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Matthew Wade blasted 80 off 50 balls to set up Australia A’s 27-run victory over Sri Lanka A in the one-off Twenty20 in Townsville

Cricinfo staff02-Jul-2010Australia A 4 for 176 (Wade 80) beat Sri Lanka A 7 for 149 (Udawatte 28) by 27 runs

ScorecardVictoria’s Matthew Wade top scored for Australia A•Getty Images

Matthew Wade, the Victoria wicketkeeper, blasted 80 off 50 balls to set up Australia A’s 27-run victory over Sri Lanka A in the one-off Twenty20 in Townsville. Wade opened for the hosts and crunched nine fours and two sixes in his half-century, which raced them to a challenging 4 for 176.The captain George Bailey provided a late surge as he finished unbeaten on 35 off 24 balls, while Aaron Finch (29) and Adam Voges (17) also chipped in. James Pattinson struck twice in the first five overs to build on Australia’s strong position and have Sri Lanka 2 for 32.Mahela Udawatte started well with 28 off 22 but the assignment quickly became difficult and there was no way back after Dinesh Chandima (23) and Chamara Kapugedera (26) were dismissed. Brendan Drew (2 for 19), Moises Henriques and Andrew McDonald ensured there would be no escape by the visitors, who finished at 7 for 149.Despite today’s success, Wade said he wasn’t going to push for an opening spot in Twenty20s at Victoria in place of 35-year-old Brad Hodge. “Hodgie called me last night actually, I won’t be asking him to hang them up just yet,” Wade said after the match. “He’s a great player and has done so well for us. I try and model my game a little on Hodgie, who strokes the ball around a bit and gets into the innings later on, since I’m not a natural hitter.”Sri Lanka have already lost a couple of first-class matches as well, but Wade expected them to put up a better show in the one-dayers coming up. “I think their game suits one-day cricket more,” he said. “They play a lot of shots, good strikers of the ball, if they can get the ball to reverse late in the 50-over game, it’s going to be a good challenge.”

Virender Sehwag has stressed the need for the UDRS after two Indian batsmen were given out caught off the pads

Sidharth Monga at the P Sara Oval05-Aug-2010Virender Sehwag is usually seen playing a different game to his team-mates and the practice has extended to the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS). Reacting to two of umpire Rod Tucker’s decisions, when Abhimanyu Mithun and Ishant Sharma were given out caught off the pads, he stressed the need for the UDRS, a stand at odds with that expressed by the Indian thinktank.”It happens in cricket,” Sehwag said. “Sometimes the umpire gives you good decision and sometimes a bad decision. But yes, I would love to have that referral system in Test cricket, or even in one-day cricket. That is my personal opinion.”As a team, though, India haven’t been a fan of the system. In the ongoing series, India created a talking point by not acceding to Sri Lanka’s wishes of having the UDRS implemented. Sachin Tendulkar has often said that the system, without full-fledged technology, leaves him uncomfortable with it.”I am not fully convinced with that,” Tendulkar had said earlier in the series. “When we were here last time, I wasn’t convinced with many decisions. I didn’t feel comfortable. It was an experiment, which I felt was – I would much rather go with the Hot Spot because that establishes the contact between the bat and the ball. It’s far better system according to me. And if there is something else to go with that. Then it would be much better.”Especially on days like the third day of the P Sara Test, when the ball is turning sharply, when there are fielders around the bat, when there are times that they are appealing every ball, the UDRS becomes more pertinent. At least two close LBWs were missed, and two batsmen were wrongly given out.

Michael Comber and Adam Wheater, both aged 20, were the Essex heroes as the
home side beat Northamptonshire by five wickets in their Clydesdale Bank 40
clash at Southend

