Compliments and surprise as Tendulkar quits ODIsCompliments and surprise as Tendulkar quits ODIs

Mumbai: The cricket fraternity on Sunday paid glowing tributes to Sachin Tendulkar on his retirement from one-day internationals, saying that the record-breaking batsman`s feats cannot be surpassed.

Tributes started pouring in soon after the 39-year-old cricketer announced his decision to quit ODIs on Sunday.

"I felt that he might have played the series against Pakistan. But it is his decision and I think it is the right," said Tendulkar`s long-time opening partner in ODIs, Sourav Ganguly.

"There was a doubt on whether he would play ODI cricket or not. But I am not surprised by his decision. He has done what he thought was right.

"I don`t think there was any pressure of selectors on him. It is his own decision. No one can drop him," Ganguly added.

Former captain Kris Srikkanth said he was surprised by Tendulkar`s decision.

"I am surprised by his move but he is leaving ODI cricket on a high. I am sure he will want to leave on a high in Test cricket also. He will be looking forward to a good Test series against Australia.

"He has always done well against Pakistan. But he always raises his bar on a good wicket against a strong attack. Be it in the 1992 World Cup against Pakistan or 2003, he did well against Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup also," Srikkanth said.

"It is easy for us to say that he could have retired after the 2011 World Cup. He has got 100 centuries so he went to the Asia Cup. It is one thing that only few have achieved. His records cannot be surpassed," he added.

Another former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar said Tendulkar should have continued with ODI cricket.

"Actually I am surprised. If he is continuing with international cricket (Test) then he should have continued with ODI also. We play almost 25 ODIs in a season. It is very important to keep playing international cricket."

"In ODIs, he opens the innings and plays the full innings almost so he gets used to international bowling. I am surprised he opted out of ODIs. He should have continued playing ODI.

"As long as he is playing Test match cricket or international cricket, he should have continued playing in ODIs," Vengsarkar said.

Tendulkar, considered the most complete batsman in modern cricket and one who was considered next only to the legendary Sir Donald Bradman, retires from the ODI format at the top of the run-getters` list with 18,426 runs in 463 matches.

"Masters.463 matches, 23 yrs, 18426 runs !!!! These numbers no body else will be able to come close to. Salute salute salute to Sachin," tweeted teammate Harbhajan Singh.

"Sachin tendulkar a grt batsman.Grt human being.A grt frnd.Grt man 2 look up 2.Proud indian.Real son of india.I salute u nd luv u," Harbhajan wrote on his twitter handle.

According to Kirti Azad, Tendulkar has "obliged" Indian cricket by calling it quits.

"I think he has obliged Indian cricket by retiring. The god has ultimately decided. Everybody is talking that he should retire. I suppose if I am playing cricket whether I am playing good or bad, the call has to be taken by the selectors," Azad said.

"The selectors didn`t take a call. I think he was also tired of the selectors not taking a call on him. I am very happy that he has ultimately taken a decision at the right time," he added.

Another former player Bapu Nadkarni said Tendulkar`s decision should be respected.

"His retirement was expected for some time now and he must be thinking that he is good enough for the five day scene, that is why he hasn`t retired from Tests.

"He is the best man to decide when to retire from other formats because he knows his body well. All this time people were asking when is he retiring? Now that he has announced his retirement from ODIs, people are asking why has he retired? I don`t understand the Indian people," he said.

Tendulkar goes out after amassing 18,426 runs in 463 one-dayers at an average of 44.83. The diminutive right-hander has an astonishing 49 hundreds in the format, including a double hundred -- the first in this form of the game.

Former Pakistan captain and noted commentator Ramiz Raja said he can understand Tendulkar`s decision to call it quits.

"When you have played 23 years of international cricket, a time comes when ODIs don`t excite you anymore as you have achieved everything that you possibly could have. Sachin has also won the World Cup, therefore his decision is understandable."

"However, herein lies the biggest challenge as he has now retired from ODIs. This will mean that he will be at the most playing 30 days of international cricket.

