not affected them. For Australia too, Bollinger and Hussey played their hearts out for the Chennai franchise, and their team will be wanting a similar performance when they represent their country.

Ijaz Butt apologises for match-fixing comments

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, has issued an apology for the comments he made during the one-day series between England and Pakistan when he claimed the hosts' players had taken "enormous amounts of money" to lose the third ODI at The Oval. The England players have accepted Butt's apology and withdrawn the threat of legal action which had loomed since the outburst.

In a joint statement issued by the PCB and ECB, Butt admitted he had no evidence to back up his claims - which he repeated to multiple media outlets - and that he regretted the "misunderstanding" that followed even though he initially refused to back down from his comments.

"I wish personally and on behalf of the Pakistan Cricket Board to withdraw the comments I made concerning the England and Wales Cricket Board and each of the England players who played in the one-day International at The Oval on Friday 17 September. It is regrettable that there was a misunderstanding arising from my comments.

"I would like to make it quite clear that in the statements which I made that I never intended to question the behaviour and integrity of the England players nor the ECB nor to suggest that any of them were involved in any corrupt practices or in a conspiracy against Pakistan cricket.

BCCI makes major changes to IPL governing council

The BCCI has made major changes to the structure and functioning of the IPL governing council, halving its strength, slashing the term of its members and limiting their powers. The decisions were announced after the board's annual general meeting on Wednesday, at which it also decided to investigate alleged irregularities committed by three franchises.

The one decision taken by default was the removal in toto of Lalit Modi, the man most closely identified with the IPL, from its operations. He is no longer part of the BCCI or the IPL, which he raised from its official status of a subcommittee to a billion-dollar organisation. "Modi is not part of the BCCI any more," board president Shashank Manohar said. "Now he cannot say that he is the suspended IPL chairman."

Advantage India at favoured venue

The Big Picture

A Test series between India and Australia should be enough to whet the appetite of any cricket fan. But is that true of a contest spanning only two matches? We're about to find out. The abbreviated nature of the trip notwithstanding, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is up for grabs. India are the holders after their 2-0 win at home this time two years ago, but much has changed since then. Australia entered that tour ranked No. 1 among Test teams and India were third. MS Dhoni's men are now at the top of the list, while the Australians have slipped to fourth. If Australia lose the series, they'll fall to fifth and begin the Ashes ranked lower than England.

There are several fascinating subplots in this series. Will Harbhajan Singh continue to mesmerise Ricky Ponting? How will Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar, Test cricket's highest scorers, fare in what could be their final series against each other? Can Rahul Dravid find a way to dominate Australia, a team that has had his measure since 2004? Will Nathan Hauritz hold his own against the world's best players of spin? Is Marcus North on his last chance? And what controversy will arise?

India haven't lost a Test series for two years and, despite drawing their last two, have so much talent in their batting line-up that it is hard to see how Australia can win. That is especially true of the first Test in Mohali, where India have lost only once, winning thrice and drawing five Tests. Can 20 wickets come from Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger and Hauritz? Australia can dream, but India are unquestionably the favourites.