Najam Sethi hits out at Islamabad High Court in editorial

Najam Sethi, the suspended PCB chairman, has attributed the Pakistan board's ongoing existential crisis to "extraordinary judicial intervention". He wrote an op-ed in the Friday Times, the weekly newspaper of which he is editor-in-chief, questioning the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) rulings by which two chairmen have been suspended in past five months, leaving the board's administration in a state of turmoil.

The PCB currently is without a chairman, and this has left it in "disarray" and "losing billions", Sethi wrote. "An extraordinary judicial intervention in the affairs of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has thrown everything and everyone into confusion, disarray and gridlock," Sethi wrote in his article headlined "This is not cricket". "Worse, it is threatening to post huge financial, administrative and sporting losses on the only tax-paying national sport institution in the country.

"The PCB is incurring financial losses of billions by delaying urgent financial, administrative and sporting decisions. The matter needs to be brought to a fair, just and constitutional closure as early as possible by the honourable judges in the national interest."

Sethi was appointed interim chairman of the PCB in June 2013 - for a 90-day period - after the IHC suspended former PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf over questions about the legality of the elections conducted to appoint him. In July, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui set a deadline of October 18 for the PCB to hold fresh elections for the chairman. Sethi failed to hold those elections and instead, on October 15 just before the deadline, the prime minister of Pakistan - the new patron of the PCB according to the court - Nawaz Sharif, dissolved the governing board of the PCB, and formed a five-member IMC, headed by Sethi, to administer cricket. Then, on October 28, Justice Siddiqui suspended Sethi from his role as IMC head for not complying with the earlier legal order to elect a permanent PCB chairman by October 18.

In his order that directed the board to organise fresh elections, Justice Siddiqui had also ordered a comprehensive makeover of the PCB. The 30-page judgement, asked for changes in the structure of the PCB, questioned the appointment of the selection committee, as well as the board's financial and recruitment affairs. According to his order, a candidate competing for the post of chairman had to be an ex-first-class cricketer, a graduate.

Traditionally in Pakistan Cricket, the nomination of the chairman has come from the president of Pakistan, and the post has rarely been filled by an ex-cricketer. Sethi objected to this direction of the court in his article. "Nowhere in the cricketing world is the head of any board a first-class or Test cricketer elected directly by a general body," he wrote. "The reason for this is that the basic functions of cricket boards are financial and managerial, with only sporting activities guided by committees headed by ex-sportsmen."

The fact that Sethi has written a piece about it in his position as editor of the weekly is likely to lead to more raised eyebrows of those who worry about the potential conflicts of interest in Sethi being a chairman and prominent media personality. Already questions have been asked, especially after the PCB awarded broadcast rights of Pakistan's series with Sri Lanka in the UAE later this year to Geo Super, a sports channel owned by the same media group with which Sethi doubles as a popular political talk show host.

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McCullum heads home with back trouble

Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, is returning home immediately after being ruled out of the final two matches of the Bangladesh tour with "significant" pain from a long-standing back problem.

McCullum had already been withdrawn from the forthcoming short tour to Sri Lanka, alongside Ross Taylor, so that he could play some domestic first-class cricket in preparation for the Test series against West Indies which starts on December 3.

Now fitness, as well as form, is a concern for McCullum who endured a lean time with the bat in Bangladesh. He made scores of 21, 22 and 11 in the Test series followed by 0 and 14 in the first two one-day internationals which New Zealand lost to concede the series to Bangladesh.

Following an MRI scan in Dhaka, Paul Close, the New Zealand physio, said: "Brendon's back needs careful management - it's flared up and is giving him significant pain. The best course of action is getting him home for rehabilitation as soon as possible."

Although McCullum's form has slipped in recent weeks, New Zealand can ill-afford to lose his services for the beginning of West Indies' visit as Kane Williamson, the vice-captain, is a serious doubt for the opening Test in Dunedin, and possibly the second in Wellington, having suffered a fractured thumb in Bangladesh.

Problems with his back was one of the major reasons behind McCullum giving up the wicketkeeping gloves in Tests, a move he also tried to make in ODIs but Luke Ronchi's struggles in England, during the series earlier earlier this year and the Champions Trophy, meant McCullum took back the role for this one-day series.

Ronchi has now arrived in Bangladesh having been recalled following Williamson's injury but the gloves may go to Tom Latham as New Zealand aim to avoid a whitewash. BJ Watling is settled as New Zealand's Test wicketkeeper.