"Earlier he used to play both ODIs and Tests which meant that he played close 70-75 days minimum every year. It will be a very big challenge to come for those 25-30 days and be in good rhythm to perform at his best. But I am delighted to find the manner in which he is trying to work hard to get back into form in Test cricket which shows his hunger and passion to do well in Tests," Raja added.

South African batsman Hashim Amla also paid tribute to Tendulkar.

Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga said Tendulkar has enough cricket left in him to prolong his Test career.

"He has figured greatly with runs in the longer version of cricket. I think he has played a little bit more in the longer version but when he feels that he is good enough to play in the Test side, I know, he feels he is good enough to play in the longer version in order to achieve the milestone of 200 Tests," said Ranatunga.

Ranatunga supported Tendulkar's decision to retire from the ODI cricket and said he has done a lot of good to the world cricket.

"I think he has taken the right decision. He is such a cricketer, who has the expertise to decide as he knows what to do and what not to do. Retiring from one day cricket, I am sure he might have taken the right decision as lot of people will come out and say a lot of things. But, it is left to the individual to decide. I am sure he has done the right thing. Sachin is a great player considering what he has done to the world of cricket," he added.

Former India opener, W V Raman also paid rich tributes to Tendulkar and said an era in cricket has come to an end.

"Obviously an era has come to an end as he has chosen to make a quite exit from one day scene. It is not a surprise in a way because he has minimized his appearances in the last couple of years. Obvious his enjoyment factor would have diminished, in his case.

"Sachin who has played for 23 years in one day matches needs a challenging format to keep him going. One day format is more of fitness and not technical skills. I am sure he will be quite relaxed and take on the challenges in Test format," said Raman.

Raman said the batting maestro will be remembered for his "challenging and superb" innings in limited overs format.

"He will be remembered every day for his challenging and superb knocks in 50-50 matches. I am sure this will enable him to concentrate and do extremely well in Test cricket.I am sure he will go out of his way and will be relaxed and concentrate on his getting in to the runs spree act," he added.


Star England batsman Kevin Pietersen also paid tribute to Tendulkar for an incredible ODI career.

"Statistics NEVER lie! They tell a very true story.. Well done Sachin! What an incredible ODI career..," Pietersen tweeted.

Another England player Ravi Bopara feels that another Tendulkar will not emerge in his lifetime.

"Well done to @sachin_rt on his amazing ODI career. Inspiration to millions if not billions. We will never see another Sachin in our lifetime."

Agriculture Minister and former ICC and BCCI chief, Sharad Pawar hailed Tendulkar as the greatest batsman of all time.

"Greatest batsman of all time & my good friend Sachin Tendulkar retires from One day cricket . Thank you for making India so proud," Pawar tweeted.

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South Africa beats NZ by 8 wickets in opening T20

southafrica

Durban: An experimental South Africa team romped to an eight-wicket win over New Zealand in their opening Twenty20 game after the Black Caps slumped to their third-lowest T20 score in a dismal start to their tour.

South Africa needed just 12.1 overs on Friday to reach 87-2 and overhaul New Zealand`s 86 all out.

Left badly exposed by the absence of experienced players themselves -- including former captain Ross Taylor -- New Zealand needed 23 from debutant Colin Munro to help it past its record low in 20-over games, 80 all out against Pakistan in 2010.

Seamer Rory Kleinvedlt (3-18) and left-arm spinner Robin Peterson (2-8) did the bowling damage for the Proteas while stand-in captain Faf du Plessis led South Africa home in his first game in charge, hitting the winning runs and finishing 38 not out.

Wicketkeeper batsman Quinton de Kock was 28 not out on his international debut.

"No complaints, it was a fantastic game for us. Very happy," Du Plessis said. "It`s the standard we`ve set, but the standard we have to keep for the remainder of the series."

Desperate to perform well under new skipper Brendon McCullum and put aside the controversy over the exit of Taylor as captain, New Zealand`s relatively experienced top order all failed and left the four debutants it fielded in the series-opener with little chance to revive the innings.