08-Aug-2010

ScorecardMichael Comber and Adam Wheater, both aged 20, were the Essex heroes as the
home side beat Northamptonshire by five wickets in their Clydesdale Bank 40
clash at Southend.They came together with Essex struggling on 100 for 5 in the 22nd over in
reply to a total of 215 for 6. But both displayed a cool head on young shoulders to see their side home with nine balls to spare.Comber, making his debut in the competition, made 52 while Wheater finished on
55. Both completed their half-centuries from 47 balls, Comber reaching his with an
on-driven six against paceman David Willey. He also dealt out similar punishment to off-spinner James Middlebrook and also struck two fours.Wheater’s innings included five fours as he and Comber excelled in their
running between the wickets. Their performance came after Essex had got off to a terrible start, losing Mark Pettini and Grant Flower without a run on the board. Lee Daggett was the man who plunged them into early trouble, having Pettini caught behind with his second ball and trapping Flower lbw with his next delivery.Ravi Bopara and Matt Walker repaired the damage with a partnership of 87 that
was broken when Middlebrook, playing against his former county, accepted a
simple return catch. Walker made 39 before Bopara and James Foster were both dismissed immediately after the total passed 100.Bopara fell lbw to Middlebrook for 42, having hit the previous ball for six,
while Foster became a victim of spinner Tom Brett. But their removal from the scene only paved the way for Comber and Wheater to come together and steal the glory.Earlier, Northants made steady but unspectacular progress. Opener Mal Loye
needed 77 balls to make 55 before he was dismissed by Bopara. The main impetus was provided by Stephen Peters, another former Essex player, and David Sales.Sales made 36 from 34 deliveries before he was superbly caught low down at deep
square leg by Flower, while Peters was within four of his half-century when he
was caught at deep long off by Bryce McGain. His 53-ball effort contained just
three boundaries. During it Peters was hit on the arm and was unable to take any further part in
the match as he handed over the captaincy to Sales.

The initial verdict from the two coaches, who set up the match to trial Cricket Australia’s new proposed format for the first-class limited-overs game, was a generation gap of sorts: it was more popular with the younger players

Sharda Ugra10-Aug-2010Australian cricket carried out its first experiment with the split-innings format – two innings of 20 overs each – in a practice game between South Australian Redbacks and Tasmanian Tigers at the Marrara Oval in Darwin on Tuesday. The initial verdict from the two coaches, who set up the match to trial Cricket Australia’s new proposed format for the first-class limited-overs game, was a generation gap of sorts: it was more popular with the younger players.The Tigers won by six wickets and 8.3 overs to spare with Tasmania coach Tim Coyle saying the trial had showed up the pluses and minuses of the new proposals. Player response to the new format had been diverse and Coyle told Cricinfo: “There was some skepticism from the guys who have been around for a long time while the young guys were quite excited by it.”Acting Tigers captain Xavier Doherty told : “There are probably a few blokes a bit shirty about having this split innings (format), but without trialing it no-one’s going to know what it’s going to throw up, so the only way to go is to try it and see what happens.”For the support staff, Coyle said the format had made teams think more about the tactics to be employed and the teams to be picked. What the team found challenging, Coyle said, was the “stop and start” for the batting line up but added “it is something good sides will find a way to get used to. Even though one game is not the ideal example, you can see that a team would need batting depth and bowling options.”The most obvious danger of the split-innings format, in terms of renewing public interest in limited overs, would arise from a big discrepancy in scores after the first round of twenty overs. If in reply to a first 20-over split of 2-130 the opposition were at 6-60, the spectators would be presented with a repetition of the tedious kind of middle overs of the 50-over game.Preparation for the split-over innings trial game, Coyle said, was in no way different to a normal 50-over game. After the match, though, key issues around the pattern of play came into focus. Overs no. 17-20 were seen as overs of containment to the bowling side as the batsmen tended to focus on going into their break losing fewer wickets.The Marrara Oval wicket today turned out to be on the slower side where run-making was not fluent, both teams were careful in their first 20 overs each.The Redbacks won the toss and scored 4-87, to which the Tigers responded with a 4-77 effort, which according to Coyle, was where they wanted to be. The Redbacks were bowled out for 145, the Tigers chasing down the target without losing a wicket and overs to spare. The match was played 12-a-side along with the split fielding restrictions: two outside the circle for the first five overs in both innings, four outside the circle from overs no. 6-20 and five out from overs no. 26 to 50.The most radical CA proposal to have a ‘super-striker’ who could bat twice was, however, not tried out, with Doherty telling AAP he thought it would “de-value the competition a little bit and make it a little bit too Mickey Mouse.” Both sides believed “it was worth having a go at the split innings,” said Coyle. “We might as well try this because when it gets into place in the future, we’ll be at a slight advantage.”The teams would be giving Cricket Australia an informal de-brief, in the run-up to the CA Playing Conditions Committee meeting later this week.The Tigers and the Redbacks were based in Darwin as part of pre-season training. They played matches against a visiting Maharastra Cricket Association squad and a round of T20s and 50-over games against each other before Tuesday’s trial game. The Redbacks will be competing in the Champions League Twenty20 2010.

