Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq Friday lashed out at Pakistan for making a U-turn on selecting cricketers from an unrecognised Indian league and succumbing to “pressure.”

Pakistan selectors Monday named three rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) players — Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul Hasan and Imran Nazir — in a preliminary 30-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June.

The selectors said the trio were included subject to clearance from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

But the next day, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) dropped the trio, saying they were not included in the 30-man list sent to the ICC.

The PCB has sought clarification from the ICL on the status of Pakistani players’ contracts before taking a final decision on their inclusion.

Inzamam criticised the sudden about-turn.

“I think the PCB succumbed to the pressure from the ICC. If there were rules barring the PCB not to include the ICL players then why didn’t our board know these rules,” Inzamam told AFP.

The ICL — bankrolled in 2007 by India’s largest media Group, Zee television — was not recognised by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the ICC and players taking part in it were barred by member countries.

The high court in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, however, cleared all Pakistani players in the rebel league last February, paving the way for their return to domestic cricket and into contention for the national side.

Inzamam said ICL players would strengthen the national side.

“Why is Pakistan taking pressure from the ICC and the BCCI? If they include ICL players then our team will become very strong and will perform better.

“Look at India. Pakistan and India were standing at the same place in 2007 after we both were knocked out of the World Cup (in West Indies) in the first round but with ICL and IPL (Indian Premier League) they have gained a lot.”

Inzamam accused the ICC of fearing private leagues because of the threat to sponsorships.

“I see only one reason for the ICC’s opposition to the ICL and that is they have to share finances as private leagues also take away sponsorhips, which is a danger for them,” said Inzamam.

Inzamam, who retired from international cricket in 2007, lamanted the ban.

“Why are we keeping ICL players away from international cricket? It’s unjust and I hope the PCB reviews its decision. We must fight for the cause beneficial for us,” said Inzamam.

The ICC said it would discuss the ICL issue at its executive board meeting in Dubai on April 17 and 18.

There was a new twist in Pakistan’s ace batsman Mohammad Yousuf’s unending saga with the Indian Cricket League, on Monday. Interestingly, Yousuf left for New Delhi even as the Pakistan Cricket Board selectors decided to name him in the squad for the ODI series against the West Indies scheduled in Abu Dhabi next week.

Though PCB has termed it as a private visit, rumours about him joining the league have gained momentum. Speaking on the development, ICL executive board member Bharat Reddy said, “You will come to know about the league’s official stand tomorrow.”

But when pressed further, he nodded and said, “It’s very likely.”

Yousuf has had a bittersweet relationship with the league, with him being involved in a legal wrangle for breach of contract.

The middle-order batsman, who had signed up for the league in August 2007, failed to abide by his contractual obligations and decided to return his advance payment only to join the rival Indian Premier League. As a result, the ICL filed a case against him in Mumbai, which is still pending.

IPL threatens

PTI adds from Karachi: Indian Premier League official and former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah has threatened to take legal course against Yousuf if the Pakistani batsman returned to the ICL fold.

PERTH – After days of waiting and batting, and waiting and batting, Chris Rogers finally got the handshake he had been craving from Australian cricket coach Tim Nielsen.

On standby since Sunday to replace Matthew Hayden in case the burly Queenslander failed to recover from a hamstring injury, Rogers has trained, and batted in the nets and for his club without any clue whether he would be playing or not.

But after Hayden’s run of 86 successive test appearances was officially ended in a pitchside meeting with Nielsen, skipper Ricky Ponting and trainer Alex Kountouris, Rogers was told he would be making a test debut on home soil, against India at the WACA ground today. Ponting confirmed that Hayden – who has not missed a test since 2000 – had not sufficiently overcome soreness in his right hamstring and that he was too great a risk to take into the match, where Australia chase a record 17th successive win.

“I am really excited at the moment, and hope I do the baggy green proud,” Rogers said.

“You couldn’t script it better to play in front of your home crowd, and that is something you will always remember. I probably thought maybe I had missed the boat, but also I thought there could be an opportunity.

“You never want to wish an injury on anyone, but there is always a chance that might happen. It is unlucky for Matt and I feel for him, but it is a great opportunity for me.”

A miserable start to the season saw Rogers miss out to Phil Jaques as the replacement for Justin Langer, in part because of an appendix operation which kept him out of action at a crucial time.

A mystery stomach virus then curtailed his action, but since returning, a Pura Cup haul of over 300 runs at an average of over 40 has again proved his credentials.

However, Ponting said it was an innings Rogers played against the Australians for county side Leicestershire, during the Ashes Tour of England in 2005, that had stuck in his mind.