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Rohit takes strides towards consistency

Since moving to the top of the order, Rohit Sharma has become a more reliable cog in India's one-day set up, and that was on show in this series

Clint McKay was at the top of his run-up, ready to bowl, but he had to wait. And wait. Rohit Sharma had already punched the air in jubilation, hugged his captain MS Dhoni, soaked up the applause of the euphoric crowd and was walking towards the batting crease. While McKay was eager to bring another punishment-filled innings for the bowlers closer to an end, a grinning Rohit relished his double-century, setting off on part two of his celebration - a series of fist pumps and a wave of the bat to the dressing room and the fans.

After his part in running out the current golden boy of Indian cricket and favourite of the Bangalore crowd, Virat Kohli, for a duck, Rohit needed to produce something special, and he did.

What made it even more of a delight for Rohit was that the chance of the double-century sneaked up unexpectedly late in the innings. When Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag broke through the barrier, they set off at a breakneck pace right from the start, but here Rohit batted almost leisurely at the beginning, allowing Shikhar Dhawan to take charge.

Even as late as the 42nd over, when he had already hit eight sixes, he was scoring at less than a run a ball. In a matter of minutes though, the possibilities multiplied. A couple of boundaries off McKay in the 46th over took him to 150, and had people thinking about him going past 183 - the highest score of three modern Indian ODI masters, Sourav Ganguly, Dhoni and Kohli.

An onslaught on Xavier Doherty - 6 4 0 6 4 6 - took him there by the end of the 47th. The next target was the double-ton, and how badly he wanted it was evident in the penultimate over, when he emphatically called Dhoni back for a second so he could retain strike after stroking the ball towards sweeper cover.

Off the first ball of the final over, he hit a record-tying 15th six over cover to go past the magic mark, and followed it up with another six, this time over midwicket. Suddenly, Sehwag's 219 was in his sights. He couldn't get there, but he had already doubled his score in the final 12 overs, and taken India to a towering total. It was frenetic scoring, but Rohit made it look casual.

"Paisa vasool (value for money) boss," a fan shouted at the end of the innings, thoroughly satisfied though India's total of 383 had only added to what promises to be a long-running debate about the balance between bat and ball.

The 209 also extends Rohit's burst of heavy scoring - a record aggregate for a bilateral series - that repaid the immense faith placed in him by the management and which he needed to win over Indian fans, for plenty of whom he has been an object of derision over the past few years.

Rohit has shown flashes of his ability to turn matches previously, with Man-of-the-Series performances at home and away against West Indies in 2011. Those runs were scored in tougher conditions, especially in the Caribbean, and often with the team stuttering after a top-order failure.

Those signs of brilliance though came in low-profile series and were sandwiched by fallow spells, which meant the question marks over his place in the side never really went away. The worst of those lowlights was in 2012, during one of the many forgotten series in Sri Lanka where five single-digit scores finally ejected him from the XI.

The renaissance came about in 2013, with another go at the top of order against England. He began with a brisk 83 in Mohali, and he has been scoring runs ever since - he now averages 59.50 in 22 games since being promoted to open. The solid starts that were crucial to India's run to the Champions Trophy title were followed by substantial scores in the Caribbean tri-series, but the critics continued to ask about the lack of hundreds. He had only two centuries in nearly 100 ODIs till the start of this series, and it is another blot on his CV that he has erased with the unbeaten 141 in the gobsmacking chase in Jaipur and today's memorable performance.

Now, the big remaining blemish is his lack of Tests. While many argue about the endless chances he was given to come good in ODIs, few will disagree his superb first-class record merits an opportunity in Tests.

Except for rare cases like Cheteshwar Pujara, who is earmarked as something of a Test specialist, the route to make it to the Indian Test side has been through consistent success in the limited-overs matches. Rohit had checked that box, pushing him nearer and nearer to that elusive Test cap.

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Bangladesh opt to field, Tamim out

Toss Bangladesh chose to bowl v New Zealand
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and decided to field in the third and final ODI against New Zealand at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium, the first international game at the ground since April 2006.

New Zealand made four changes. Brendon McCullum returned home with a back injury while James Neesham, Tim Southee and Hamish Rutherford were also sidelined. Colin Munro, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell McClenaghan and Adam Milne were included in the playing XI.

For Bangladesh, Tamim Iqbal missed out due to abdominal pain, and was replaced by Ziaur Rahman.

