Dhoni, Harbhajan had reasons for missing award ceremony

New Delhi: The government, on Tuesday, said that Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and spinner Harbhajan Singh did not attend Padma award ceremony owing to personal reasons.

"Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh did not attend the Padma Award ceremony, 2009 due to personal reasons," Minister of State for Home Affairs Mullapally Ramachandran told Lok Sabha.

"It is not unusual for a few persons to convey their inability to attend the ceremony every year due to constraints like preoccupation, old age, ill health etc," the Minister said.

Both the cricketers skipped the April 14 ceremony despite being in the country which was perceived as lack of respect for the national awards.

An irked Sports Minister MS Gill subsequently asked all sports federations to ensure that the sportspersons turn up personally to receive the award or convey their inability due to any pre-occupations beforehand.

In the case of such awardees, who are not able to attend the ceremony, the decoration of the award is delivered to them through a senior representative of the Central or State government.

Arguments over spirit-of-cricket debate heat up

London: Four former England captains have criticized the time-wasting tactics used by the hosts after they drew the first Ashes test against Australia.

England drew the match in Wales on Sunday after last batting pair James Anderson and Monty Panesar held out for 69 balls. But Australia captain Ricky Ponting was upset by England's 12th man twice running on to the pitch in the final overs, the second time accompanied by the team physiotherapist, describing the tactics as "ordinary" and suggesting the umpires should have intervened.

England coach Andy Flower denied his team did anything wrong.

"In that last hour of the game, there was no time wasting by us. Have a look at the footage yourself. Never did we consciously try to waste time," Flower said Tuesday. "There was perceived confusion out in the middle about what time the game was going to end."

"We needed to get messages out to them to make sure they were clear. We have not got walkie-talkies to those guys out there and the only way to communicate is to send people out."

But Ponting received support from former England leaders Nasser Hussain, Bob Willis, Ray Illingworth and John Emburey.

"When the 12th man and physio came on at the same time, they went too far," Hussain said in his column for The Daily Mail newspaper. "It wasn't a street-wise move at all it was village-green stuff. It was amateur and embarrassing to watch. And it was bad for the game more like diving to win a penalty than delaying a throw-in."

"It didn't spoil a classic Test match but it did lead to a slightly farcical finish, which was a shame. If I were Ponting, I would have been angry, too, and would have told the physio to get off."

Emburey said the move could have backfired and broken the concentration of Anderson or Panesar, Willis said Ponting's reaction was proportionate and measured, while Illingworth was annoyed by what he claims were pathetic excuses for the interruptions.

"If the series finishes 0-0 or England win 1-0, it will come up again," Emburey said in The Guardian.

However, the Australian camp has since sought to downplay the issue to focus on the second test starting Thursday at Lord's. But also possibly to ensure it doesn't become a similar incident to rival the time Ponting, angry at being run out by a substitute fielder whose on-field presence he considered not in the spirit of the sport, gesticulated toward the England team during the 2005 series.

2008-09 Season: India's Top Bowlers in Tests, ODIs and T20 Cricket

As Team India takes a much deserved rest after that long season we decided to make a report-card for their bowlers. Take a look at the top-five bowlers in all formats who gave top-class perfomances for the Men-in-Blue.

India's Top 5 Bowlers inTests

Harbhajan Singh

Mat:8 Inns:15 Overs:419.5 Mdns:72 Runs:1055 Wkts:39 BBI:6/63 BBM:7/102 Ave:27.05 Econ:2.51 SR:64.5 5:1 10:0

Zaheer Khan

Mat:9 Inns:16 Overs:333.2 Mdns:74 Runs:1043 Wkts:32 BBI:5/65 BBM:7/122 Ave:32.59 Econ:3.12 SR:62.5 5:2 10:0

Ishant Sharma

Mat:9 Inns:16 Overs:291.5 Mdns:58 Runs:891 Wkts:29 BBI:4/73 BBM:7/117 Ave:30.72 Econ:3.05 SR:60.3 5:0 10:0

Amit Mishra

Mat:5 Inns:10 Overs:205.0 Mdns:37 Runs:593 Wkts:20 BBI:5/71 BBM:7/106 Ave:29.65 Econ:2.89 SR:61.5 5:1 10:0

Munaf Patel

Mat:3 Inns:5 Overs:84.0 Mdns:15 Runs:290 Wkts:6 BBI:3/60 BBM:5/120 Ave:48.33 Econ:3.45 SR:84.0 5:0 10:0

Harbhajan Singh has shouldered the responsibility of being India's No.1 spinner after Anil Kumble retired in 2008.The 'Turbanator' took 39 wickets to emerge as India's leading wicket-taker in Tests. 16 of those wickets came against the Kiwis in India's tour of New Zealand early this year. Harbhajan was the leading wicket-taker in the series with a best of 6/63.

England's Flintoff retires from Test cricket

London: England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff announced on Wednesday that he will retire from Test cricket after the Ashes series against Australia because of his ongoing struggle with injuries.

The 31-year-old Flintoff is still determined to feature in the four remaining Tests of the current series-despite aggravating a knee injury during the drawn first test against Australia which ended on Sunday.

"My body has told me it's time to stop," the former England captain said. "For the next four test matches I'll do everything I need to do to get on a cricket field and I'm desperate to make my mark."