Series has added significance as a result of the unsavoury headlines that have enveloped the sport in recent times

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2010Having lost the Test series 2-0 back in 2008, setting the record straight is high on Ricky Ponting’s priority list. At the same time, he recognises that a contest that has produced some gripping cricket over the past decade and more has added significance as a result of the unsavoury headlines that have enveloped the sport in recent times. Winning will be important, but it will be just as crucial that both Test matches are played without controversy or rancour.”Whenever I’ve spoken about this series over the last couple of weeks, I’ve said how important it is for the international game that this series is played in the right spirit,” he said on the eve of the Mohali Test. “You’ve got to expect that it’s going to be a fierce contest because you’ve got two very good teams playing international sport. But both teams will understand that they can’t overstep the line. There’s enough negativity around the world at the moment about international cricket that we have to do the best we can in this series to ensure that people want to watch the game again. There’s no doubt that things have been tarnished a bit the last few weeks.”The immediate target is victory in Mohali, a venue where India haven’t lost since the days when West Indies were still kings of the Test-match castle. “We’d love to come here and win,” Ponting said. “We know how big the challenge is. We also know just how competitive a series it was over here last time. Last time, I don’t think any of our bowlers had played Test cricket in India.”We’ve got a little bit more experience this time round. Our batting group is a bit like India’s, pretty experienced. Most of us have played a fair bit here in the subcontinent. It’s not so much about revenge, it’s about us playing a brand of cricket over the next 10 days that’s going to be good enough for us to remain competitive and win both of these Test matches.”Over the past decade and a half, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has seen some titanic tussles, but according to Ponting, it still ranks a step below the Ashes in terms of prestige. “I’m not sure if it’s bigger than the Ashes,” he said. “If you look at international cricket at the moment, Australia has three major rivals. We have England, and there’s always an added edge whenever we play an Ashes series. Then you have South Africa, who have been the No.1 or No.2-ranked Test and one-day team for a few years now. Our rivalry against them has been very strong. And there’s India, who we’ve had some amazing battles with over the past five or six years. All those series are exceptionally entertaining to be part of as a player. I would still put the Ashes slightly above the other two.”Given that India are unlikely to provide the sort of pace-friendly conditions that gifted Australia victory at Nagpur back in 2004, Ponting wasn’t unduly concerned by the nature of the pitch. “I had a quick look at the wicket yesterday,” he said. “We haven’t been out on the ground just yet but as soon as the rest of the boys arrive, we’ll go out and have a look at the conditions and see what we’re confronted with. A few of the guys talked to the groundsman yesterday and he felt there was probably a little bit more moisture in the wicket than usual. That’s had a lot to do with the weather last week, obviously.”Our preparation since we’ve been here has been very good. I’ve been really impressed with the work the boys have done, coming off a long break. Everyone’s keen, fit and fresh and we’re looking forward to getting out there and getting the Test match underway tomorrow. This is a great challenge for the Australian cricket team, to take on the No.1-ranked side in the world.”Strong performances with bat and ball in the lone warm-up game have enhanced the good vibes in the Australian camp. “I think the big thing we got out of that was our partnerships,” Ponting said. “Our batting partnerships in the first innings of the game were very good. The guys having come off no cricket for such a long period of time…to execute our skills as well as we did was very satisfying. We’ve been very specific with the way we’ve played as well. We focussed on fewer areas that we have to do very well and the things we had talked about going into the tour game were the things we did very well. I also thought our bowling partnerships late on day two were outstanding.”If there’s one thing that’s left a few creases on his forehead, it’s the late arrival from South Africa of Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger. “They arrived Tuesday afternoon, so when you’re looking at Test-match preparation that’s not ideal.” said Ponting of the two men who won the Champions League T20 with the Chennai Super Kings. “They were flying for close to 24 hours. That meant that yesterday was a lighter day than they would normally have had. Doug bowled maybe two overs in the nets, and Hussey had quite a short hit.”We were just trying to freshen them up as much as we can. Huss got through very well. We’re going to wait on Dougie and he should have a good solid workout in the nets today. We’ll see how he gets through that and how he pulls up tonight as far as his fitness goes for tomorrow.The positive for us is that they’ve been playing good competitive cricket for the last two-and-a-half weeks. They should be in pretty good shape with their cricket skills.”With India also affected – MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Rahul Dravid were also part of the final stages of the competition in South Africa – we’ll soon find out which team bounces back best from the disrupted preparation.