New Zealand: 1 Anton Devcich, 2 Luke Ronchi (wk), 3 Tom Latham, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Colin Munro, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Kyle Mills (capt), 10 Adam Milne, 11 Mitchell McClenaghan.

Bangladesh: 1 Shamsur Rahman, 2 Naeem Islam, 3 Mominul Haque, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 5 Nasir Hossain, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Ziaur Rahman, 8 Sohag Gazi, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Mashrafe Mortaza, 11 Rubel Hossain.

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Another high-scorer on cards for series decider

Match facts

Saturday, November 2, 2013
Start time 1330 local (0800 GMT)

Big Picture

The series couldn't have meant more differently to the two sides. It is tied 2-2, is headed into a decider in Bangalore, and what do Australia do? They take, Mitchell Johnson, self-admittedly their Man of the Series, and put him on a flight to Australia so he can present a case and prepare for the Ashes. India, on the other hand, have rested their important Test allrounder - on Indian turning tracks, that is - for the West Indies Tests because he has a shoulder strain, but they have every intention to play the man, Ravindra Jadeja, in this decider.

So down we go into one last run-fest between a desperate home side who last won a proper ODI series against these visitors back in 1986, and the tourists whose minds are already thinking of the Ashes. The captains and the bowlers have come to Bangalore fearing the worst because of the short boundaries there, the batsmen are not gloating about the runs they have amassed, and yet another 350-plays-350 - entirely possible here - could be the definitive message to the legislators of the game that they have badly skewed the balance between bat and ball.

Form guide

Australia LWLWW (most recent games first, completed matches)
India WLWLW

In the spotlight

Virat Kohli comes back to his third home for this ODI. His second home is Delhi, and his first is when he is batting in a chase. Within 13 days he has scored India's fastest and third-fastest centuries to make them the only side in the world to have successfully chased down 350 or more twice. India will need more of the same.

George Bailey has been to Australia what Kohli has been to India. He will be fighting Johnson for the Man-of-the-Series award. Bailey has done enough to make a case for himself: he now has the most runs in a bilateral series by anyone. He is also the leading ODI run-getter in 2013.

Team news

Amit Mishra's first home ODI began well with the ball turning and the batsmen not picking his wrong 'uns, but it went wrong pretty soon, and long hops made regular appearances as he was put under pressure. He could lose out to Jaydev Unadkat in the only likely change in the Indian XI.

India (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Mohammed Shami

Nathan Coulter-Nile is expected to take Johnson's place.

Australia (probable) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Phillip Hughes, 3 Shane Watson, 4 George Bailey (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Xavier Doherty

Stats and trivia

• Kohli needs 81 runs to reach 5000 in ODIs. If he does it in this game, he will be the fastest to the landmark. If he takes two innings to get there, he will be the joint-fastest, alongside Viv Richards
• Kohli is the only player to have scored five successive scores of 50-plus on two separate occasions
• Only Hashim Amla has reached 1500 career ODI runs faster than Bailey, who did so in his 32nd innings

Quotes

" It has turned out to be a great series for our team in many ways; the way we've fought back from different situations. Personally, I've been pleased with my batting and hopefully I can do it again in the last game."
Virat kohli

"It's a very exciting way to end this series. I think it's just reward that it's two-all now, leading into the final, because it has been an outstanding series so far."
Brad Haddin

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Botham, Jayawardene open Murali Cup

Ian Botham and Mahela Jayawardene opened the 2013 Murali Cup in Kilinochchi on Friday, as the five-day tournament began in five venues across Sri Lanka's northern province. The Murali Cup aims to promote unity and reconciliation as well as the development of cricket, in the post-war regions of the country, by bringing men's and women's teams from the south to play sides from the north and east.



Jayawardene, who had been one of the first public figures to visit the north after the war ended in 2009, said his belief that cricket could facilitate role in social reconciliation in Sri Lanka had only been heightened by his experience of the inaugural Murali Cup, last year.

"It's all about these kids getting together, and having fun. They have open minds, and you can see the love that the people in the north have for the game, and we should be there to foster that," Jayawardene said.

"Last year, the team from St. Peters stayed with the boys from Kilinochchi, instead of staying in the separate accommodation that they had been assigned. They made friendships and exchanged Facebook and numbers, and when St. Peters got into the final against Jaffna, the boys from Kilinochchi got into a bus and went to watch that game, specially. That's the kind of thing that needs to happen."