"I want to finish playing for England on a high and if you look at the fixtures going forward, the way my body is suggests I won't be able to get through that."

Flintoff has struggled with injuries since being at the heart of the 2005 Ashes triumph and is sacrificing five-day cricket to try to ensure his fitness for the 50-over and Twenty20 international matches. He has played Test cricket for 11 years.

"I've been through four ankle operations, I had knee surgery just a couple of months ago and had three jabs in my knee on Monday just to get me right for this test so I took that as my body telling me that I can't cope with the rigors of test cricket," he said.

"Since 2005 I've done two years when I've done nothing but rehab from one injury or another. Two of the last four years I've spent just in rehabilitation and I just can't keep doing it for myself, my own sanity, my family and also for the team-because they need to move on as well."

England captain Andrew Strauss revealed that although he had prior knowledge, Flintoff made the announcement to the team on Wednesday morning.

"As players we've had a feeling this was coming sooner rather than later with the injuries he's had over the last couple of years," Strauss said. "Test match bowling puts so much pressure on his body that this seemed the logical thing to do."

"It's sad that he's made this decision at this age but maybe it will make him more motivated for the next four Tests. He wants to go out with a bang."

Strauss was confident that Flintoff would be fit enough to get through the Lord's Test that starts on Thursday and also the rest of the series.

"We spoke to the medical staff and we would never play a guy in a Test if we didn't have a huge amount of confidence that he could get through," he said. "He feels better the news is out there and with the injury surrounding this game he felt it was the right time."

Gambhir moves to the top of ICC's Test batting ranking

Dubai: India's Gautam Gambhir has moved to the top of ranking in the Reliance Mobile International Cricket Council's rankings for Test batsmen.

Gambhir, who climbed two spots, has become the first India batsman in over four years to head the batting rankings after a failure by Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf against Sri Lanka in the second Test saw him drop four places.

Both the Test and ODI batting rankings are now headed by India. Mahendra Singh Dhoni leads the ODI rankings with Yuvraj Singh placed second.

Gambhir benefitted from the poor form of Yousuf and second placed Younis Khan.

Yousuf, who returned to lead the batting table last week after his century in the first Test at Galle, scored only 10 and six in the second Test and has dropped to fifth position.

Pakistan captain Younis retained the second spot, but has fallen nine points behind Gambhir.

Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka is placed third.

There is also a change at the top of the bowling charts for the first time in more than three years with Muttiah Muralitharan handing over the baton to South African fast bowler Dale Steyn. Australian Mitchell Johnson is placed third.

Muralitharan, who missed both the Tests of the ongoing series against Pakistan, due to an injury, has dropped to second position for the first time since February 2006.

Jacques Kallis continues to lead the Test all-rounders list with Mitchell Johnson of Australia in second, New Zealand's Daniel Vettori third.

I want to be the best player in ODIs, says Flintoff

London: England's talented but injury-plagued allrounder Andrew Flintoff wants to become the best player in the world in limited overs cricket after announcing on Wednesday he is quitting Test matches.

Flintoff, 31, has endured regular injury since making his Test debut in 1998 against South Africa, when he was criticized for being overweight as a flabby 20-year-old.

Having got his body in shape and gone on to be man of the series against World Cup holders Australia in 2005, he was rarely fit for a prolonged period. This has ultimately ended a Test career that seemingly had more to offer.

"I've had four ankle operations and knee surgery my body is telling me things, I'm actually starting to listen now," Flintoff told reporters on Wednesday at Lord's, where he hopes to play the second Ashes test against Australia in his farewell series.

"I can't keep just playing games here and there, waiting until I'm fit. Not just for my own sanity but my family's. They have to live with me, as I've gone through two years of rehab in the past four. It's not been ideal so I'm going to draw a line under it and after this series concentrate on one-day international cricket and Twenty20s."

"We've got a (50-over) World Cup coming up in 2011 and I would like to play on after that as well. There is a lot of cricket left in me. I want to be the best in the world in that form of the game."

Flintoff has played 76 Tests, though one of those was for a World XI against Australia. He currently has 3,708 runs in Tests at an average of 31.69, with five centuries the last of which was four years ago against Australia.

He has been relied upon more in recent years for his hostile bowling, which has accrued him 219 wickets at 32.51. Despite being recognized as one of the world's best bowlers, he has just two five-wicket hauls in a Test innings.

"If you look through his bare statistics they probably don't read that flatteringly, but as far as someone who has an impact on how a team plays and performs, then he's got to be right up there," Australia captain Ricky Ponting said.

England skipper Andrew Strauss agreed that Flintoff, nicknamed Fred or Freddie, has been a better player at least as a bowler than his statistics suggest.

"He's had a dramatic impact for England over the last few years," Strauss said. "He's a been a bowler in world cricket who opposition batsmen don't like facing even though his stats do not show that."

IRFAN PATHAN IN DUS KA DUM-2

This week, Salman Khan brings together Shilpa Shetty and cricketer Irfan Pathan on 'Dus Ka Dum 2'. The awesome threesome reportedly bonded big time talking cricket, IPL, relationships, and more!

Here are some exclusive pics from this week's episode!

Source: India Syndicate