A round-up of Sunday’s matches in the WICB one-day tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2010Barbados marched into the semi-finals of the WICB Cup with a 151-run hammering of Guyana at Sabina Park. Tino Best scythed through the top order to help dismiss Guyana for 100, after half-centuries from Jonathan Carter and Dale Richards had helped Barbados to 251.Fast bowler Best struck four times in his first three overs, which included the big wicket of Ramnaresh Sarwan, to reduce Guyana to 6 for 4. The left-arm spin duo of Ryan Hinds and Sulieman Benn then picked up five wickets between them and Guyana’s misery was complete. Best returned to take one more, finishing with career-best figures of 5 for 24, his maiden List A five-wicket haul.Legspinner Devendra Bishoo went one better than Best in taking 6 for 36 – his maiden List A five-wicket haul as well – in Barbados’ innings, but lacked support from the other bowlers. Though he triggered a late collapse, from 221 for 3 to 251 all out, aggressive knocks from Carter and Richards had already ensured that Barbados had enough runs.Rain scuppered what was building up to an interesting contest at Kensington Park in Kingston, where Sagicor High Performance Centre (HPC) had lost two early wickets in their chase of Leeward Islands‘ 168, in a match that was halted briefly because the pitch was deemed dangerous.The bowlers justified HPC’s decision to bowl first when they came back strongly to take eight wickets for 64 runs, as Leeward collapsed from a strong 104 for 2. Nkruma Bonner led the way, taking 3 for 21 with his legspin.Leeward’s opening bowlers, Lionel Baker and Gavin Tonge, replied in kind by reducing HPC to 21 for 2 in the eighth over, but rain intervened at that point and the match had to be called off.The umpires had earlier deemed the pitch as dangerous and halted the match after the first six overs. Play resumed after the surface had been rolled again. Leeward captain Wilden Cornwall said that the pitch did not look right in the morning, and even the outfield was not fit for play. “This tournament is our highest tournament for the West Indies, it is the next level to West Indies cricket, why are we treating cricket like this in the Caribbean,” Cornwall told . “It is poor, really poor and I am very much upset.”

Zulqarnain Haider has said that he had been threatened while playing domestic cricket in Pakistan as well

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2010Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider, who fled Dubai for London after receiving threats during the ODI series against South Africa in the UAE, has said that he had been threatened while playing domestic cricket in Pakistan as well.Speaking to , a leading Pakistani news channel, Haider said he had been told to include particular players in his team. “Yes I have got threats that I should play so and so player, or not play that player,” he said.Haider’s comments have put the spotlight on a match between Lahore Eagles and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) during the Royal Bank of Scotland Cup in 2008-09. Haider was removed as Lahore’s captain ahead of that match, which NBP needed to win convincingly to improve their net run-rate and qualify for the semi-final.Lahore batted first and were dismissed for 122 in 40.3 overs with Haider making a two-ball duck. NBP chased down the target with all wickets intact in only 6.1 overs. Salman Butt, who is currently provisionally suspended by the ICC on charges of spot-fixing, scored 92 off 25 balls, hitting 16 fours and four sixes. One of Lahore’s bowlers, the debutant Usman Sarwar, conceded 78 runs in three overs in what remains his only List A game. There were media reports and questions raised over the unusual result but the PCB said it had found nothing untoward about the match.