Botham also began his charity walk through Sri Lanka after inaugurating the tournament, the first leg of which finished in Mankulam, 29 kilometres to the south of Kilinochchi. Sourav Ganguly, Steve Waugh and Allan Border are scheduled to join Botham on later legs. 



"It's a terrific tournament - one which shows cricket's capacity to bring people together, and be a common point of interest," Botham said. "It fits in really well with the idea behind the walk, which is to use sport to improve people's lives."


Kumar Sangakkara will visit the tournament venues on Saturday and Sunday, before Muttiah Muralitharan arrives for the finals on Tuesday. Twelve Under-19 teams and eight women's teams will compete in 34 Twenty20 matches.

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Forrest ton earns Queensland points

Queensland 7 for 400 (Forrest 129, Hartley 89, Botha 4-103) lead South Australia 387 by 13 runs
Scorecard

Peter Forrest made the ideal start to putting behind him the difficulties of his previous Sheffield Shield season with a hundred to earn Queensland first-innings points against South Australia on a friendly batting surface at Glenelg.

Forrest and Chris Hartley, the captain who was laid low by a stomach bug on the opening day, added 194 for the second wicket after the innings had been in the balance at 4 for 183 when Nathan Reardon became Johan Botha's fourth wicket.

Forrest, who made just 395 runs at 19 in first-class cricket, struck 17 boundaries and three sixes during his eighth century before cutting legspinner Adam Zampa to slip. Hartley fell four overs later, but by then had taken Queensland into the lead.

There was plenty of toil for the Redbacks attack with Botha sending down 47 overs while the opening bowlers, Chadd Sayers and Joe Mennie, closed with 31 apiece.

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Kohli says proper technique behind his quickfire tons

Virat Kohli has said his two manic centuries within 13 days of each other - off 52 and 61 balls - were a result not of brute force but his solid technique. The two innings were instrumental in India's completing successful chases of 350-plus scores. India are the only team to have done so twice.

"That's the main thing when you want to take on bowlers who're bowling at 150kph," Kolhi said. "If you have worked on your technique properly, you can back yourself to hold your position and hit where you want to. More often than not, against very quick bowlers, you're not in a good position to hit a big shot or two-three boundaries an over. But if you have a strong base and have worked on your technique, you're much more confident about hitting the ball where you want.

"That plays a major role; you need to have a strong technique to play the big shots as well. I keep working on that in practice sessions. I'm not a great fan of batting in the nets. All I do is some throw-downs before the game; I just hold my position, just middle the ball and time it properly in the practice sessions."

Another technique that came in for praise from Kohli was Shikhar Dhawan's. Kohli is pleased Dhawan has sorted his thinking out to go with his game, which he - as a youngster - used to go to the grounds to watch. "Well, it's funny because Shikhar was, when he played the Under-19 World Cup, a superstar straight away. He was the highest run-scorer. He came back to Delhi, and I remember we used to go watch his games. I used to be a small kid and we used to watch Shikhar bat.

"It's funny, because he never got a chance to play for India before because of the two greats of Indian cricket [Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir] who were so strong at the top of the Indian batting that he didn't get a chance. But I think his batting was tremendous right from the Under-19 days. He was a standout performer all the time. But I think his thinking has evolved a lot in the last year and a half. He's so sure about his game now, he knows where he'll score his runs, he's sure of his own batting, his own strengths. I think that's the most important thing in international cricket, if you're sure about what you want to do out in the middle. And he's mentally very strong now."

Kohli, like others who followed Dhawan in domestic cricket, was also disappointed at his loose shots in otherwise attractive innings. "He doesn't [do that] now… I think he was a little dicey about his thinking before," Kohli said. "He'd play a rash shot at the wrong time and get out, and [only] he would himself know why he did that. Now he has become much more intelligent, he has become much more aware of his own strengths. That's working beautifully for him. But he has always been a special talent and you can see it for India now. He's a match-winner, you'll see him winning more games for India in the future. I'm glad he's doing so well at the top."

'Strong technique helps me play the big shots' - Kohli

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Chetty fifty guides SA to win

South Africa Women 123 for 3 (Chetty 51*) beat Sri Lanka Women 119 for 4 (Madushani 63*, Kapp 1-15) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Trisha Chetty compiled an unbeaten 54-ball 51 to set up South Africa Women's seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka Women in the first T20.