“I was very impressed with what I saw that day, and this is his opportunity, there’s no doubt about that,” Ponting said.

During that knock, Hayden told Rogers he should consider getting out to aid the side. But yesterday Hayden said he was delighted for Rogers, despite his personal disappointment at missing the chance to complete a world record 17 test wins in a row.
“Obviously I am very disappointed missing this test match – it is going to be a really special,” Hayden said

Quickie Shaun Tait will come into the side, as Australia opted for an all-pace attack for the first time since 1992. Brad Hogg is the 12th man.

Even at this moment, the Indian cricket team bus is parked out the team hotel here and the Indian players are waiting to hear from the BCCI as to whether their Australia tour will continue or not. The players are furious about the events of the past few days, especially the racism charges on Harbhajan Singh and the three-match ban handed to the off-spinner on Sunday night.

The emergency team meeting this morning did not include the coach, the support staff or managers. The players wanted to talk about the dramatic events of Sunday night and reach a consensus on what their plan of action would be. 

Most of the players were asleep by the time Anil Kumble, Harbhajan and Sachin Tendulkar returned to the team hotel after the hearing at 2:30 am local time. Many of them woke up to the news that Harbhajan was banned for three matches on racism charges. There was shock and disbelief write large on their faces as they gathered in the hotel lobby.

The team was supposed to leave by road by 10:30 am, but the time came and went. Even as their wives and families, among other people, waited in the lobby, the players had their “Council of War” in a room leading off the main lobby.

The players are waiting for a detailed written order from the match referee on what exactly all the racism charges were. A senior player told Hindustan Times in the hotel lobby: “After the initial heat of the moment when emotions were running high, we decided we would wait ad see what exactly the statement from the match referee was.” 

He said that at this point, from what they gathered, the tour is likely to continue, but they were waiting to hear about certain conditions they had asked for. “In any case,” he said, “the decision whether tours will continue or not is not up to us, since the repercussions are bigger than cricket or this tour. The players are keen to play cricket because we want to play fair and square, and once things settle down in the next few days, we can go back to the game itself.”

Steve Waugh used to complain when he was captain that Australia’s major achievements were always overshadowed by some sort of controversy. Ricky Ponting is unlikely to protest about the issues of race, umpiring and spirit of cricket taking the attention away from his team’s outstanding run of 16 consecutive victories, which equalled Waugh’s world mark.

Ponting’s main aim was winning the game rather than grabbing the record and the success was achieved with a gamble on Michael Clarke, who captured three dramatic wickets in the scheduled second-last over of the day. The 122-run win, which retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was sealed with seven balls remaining and Ponting celebrated as joyously as during his Ashes and World Cup victories.

“My overall emotion and feeling at the end of the game was as good a feeling as I’ve ever had on a cricket field,” Ponting said. “Winning a Test like that, coming down to the last eight or ten minutes on the fifth day, any Test you win then is going to be pretty special. For us to be able to do it after a 70-run deficit in the first innings, and probably not play our best until the second innings, makes this win as good as any that I’ve played.”

India were on track to seal a draw with two overs remaining, but Ponting’s hunch on Clarke paid off in spectacular style. “He actually said to me when I gave him the ball: `I’ve got about just enough time to win us the game here.’ He’s always had a fair bit of confidence in himself.”

Harbhajan Singh edged to Michael Hussey at slip from the first ball of the over, RP Singh was given out lbw by Mark Benson to the next delivery and the match ended when Ishant Sharma prodded to Hussey. “The last 30 or 40 minutes were about gambling, about rolling the dice,” Ponting said. “I tried most guys there in that last hour and a half. I had to do that just to see who the batsmen would find the hardest to play at that time. It looked like the faster bowlers were easier to play than the spinners.”

Ponting delayed his declaration until 15 minutes before lunch and only when Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Anil Kumble were stalling the Australians during a 45-run stand did he worry about a draw. A nominal target of 333 in 72 overs had been set and Ponting wanted only one team to have a chance of winning.

“It was a pretty tough one to get right,” he said. “I didn’t know exactly what was the right amount of runs and the right amount of overs. I was conscious not to set anything that was going to be too easy for the Indians to chase.”

Talk of the streak, which Australia will attempt to expand in Perth from January 16, was secondary – “There was no motivational talk about winning 16 straight – but Ponting was confident of collecting No. 17. “We go to Perth on a wicket and conditions that should suit us a lot more than the Indians,” he said. “After two great wins like we’ve had we can obviously go to Perth pretty confident.” Matthew Hayden is in doubt for the game with the right thigh injury that prevented him from fielding in the second innings.

