CRICKETLOGIC BREAKING: SHASTRI TO CONTINUE AS TEAM INDIA BOSS TILL 2016 WORLD T20

Ravi Shastri will continue as Team Director of the Indian cricket team while assistant coaches' term has been extended based on the recommendations of the Cricket Advisory Committee constituted by the BCCI.

Acknowledging the performance of the Indian cricket team and the efforts of the coaching staff in recent times, the BCCI has extended the appointment of Ravi Shastri as the Team director of the Indian Cricket Team till the ICC World T20 2016.

BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya and Secretary Anurag Thakur appreciated the work done by the coaching staff and accepted the decision unanimously.

Along with Shastri, the Committee also approved the extension of Assistant coaches till the ICC World T20 2016 including Sanjay Bangar (Batting), Bharat Arun (Bowling) and R Sridhar (Fielding). 

The CAC of the BCCI consists of former India captains Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, former Test Cricketer VVS Laxman, BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya and Secretary Anurag Thakur. 

SIR VIV'S CLASS IN BARBADOS

Head coach of the Sagicor West Indies High Performance Centre team Graeme West said the presence of Sir Vivian Richards in the training camp ahead of their series against Bangladesh-A is a welcomed boost for the side’s preparations.

Sir Viv will work with the coaching team at the Sagicor WIHPC that is headed by West to prepare the 13-member squad for their series of two four-day, three 50 overs-a-side and two Twenty20 matches – all to be played in Barbados from May 26 to June 15.

“To work alongside someone like Sir Viv is a privilege and his presence offers a number of things to the players as we prepare for the upcoming matches,” said West.

“First, the players can see the importance of this camp when someone of the calibre of Sir Viv is standing there and observing them, talking to them, offering some mentoring to them. The value that brings to the programme, you cannot put a price on it.”

Sir Viv is the latest former West Indies player currently either involved with coaching or advising a number of West Indies teams.

The others are West Indies head coach Ottis Gibson, West Indies team operations manager Richie Richardson, West Indies batting coach Stuart Williams, West Indies Women’s head coach Sherwin Campbell, West Indies Women’s assistant coach Ezra Moseley, West Indies Under-19 assistant coach Robert Samuels and Sagicor WIHPC bowling coach Vasbert Drakes.

West said: “Also, when you look at the experiences that he had and the teams in which he played, he helped to create a culture of winning – and this is one of things we want him to emphasise during our sessions with the players – how to create and maintain a winning habit.

“We need winners and we need winning teams and we need champion players, and they do not come any bigger than Sir Viv.”

The two-week camp formally opened on Tuesday and West said that Sir Viv had already begun to make his presence felt with the players.

“In the few sessions he has had so far, you can still see that hunger, that passion, that desire for West Indies to be successful still burns within him,” said West.

“He can also add value with the batsmen in terms of little technical and tactical approaches that can help them, but he is also very keen on helping them to build confidence and self-belief. It’s a great opportunity for all of us and it raises the bar in terms of what we are able to offer.”

West said the aim of the camp and the brief series against the Bangladeshis was to help emerging and fringe players to sharpen their skills and turn the heat up on the players in the senior West Indies squad which will soon begin a home series against New Zealand.

“We have looked at a lot of the performances of the players from the regional tournaments and there were a number of successful performances and some of those players have been chosen for this squad,” said West.

“We are starting to look through the footage and the statistics that have come through to try and make the guys aware of the areas in which they need to improve. All of the batsmen, if they could average another five or six runs an innings, could make a difference to their numbers.”

He said: “The players will be challenging for places on the senior team, so we need these guys to have an awareness of what they need to work on.

“They have the best part of two weeks to do this and try to enter the four-day matches against Bangladesh with the players really, really clear about how they will become better players.”

West said this Sagicor WIHPC team was slightly different in composition to previous squads, which focussed on giving greater exposure to younger, less experienced players.

“We have players that are more experienced,” he said. “The first three groups had huge potential, but they did not play enough to have the understanding of how to play in certain situations. These players have far more experience and have played 40 or 50 first-class games. It’s about looking and refining little things to give them the ability to move their games forward.”

SELFIE TIME IN IPL!

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli and fellow players Yuvraj Singh, AB de Villiers and Mitchell Starc take a selfie today.

Dapper fit for South African Cricket Team!

T.M. Lewin, UK-based designer and retailer of superior quality shirts, tailoring and accessories are now the Official Formal Wear Sponsor of the South African national cricket team.
This quintessentially British brand, which is exclusively available at Edgars, was established in 1898 and celebrates 115 years on London’s Jermyn Street this year.  It offers a range of men’s and women’s formal business wear and is known for its excellent craftsmanship, quality, service and value.
“A gentleman’s brand for a gentleman’s sport!” says T.M.Lewin CEO, Geoff Quinn. “We are both proud and honoured to provide suits to the Proteas for their formal appearances.  We may bring English style and sensibility to their look but on the pitch it’s South African talent all the way!”
CSA Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: “I would like to offer my sincere thanks, on behalf of the team, to T.M.Lewin.  The brand is associated with quality, attention to detail and excellence.  It’s a good fit for us.”
“As a team we give 110% to everything we do, so when we step out in our Formal Wear, we approach it with the same sense of pride and competitiveness”, said Graeme Smith, Captain of the Proteas. “The whole team, especially our sharp dressers, Faf and Lopsy, will appreciate the distinction and calibre of T.M.Lewin!”