Set a target of 120, South Africa made a brisk start as openers Lizelle Lee and Chetty added 42 in nearly six overs, before Lee was dismissed. Mignon du Preez, the South Africa captain, was run-out for just two, Chetty steadied South Africa, adding 37 and 31 runs for the third and fourth wicket with Marizanne Kapp and Dane van Niekerk. Chetty brought up her second T20 fifty off 52 balls as South Africa reached their target with three balls to spare.

Earlier, opener Lasanthi Madushani's maiden T20 fifty anchored the Sri Lanka innings after they were put in to bat. Madushani stitched useful partnerships with Chamari Atapattu and Shashikala Siriwardene. However, South Africa's bowlers struck regularly and the middle order failed to contribute once Siriwardene was dismissed and Sri Lanka posted 119 in their 20 overs.

Chetty was pleased with her knock in this game but has already set her sights on preparing for the Women's World T20 in March next year.

"I'm really happy with the way that I played today," she said. "It's always nice to score runs and to be able to bat through an innings, which is something I have been working on. I still have a long way to go, though, if I want to be a better player. I think the team did a really good job, but we all still have a few things to work on before we can call ourselves World Cup ready."

Siriwardena, meanwhile, admitted that the side was 20 runs short. "Considering that we could have made another 40 runs after the 15-over mark, I'm disappointed we didn't get there," she said. "I thought we could have got 140 plus if we had started hitting bigger shots, but unfortunately for us we didn't. I think we have adjusted well enough to the South African conditions now and we will do our best to win one match before we go home."

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NZ uneasy but focused on bigger goals, says Mills

Kyle Mills, the New Zealand fast bowler, has conceded that the series defeat to Bangladesh has made the team uneasy, but said the side is also focused on a long-term goal of the 2015 World Cup. New Zealand lost the second ODI in Mirpur by 40 runs to concede the three-match series to Bangladesh. The loss was also their sixth successive defeat against Bangladesh in completed matches, dating back to the last bilateral series between the two sides in 2010.

"We are trying to build a team towards the 2015 World Cup," Mills said. "It is in 15 months' time and that's the most important thing right now. The conditions in Australia and New Zealand are going to be a lot different from here. Corey Anderson and James Neesham are going to be prepared for the pressure-cooker environment in that tournament. But we have learned a lot in the past few weeks.

"Every loss puts pressure on players and management. We have been a good one-day side in the last 12 months, winning series overseas but we lost here. Everyone is going to be on edge, naturally."

It's an interesting way to view the events in Mirpur over the last three days. The composition of the New Zealand ODI squad suggests they are planning for the 50-over World Cup more than a year away, particularly with their choice of medium-paced allrounders. However, it would be silly to think they weren't adequately prepared to win in Bangladesh. New Zealand's last series loss to Bangladesh was a blow to the country's cricket and New Zealand Cricket intervened after the loss, conducting a review of the tour.

In spite of focusing on the big picture, New Zealand went down on Thursday night by 40 runs, a big defeat for a team ranked above Bangladesh. Early wickets didn't allow the visitors momentum and they failed to put together a decent partnership that would threaten the home side. The batsmen let down the bowlers, who kept things tight on a good batting wicket and bowled Bangladesh out for 247, a below-par score batting first at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.

"We didn't get off to the greatest starts, we lost early wickets. Every time we tried to build a partnership, we lost a wicket," Mills said. "Ross Taylor and Corey Anderson, and then Brendon McCullum and Taylor, got a partnership going but we lost wickets there. It let us down a little bit.

"We did well with the ball. Corey Anderson and James Neesham really stepped up. That's definitely a total we could have chased down. The conditions were difficult, but the partnerships let us down."

Brendon McCullum has not scored too many runs on this tour and the side would have missed Kane Williamson, out due to injury. But Mills was adamant about the team's improvement, mainly due to New Zealand's series victories against South Africa and England earlier this year.

"I don't think it [Bangladesh's winning streak] is a mental block whatsoever," he said. "We beat South Africa and England recently on their shores. Bangladesh are a good cricket side in their own conditions. Everyone's building towards the 2015 World Cup. Conditions will be lot different for them there."

New Zealand's biggest target now would be to ensure they don't go down 3-0, which will be a repeat of the whitewash they endured in 2010. The third and final ODI of the series is at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium, a ground on which they have never played a game.

"I think we can [avoid the whitewash]. We were not too far in the first game but Rubel got three wickets from three balls. It was obviously disappointing tonight," he said. "It is a tough challenge here to play in these conditions. We want to end ODI series on a high. Everyone will be up no doubt."

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