Mitchell Johnson will aim to straighten out the kinks in both his head and action after being dropped from the Test team for the first time – but he will do it without leaving the squad

Peter English in Adelaide02-Dec-2010Mitchell Johnson will aim to straighten out the kinks in both his head and action after being dropped from the Test team for the first time – but he will do it without leaving the squad. Johnson, 29, is staying in the Australian camp despite being the only man cut from the 13-man outfit for Friday’s second Ashes Test.At a sombre press conference that felt more like Johnson had suffered a career-ending injury than a dip in form, he vowed to fight his way back. “It’s not the end of the world,” he said, sitting below an honour board on which his 5 for 103 against West Indies last year was the latest bowling entry. “I’ve come back from stress fractures when I was younger, with Queensland.”Johnson, who went wicketless in Brisbane, said he was looking forward to getting away from the hype of the Ashes to start the rebuilding, but he will remain on the fringes as he is counselled by Nielsen and Troy Cooley, the bowling coach. After being the attack leader for the past two years, Johnson will watch as Peter Siddle and two of Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris start in Adelaide.”In the last game I was trying to do all that work [on my action] during a game, which is obviously very hard to do,” he said. “In the end, I need to work things out, go to net sessions, get back in the gym, get my head straight, and get back into the team.”It has taken 39 Tests for Johnson to miss his first game due to form or injury, but Ricky Ponting expects him to rediscover his often magical tough. “Mitch came into the side as a youngish guy as far as cricket is concerned,” Ponting said. “He’s had his ups and downs on and off the field. I’ve seen him get the better of a lot of things he has had to face the past few years. His record speaks for itself so I am sure we will see him back with the baggy green cap on pretty soon.”Johnson has 166 Test wickets at 30.08 and while he has starred against high-quality teams such as South Africa, he has flopped in his two campaigns against England. The troubles leading to this point began at Lord’s last year, but he has been unable to sustain any improvements to his slingy action.The coach Tim Nielsen said it was important for Johnson to fix his problems away from the middle, and hoped the revamped version would be shining in time for the third Test on December 16. “We’re going to take the opportunity now to give him a spell and relax so he can hit the ground running and be as ready as he can be for Perth,” Nielsen said. “We’ll use every resource we can to ensure that he’s ready to go for that game.”Johnson, who felt he was handling the demotion well, knew that he didn’t perform when it mattered in Brisbane. “I’m a strike bowler for Australia and I need to get wickets,” he said. “In the back of your head, you’re sort of thinking [you might be dropped], but I think I’ve handled it pretty well.”In helping Johnson, Ponting talked out the times he was dropped. “There aren’t many guys in the 11 who haven’t experienced similar feelings that Mitch is feeling at the moment,” Ponting said. “He’s obviously disappointed, but we’ll let him get over his disappointment and work with him to get him back to his best.”Johnson believes the episode will make him stronger. He has spoken about his axing with Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, Nielsen, Ponting and the coaching staff. What he does next is up to him.

Roelof van der Merwe, the hero of the Titans’ victory in the first leg of the semi-final, starred with the ball in the second, taking five wickets to secure his team’s berth in the MTN40 final