India captain Anil Kumble launched an astonishing attack on Australia’s cricketers after his team were beaten in the second Test on Sunday, accusing them of breaching the spirit of the game.

Kumble was unable to contain his fury after his team were beaten by 122 runs in a thrilling and controversial end to one of the most absorbing matches ever seen at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Asked by Indian journalists about Australia’s tactics, Kumble echoed something similar to the immortal line used by the Australian captain Bill Woodfull during the 1932-33 Bodyline series against England.

“Only one team was playing with the spirit of the game,” Kumble said.

He also said he was prevented from elaborating on his specific complaints about the Australian players but indicated he was upset at the refusal of their batsmen to walk when they were clearly out.

The Indians were on the wrong end of a number of bad umpiring decisions throughout the course of the match but the most crucial occurred on the first day when Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds was given not out by West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor.

Symonds, who later admitted he had nicked the ball and should have been sent packing, was on 30 at the time but went on to make 162 not out and help Australia recover from a batting slump to make 463.

“We like to play hard on the field and we expect that from Australia as well,” Kumble said.

“I’ve played my cricket very sincerely and very honestly and that’s the approach my team takes on the field and I expect that from the Australians as well.”

Kumble also bristled when asked about some of Australia’s appeals after Rahul Dravid was controversially given out, caught behind on the last day when he had failed to make contact with the ball.

“We had decided that we will be honest and when a catch is taken the player says he’s taken it, the captain nods his head and the umpire gives him out,” Kumble said.

Strained relations

Relations between the teams were already strained after Ponting lodged a complaint about Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh for allegedly making a racist comment to Symonds, but the Australian skipper denied there was any lingering bad blood between the sides.

“(I have) Absolutely no doubt about this match being played in the right spirit,” Ponting said.

Kumble did admit his team had batted poorly on the last day, collapsing to be all out for 210 when they needed to bat through the day to salvage a draw.

However, he insisted his team still did not deserve to lose. “The fair result would have been a draw,” he said. “It’s tough when you’ve played all forms of cricket over the last 25 years and end up on the losing side like this.”

He added: “We could have probably showed a bit more fight and we could have saved the game.”

Towards the end of this game, as wicket after Indian wicket fell at one end and Anil Kumble, magnificent in his defence, grimly held on to the other, many of us gathered at the Sydney Cricket Ground were praying for India to survive; practically willing Ishant Sharma to survive four balls before Kumble would face what would almost certainly be the last over of this match.

Ishant, young and tense, lasted three, giving Michael Clarke his third wicket in four balls and it was all over. India had lost this second Test by 122 runs, about five minutes before play would have ended on this final day.

Ricky Ponting’s Australia, whose players jumped, whooped and exulted all over the place with uncustomary exuberance, equalled the world record of 16 wins on the trot set by a Steve Waugh-led Aussie team seven years ago.

Not quite cricket

Most — other than the men screaming victoriously out there in the middle — did not think this 16th win did them proud. For what happened over this Test and this final day was not a good advertisement for the world champions, those who run the game or the game itself. It was just not cricket.

Many people were in tears by the end. Others were furious. All across the ground and outside, there was a sense of disbelief and shock, a feeling of injustice having being done to India.

There was just no way you could have been impartial. You wanted India to win so badly not because you were Indian, but because they had been cheated of a chance of a draw and a shot at keeping this series alive. As simple as that.

Yes, it can be argued, and it will be, that they could have batted far better in the fourth innings, shown more character and defensive technique. As Kumble would say later, “That is a concern”.

At the same time, with the exception of Wasim Jaffer and Yuvraj Singh (both of who have looked out of their depth), the remaining players had a role in helping India first fight back into this game after Australia put on 463 and then, be a heartbeat away from saving it after some atrocious decisions that went against them.

Shock and awful

On Sunday, India were done in by two terrible mistakes by the on-field umpires, Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson.

First, when Rahul Dravid was given caught behind off Andrew Symonds when the ball clearly went off the pad. It was a shocker, as the bat, placed behind the pad, was nowhere near the ball he was padding away.

Dravid, on 38, had been looking extremely solid, bar the one chance he gave on 18, when Symonds at first slip dropped an easy edge off Mitchell Johnson. He had been punishing the loose deliveries, running the singles hard, defending with ease and looking in no discomfort.

More important, at that stage, he and Sourav Ganguly had been involved in a vital 61-run partnership for the fourth wicket, one that, if it had continued in the same positive vein, would have saved the day for India or got them close.