McCullum was one of the failures as he fell for six to a relentless South African seam attack. The visitors were 36-6 at one stage before the South African-born Munro and then tailender Doug Bracewell (21 not out) gave them some small respectability.

Rob Nicol (3), Peter Fulton (9), McCullum and James Franklin (0) all went cheaply at the start of the innings as South African seamers Kleinveldt, Dale Steyn (2-13), Chris Morris (2-19) and Ryan McLaren (1-27) cashed in on regular mistimed attacking shots by the Black Caps batsmen.

Peterson then helped mop up the tail with his 2-8 off four overs -- the most economical bowling from a South African in T20 internationals.

"We came here to play some aggressive cricket," New Zealand captain McCullum said, "but first things first we do have to do some fundamentals right to earn the right to be aggressive ... We got a couple of things we didn`t get right."

Munro, who made his New Zealand debut back in the city of his birth, Durban, hit four fours in a brief counterattack. Bracewell struck three boundaries in a 21-run partnership with Ronnie Hira for the ninth wicket -- the highest stand of the innings.

New Zealand was still bowled out with 10 balls remaining of its 20 overs.

Debutant fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan removed Richard Levi for a duck in the first over of South Africa`s reply for a rare high spot for the tourists.

But Henry Davids -- also on debut -- hit a six and three fours in his 20 from 13 balls to kick start the Proteas` chase and new leader Du Plessis continued his belligerent form from the victorious tour of Australia to take South Africa home.

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Selectors meet on Sunday to pick squad for series against Pak

Mumbai: National cricket selectors will meet here on Sunday to pick the Indian squad for the limited-overs series against Pakistan amid speculation that struggling senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar has made himself available for ODI selection.

The panel, headed by Sandeep Patil, will be meeting for the first time after the humiliating Test debacle against England.

The T20 matches against Pakistan are scheduled on December 25 and 28 in Bangalore and Ahmedabad respectively and the squad is unlikely to see many changes from the one playing against England in a T20 rubber that concludes here on Saturday.

It is the ODI squad that would draw more attention as there are unconfirmed reports that veteran batsman Sachin Tendulkar has made himself available for the three-match rubber starting in Chennai on December 30.


The senior cricketer had been part of the last ODI squad during the failed campaign in Bangladesh in the Asia Cup where he completed his unprecedented feat of 100 international hundreds.

Tendulkar, whose retirement has been speculated endlessly in the media and by former cricketers, has been in and out of ODIs in the last few years by choice, but with his form dipping in Tests, the 39-year-old could be eager to rediscover his successful run through the 50-over game for the upcoming four-match Test rubber at home against Australia.

The second and third one-day games against Pakistan are to be held in Kolkata on January 3 followed by the last game on January 6 in the Capital.

This three-match series will be followed by the five-match ODI rubber against England that commences on January 11 at Rajkot. The tourists will return to India after taking a break for Christmas and New Year.

The other four games are to be held at Kochi (January 15), Ranchi (January 19), Mohali (January 23) and Dharamsala (January 27).

The other focus in the selection meeting would be captaincy and as per current indications, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is expected to keep his job though his success record in the ODI format too, like the one in Tests, has taken a steep dip after he piloted the country to the World Cup title last year.

India have had mixed results since that heady April 2, 2011 day in Mumbai with the reversals coming in England, Australia and in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh.

Zaheer Khan is another senior cricketer who is battling fitness concerns and dipping form in international cricket. He is playing for Mumbai in the Ranji game against MP at Indore from today and it remains to be seen whether the selectors will pick him for the ODIs against Pakistan and later England.

The other point of interest in the selection would be Virender Sehwag who opted out of the Twenty20 series against England. It is not known whether he has declared himself available to play in the T20 format against Pakistan that follows in three days` time.

A number of T20 squad members are likely to gain selection for the 50-over series against Pakistan too.

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English county Nottinghamshire bars its players from IPL

English county Nottinghamshire bars its players from IPL

London: English county side Nottinghamshire has decided to not allow its players to participate in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League.