The Bulletin by Firdose Moonda02-Dec-2010
Scorecard
Roelof van der Merwe, the hero of the Titans’ victory in the first leg of the semi-final, starred with the ball in the second, taking five wickets to secure his team’s berth in the MTN40 final with a 11-run victory against regional rivals, the Lions, at the Wanderers. The Lions, at 116 for 1 in the 13th over, were on track to chase 288 but a roller-coaster innings, containing dramatic collapse and nail-biting revival, ended their hopes of reaching the final.Jonathan Vandiar, the Lions opener, appeared as though he had pressed pause on last week’s innings – 130 in the first leg – and play on this week’s. It didn’t seem as though he had put his bat down between the two. Vandiar’s fifty came in a frenetic over in which he hit, in succession, a four, two sixes and another four. Together with Alviro Petersen, he put on a rapid first-wicket partnership of 116 inside 13 overs.The Titans’ needed van der Merwe to halt the Lions. He removed Vandiar and Richard Cameron off successive balls. Four boundary-less overs followed, and then Neil McKenzie, desperate to rotate strike, attempted a quick single. Henry Davids pounced on the ball at extra cover and a direct hit had McKenzie short. Zander de Bruyn got a faint edge off Albie Morkel and van der Merwe claimed his third wicket when Petersen nicked to Heino Kuhn. The Lions lost five wickets for 24 runs.Jean Symes and Thami Tsolekile accumulated quietly for the most part, except for an over from Faf du Plessis, whom they took for 19 runs to put the Lions back on course. van der Merwe returned for a third spell, though, and removed Tsolekile. With him went almost all of the Lions’ chances of a great escape.Symes’ valiant half-century almost stole the win for the Lions and he brought them within 14 runs of the target before van der Merwe had him caught on the rope. With 13 runs needed off the final over, Friedel de Wet attempted a big heave and was caught on the cover boundary, ending the game.During their innings, the Titans had looked set to score over 300 but ended on 287 for 8. Ethan O’Reilly had a forgettable outing that started with an over containing four wides, after which he watched Davids hit three boundaries in his second over. de Wet and Robbie Frylinck reined in the early charge from Davids and Gulam Bodi. Davids mistimed a pull shot to Richard Cameron at mid-on but the allrounder couldn’t get to it.The opening partnership was broken three balls later when Paul Harris took a diving catch at midwicket to dismiss Bodi. Davids wasn’t put off by Bodi’s departure and he and Jacques Rudolph surged on. Rudolph showed aggression, hitting two fours off the first three balls he faced and punishing Werner Coetsee on the leg side. It was up to Harris to break through again, this time with an arm ball which Davids missed.The Titans were hoping for van der Merwe to repeat his Friday night heroics with the bat and sent him in at No. 3, ahead of the in-form du Plessis. The move didn’t pay off, though, and in the 20th over a nervy van der Merwe top edged Harris, who raced to mid-on and attempted to take what should have been Coetsee’s catch. Embarrassingly, both fielders failed to take it. Harris had his man in his next over, when van der Merwe skied the ball to Frylinck at backward square leg.Rudolph’s assault continued with a classy display of dominance against spin and he reached his half-century with a pull off Harris. But during a rare lapse of concentration, Rudolph fed the ball straight to his opposite number, Petersen, at deep extra cover. That sparked a mini collapse as du Plessis and Morkel were also dismissed in the next two overs.The Lions did an impressive damage-control job and conceded only 40 between the 30th and 36th over. Former South Africa under-19 player Mangaliso Mosehle took the Titans closer to the 300 with three monstrous sixes in the final over.

Fitness worries aside, India’s selectors will only be concerned about whom to pick as the second spinner and the second reserve batsman

Sidharth Monga16-Jan-2011Fitness, and not form, seems to be the current refrain with India, who are going to announce their 2011 World Cup squad on Monday. They have taken every precautionary measure to ensure their first-choice players are fit for the tournament: Virender Sehwag, Praveen Kumar, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir have all been sent back from South Africa. If they are all fit, or if it is believed they will regain fitness by the time the event starts, this will be a fairly easy selection meeting. Thirteen of the 15 places are sealed, and the debate is likely to centre around the second reserve batsman and the reserve spinner.If India have everything their way, Tendulkar and Sehwag will be back to open the innings, followed by Gambhir at No.3. The middle order will comprise Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan, with Virat Kohli constantly pushing for a place in the starting XI. Harbhajan Singh will be the first-choice spinner, while the fast-bowler pool will contain the following players: Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel. Only injury should keep any of these 13 out.That leaves two places – an extra spinner and a middle-order batsman. R Ashwin, despite being the second-best limited-overs spinner in the country, might get overlooked because India already have an offspinner in Harbhajan, and most of their part-timers are offspinners too. That should make Pragyan Ojha the front-runner for the job – he has performed decently whenever he has been given a chance to play limited-overs games – but he seems to be out of favour for some reason. If the squad selected for the one-dayers in South Africa is any indication, expect to see Piyush Chawla in the side, even though he last played an ODI in July 2008.Rohit Sharma appears to be the most likely candidate to benefit from the loss of form of the other contenders. Dinesh Karthik, who would have been a natural choice because he can double up as a reserve keeper, has played himself out of the team over the last year; M Vijay has run into ordinary form; and Saurabh Tiwary is too inexperienced to pick for a World Cup. Moreover, Rohit – like Raina, Yusuf and Yuvraj – can bowl spin. The lack of options only shows how difficult it will become for India if everybody is not fit.India are not likely to choose a reserve keeper, but there is a solution to that. Even if they don’t have a reserve keeper in the official squad, they can always have one travel with them in case he is needed at short notice. Since India play all but one of their matches in India, arranging a visa will not be an issue either.Likely squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Piyush Chawla/Pragyan Ojha/R Ashwin