BATTLE FOR THE NO 1 SPOT

Captain of the Australian cricket team, George Bailey and Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni pose with the ODI trophy

Australia faces a tough task in unseating India as the number-one ranked side on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings Table, when the top two ranked sides meet in the seven-match ODI series starting in Pune on 13 October.
India starts the series as the number-one ranked ODI side with 123 ratings points, with Australia in second place on 115 ratings points.
To retain its number-one ranking, India has to win two or more matches in the series against Australia. However, Australia will have to win the series 6-1 or better to reclaim the number-one position, which it last held in July 2012.
In the event of a 6-1 series’ win for Australia, it will gain six ratings points to move to top spot on 121 ratings points, while India will drop to second position with 118 ratings points (a loss of five ratings points).    Meanwhile, India spinner Ravindra Jadeja will start the series as the joint number-one ranked bowler on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers. Jadeja shares the position with West Indies’ Sunil Narine, and has the opportunity to claim the sole number-one position for the first time in his career.
The Australia pace duo of Clint McKay and Mitchell Johnson are the other bowlers inside the top 10 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers (seventh and eighth respectively) with an opportunity to make an upward movement.
India’s Ravichandran Ashwin in 18th and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar in 20th are the other bowlers inside the top 20 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers  who will be seen in action during the series.
The series will also feature as many as four batsmen who sit inside the top 10. They are: Virat Kohli (fourth), MS Dhoni (seventh), George Bailey (ninth) and Shane Watson (10th)
India’s Suresh Raina in 16th place is the only other batsman inside the top 20, on either side.
The Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen is headed by South Africa’s Hashim Amla, with his captain AB de Villiers in second place and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara in third position.
Upcoming Fixtures
13 Oct – 1st ODI, Pune (d/n) 16 Oct – 2nd ODI, Jaipur (d/n) 19 Oct – 3rd ODI, Mohali (d/n) 23 Oct – 4th ODI, Ranchi (d/n) 26 Oct – 5th ODI, Cuttack (d/n) 30 Oct – 6th ODI, Nagpur (d/n) 2 Nov – 7th ODI, Bengaluru (d/n)
Reliance ICC ODI Rankings (as on 11 October) (before India-Australia ODI series)
Rank               Team                          Rating            1                      India                            123 2                      Australia                      115 3                      England                       111 4                      Sri Lanka                     111 5                      South Africa               105 6                      Pakistan                       101 7                      New Zealand               89 8                      West Indies                 89 9                      Bangladesh                 76 10                    Zimbabwe                   55 11                    Ireland                         38 12                    Netherlands                 13 13                    Kenya                          10
(Developed by David Kendix)

Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 11 October) (before India-Australia ODI series and after Afghanistan-Kenya ODIs)
Batsmen
Rank     (+/-)         Player                 Team      Pts          Ave       HS Rating    1           ( - )          Hashim Amla       SA           853         54.85     901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012    2           ( - )          AB de Villiers        SA           845         48.88     883 v Ind at Cardiff 2013    3           ( - )          K Sangakkara      SL           829!       39.99     829 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2013    4           ( - )          Virat Kohli            Ind          819         49.72     866 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2012    5           ( - )          Jonathan Trott     Eng         754         51.25     796 v SA at The Oval 2013    6           ( - )          T Dilshan               SL           746         37.46     765 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2011    7           ( - )          MS Dhoni              Ind          741         51.45     836 v Aus at Delhi 2009    8           ( - )          Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak         722         45.13     727 v Zim at Harare 2013    9           ( - )          George Bailey       Aus         714*      46.13     726 v Eng at Cardiff 2013   10         ( - )          Shane Watson      Aus         699         41.82     773 v SL at Hambantota 2011   11         ( - )          Michael Clarke    Aus         698         45.12     750 v SL at Melbourne 2008   12         ( - )          Ross Taylor          NZ          669         38.31     693 v Aus at Adelaide 2009   13=       ( - )          Alastair Cook       Eng         661         38.85     752 v Aus at Lord's 2012                 ( - )          Martin Guptill       NZ          661         39.92     684 v Zim at Napier 2012   15         ( - )          B McCullum         NZ          655         30.75     685 v Eng at Auckland 2013   16=       ( - )          Umar Akmal        Pak         654         38.85     702 v Afg at Sharjah 2012                 ( - )          Suresh Raina        Ind          654         36.48     669 v Eng at Dharamsala 2013   18         ( - )          Eoin Morgan        Ire/Eng   648         39.56     690 v Aus at The Oval 2010   19         ( - )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        637         35.12     683 v Pak at Mirpur 2012   20         ( - )          Paul Stirling           Ire           635         37.59     693 v Pak at Dublin 2013
Selected Rankings
Rank     (+/-)         Player                 Team      Pts          Ave       HS Rating   23         ( - )          Shikhar Dhawan  Ind          628*!    43.11     628 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013   40         ( - )          Rohit Sharma       Ind          553         32.37     582 v WI at Indore 2011   58         ( - )          Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          515         32.68     528 v SL at Jamaica 2013   60         ( - )          Yuvraj Singh        Ind          510         36.98     787 v WI at Jamaica 2009   67         (+1)         Shaun Marsh        Aus         495         38.20     581 v SA at Sydney 2009   70         (+2)         Adam Voges         Aus         490*      48.06     498 v Eng at Cardiff 2013   71         (+2)         Phil Hughes           Aus         489*      38.41     568 v Eng at Edgbaston 2013   72         (-8)          Collins Obuya      Ken         486         25.35     513 v Aus at Bengaluru 2011   73         (-5)          Alex Obanda        Ken         483         29.56     520 v Afg at Nairobi 2010    85        ( - )          Glenn Maxwell     Aus         449*      29.22     460 v SL at The Oval 2013
Bowlers
Rank      (+/-)        Player                Team       Pts          Ave      Econ      HS Rating    1=        ( - )          Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          733         30.60     4.62       738 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013                 ( - )          Sunil Narine          WI          733*      24.40     4.13       791 v SL at Jamaica 2013    3           ( - )          Saeed Ajmal         Pak         723         22.93     4.17       810 v SA at Centurion 2013    4           ( - )          Steven Finn           Eng         708         27.74     4.71       755 v NZ at Auckland 2013    5           ( - )          Rangana Herath  SL           699         32.80     4.23       703 v SA at Pallekele 2013    6           ( - )          James Anderson  Eng         696         29.11     4.97       719 v SA at The Oval 2013    7           ( - )          Clint McKay         Aus         694         22.12     4.59       709 v Eng at Cardiff 2013    8           ( - )          Mitchell Johnson Aus         677         25.09     4.79       724 v Ban at Darwin 2008    9           ( - )          L Tsotsobe            SA           673         24.18     4.84       743 v NZ at Auckland 2012   10         ( - )          M Hafeez              Pak         666         34.50     4.00       769 v Ind at Kolkata 2013   11         ( - )          Abdur Razzak      Ban        663         27.81     4.47       679 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013   12         ( - )          Kyle Mills              NZ          656         26.29     4.69       722 v Aus at Melbourne 2009   13         ( - )          Morne Morkel      SA           644         24.11     4.88       717 v SL at East London 2012   14         ( - )          Kemar Roach       WI          642         26.77     4.92       650 v Pak at St Lucia 2013   15         ( - )          Dale Steyn            SA           636         29.07     4.92       666 v Ind at Nagpur 2011   16         ( - )          Daniel Vettori       NZ          632         31.50     4.11       788 v Eng at Durham 2008   17         ( - )          N Kulasekara       SL           622         32.86     4.63       727 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009   18         ( - )          R Ashwin               Ind          621         30.83     4.80       691 v SL at Hambantota 2012   19         ( - )          Angelo Mathews  SL           616         34.38     4.52       649 v Ind at Trinidad 2013   20=       ( - )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        608         29.37     4.31       717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009                 ( - )          B Kumar               Ind          608*      21.96     3.97       623 v SL at Trinidad 2013
Selected Rankings
Rank     (+/-)      Player                Team       Pts          Ave      Econ      HS Rating   31         ( - )          Xavier Doherty    Aus         568         34.19     4.64       592 v Eng at Lord's 2012   36         ( - )          Shane Watson      Aus         550         29.13     4.78       620 v WI at St Lucia 2012   46         ( - )          Mitchell Starc       Aus         519*      19.91     5.05       543 v WI at Canberra 2013   53         (+1)         Ishant Sharma     Ind          493         30.02     5.59       594 v Aus at Nagpur 2009   59         (-8)          Hiren Varaiya      Ken         475         29.31     4.16       541 v Net at Nairobi 2010   70         ( - )          R Vinay Kumar   Ind          444*      35.93     5.50       504 v SL at Adelaide 2012   77         (+15)      M Nabi                  Afg         427*!    36.17     4.10       427 v Ken at Sharjah 2013   87         (-1)          James Faulkner    Aus         406*!    26.72     5.00       406 v Eng at Southampton 2013   90         (+3)         N Odhiambo         Ken         398         36.51     5.52       410 v Zim at Kolkata 2011   94         (+6)         S Shenwari            Afg         388*      26.00     4.25       396 v Ken at Sharjah 2013   97         (-1)          Jaydev Unadkat  Ind          386*!    17.37     3.47       386 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013
All-rounders
Rank    (+/-)        Player                 Team       Pts        HS Rating    1           ( - )          M Hafeez              Pak         396        438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013    2           ( - )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        387        453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009    3           ( - )          Shane Watson      Aus         384        433 v WI at St Lucia 2012    4           ( - )          Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          377        378 v Eng at Edgbaston 2013    5           ( - )          T Dilshan               SL           371!       371 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2013    
!  Indicates career-highest rating * Indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after a minimum of 40 started innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has conceded 1,500 runs