Yuvraj fell immediately after but Ganguly, looking in light, lovely touch, was still there, with Dhoni at the other end seeming tense but standing true. And then, just as you thought it couldn’t get worse, came another bad ‘un. Ganguly edged Brett Lee to second slip, where Clarke got his fingers low to the ball.

Replays showed enough doubt that the catch had not been cleanly taken, the two-dimensional image showing that the ball was probably touching the ground, with his fingers on either side. In any case, the benefit of the doubt would logically have gone to the batsman — if it had been referred.

Ganguly stood his ground and asked if it was clean, Benson, unsure, looked at the celebrating Ponting for confirmation. Ponting nodded, held his index finger up and Benson, turning to Ganguly, did the same.

Out of control

Apparently, there was a gentleman’s agreement before the series between the captains that basically stated that in the case of contentious catches, the fielder’s word would be taken if he was 100 per cent sure. Ponting said later Clarke said he was. As it is, he was wrong. A very upset Kumble said after that that the agreement was based solely on players being “honest”. This game clearly showed several deviations from the truth.

So here are some questions: How could the word of Clarke, who stood his ground in the second innings after being clearly caught in slips, be taken? Two, how could Benson, the man in charge, take the word of Ponting, who had appealed for a bumped catch just a couple of overs earlier? And finally, given that this match has been controversial and combative, played out in a scrappy, tense atmosphere and the delicate stage at which the game was then poised, shouldn’t Benson have had the commonsense to refer it to the third umpire, overriding the players? He could have been excused on any ground.

Though Dhoni and Kumble, grim and gritty, bravely concentrated on sticking it out, with six close in fielders breathing down their necks for most of the 21 overs of their 48-run stand, it was a stage where one error would mess it up and expose the tail. It happened when Dhoni padded up to an off-break.

Harbhajan, booed as he entered, stayed for half an hour but then came that Clarke over. And the end.

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa – A disciplined century from Shivnarine Chanderpaul and an incisive spell by fast bowler Daren Powell put West Indies on top on the second day of the first test against South Africa on Thursday.

Chanderpaul became the third player after West Indian Everton Weekes and Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower to score half-centuries in seven consecutive test innings with 104 in his team’s first innings 408. The left-hander faced 253 balls and hit 12 boundaries in an innings lasting more than six hours.

Powell followed up with three for 40 as South Africa stumbled to 122 for five at the close.

“It’s great to be up there with those names,” Chanderpaul told a news conference. “When you get an opportunity to get in, you want to make a big score. That’s something I’ve been working on for the past couple of years.”

After West Indies resumed on 281-4, fast bowler Makhaya Ntini struck in the seventh over of the day when he found the leading edge of Dwayne Bravo’s bat.

The ball looped up on the off-side where Ntini and Herschelle Gibbs, who was fielding in the gully, collided.

Ntini took the catch to dismiss Bravo for 12. Neither Gibbs nor Ntini were injured.

In Ntini’s next over, a superb away swinger took the outside edge of Denesh Ramdin’s bat and he was caught by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher for one.

Chanderpaul and Daren Sammy consolidated with a partnership of 57 that was ended after lunch when AB de Villiers swooped from the covers to run out Sammy for 38. Chanderpaul was the ninth man out when fast bowler Andre Nel hit the top of his off stump.

POWELL STRIKES

Nel ended the innings three balls later by having Fidel Edwards caught by Ashwell Prince in the gully for a duck.

Powell struck when Gibbs was caught behind without scoring by wicketkeeper Ramdin with the fifth ball of South Africa’s reply.

Jerome Taylor claimed his first wicket when Graeme Smith was trapped in front for 28.

Twelve balls later South Africa slipped to 53-3 after Jacques Kallis attempted to leave a delivery from Taylor and was smartly caught by Bravo at third slip for nought.

Hashim Amla played over a full toss from Powell and was bowled for 29 before Prince and AB de Villiers stood firm in a stand of 33.

Powell ended the partnership when Prince, who scored 20, drove at a wide delivery and was caught by Runako Morton at second slip.

“The bowlers fought back nicely this morning to take the last six wickets for 127 runs,” Prince said. “Obviously, the batting didn’t go according to plan.

“There were a few soft dismissals, including myself. A few guys got starts into the 20s, and I’m sure the others will feel as disappointed as I do at the moment.

“Chanderpaul was very patient, and if he didn’t come at us we didn’t feel we had a chance of dismissing him early.

“Maybe our guys were a bit impatient, wanting to play a few too many shots.”