"The players asked me to consider releasing them to enable them to take part in the IPL, but they are key members of the squad and I explained that we wouldn`t be able to allow them to take part," the club`s director of cricket, Mick Newell was quoted as saying by a news agency.

Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Samit Patel among other Nottinghamshire players are reportedly on the radars of various IPL teams.

The sixth edition of IPL is slated to begin by April 3 as per the schedule announced on Friday

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India vs England 2012, 2nd T20I: Preview

India vs England 2012, 2nd T20I: Preview

SCORECARD

Mumbai: After rebounding superbly from the Test loss to England with a convincing victory in the Twenty20 series opener, India would be keen to complete a clean sweep of the shortest format by winning the second and final game here tomorrow.

Having gained the winning momentum again, the hosts would be eager not to let it go out of grasp especially with the high-profile series against Pakistan to follow immediately after the conclusion of the T20 stint at the Wankhede Stadium.

India will take on Pakistan in a two-match T20 series from December 25 to be followed by a three-game ODI series.

England, who have suffered their first reversal to India in a bilateral T20 game after having lost two others in the World T20 events, would also look forward to squaring the rubber and returning home for Christmas and New Year on a high note.

Though India cantered home last night, the home team has some issues to solve immediately in both batting and bowling to achieve their aim of a 2-0 whitewash

In bowling, the beginning and end overs are still a worry with debutant Parvinder Awana, who had a poor game, and Ashok Dinda bowling too short yesterday to be punished by the hard-hitting Alex Hales who blitzed his way to 56 with seven fours and two sixes.

Though Dinda came back later to bowl well and take two wickets, Awana`s nervousness cost him 29 runs in two overs at either end of the innings and he is expected to give way to Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Abhimanyu Mithun tomorrow.

Even R Ashwin, who started off well and bowled a maiden over to the left-handed Michael Lumb before taking his wicket too, was carted around later to concede 33 runs. Ravindra Jadeja gave away 22 runs in three and Piyush 24 in the same number of overs.

But for Yuvraj Singh`s brilliant stint in the middle overs, when he got 3 for 19 to halt Hales and Luke Wright from running away with the game, India could have conceded 15-20 more runs, a fact not lost on rival skipper Eoin Morgan.

"We got off to a fantastic start - Alex and Luke really came together as a pair - but from there we didn`t really kick on," said Morgan.

Hales and Wright added 68 runs in quick time, thrashing the Indian bowlers, before Yuvraj turned the match around with a 3-19 spell that included both these batsmen`s wickets as well as Morgan`s.

In batting too, India started off brilliantly before openers Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane threw away their wickets in close succession by trying to hit big.

It was Yuvraj`s experience and his ability to clear the rope at will that helped the home country steady the innings and then surge to a comfortable victory with 13 balls to spare.

The left-handed dasher smashed 38 in 21 balls to help India regain the early advantage. Then useful contributions from Virat Kohli (21), Suresh Raina, who was also needlessly run out for 26 and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (24 not out), saw the home team cross the finish line.


England too have their problems, the prominent among them is to find an effective spinner in the middle overs as Danny Briggs` left-arm spin was taken to the cleaners along with James Tredwell`s off spin.

Stuart Meaker provided the extra pace to trouble the Indian batsmen, including Yuvraj, and Tim Bresnan was also impressive, while Wright was effective with his slow medium bowling.

In batting, Hales, who had flopped in his previous three games against India, came good yesterday with his forthright batting. England would hope the others ? that includes their hard-hitting captain Morgan ? deliver in the last game of the first half of their visit.


The rival teams (from):

India: M.S. Dhoni (Capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and Parvinder Awana

England: Eoin Morgan (Capt.), James Harris, Jonny Bairstow, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Butler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Joe Root, James Tredwell and Luke Wright.

On-field umpires: S Ravi and Vineet Kulkarni

3rd umpire: Sudhir Asnani

Match Referee: Jeff Crowe.

Match starts at 7 pm (IST).

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