IPL should be top

Legendary leg spinning wizard and one of the icons of cricket Shane Warne has said that the IPL has revolutionized the game of cricket.He also said that the IPL should be given a top priority by the ICC and their future tour programme must be adjusted in such a way that it complies with the ICC schedule.Warne is a part of the Rajasthan royals team and he is also their captain.Warne was brought by the IPL at a price of 450,000 dollars and he is extremely excited by the prospect of working with youngsters with great talent.Let us wish warne all the best with the IPL.

FLINTOFF IS PATIENT

Andrew Flintoff is following a patient approach to his rehabilitation programme at the start of the season.The 30 year old England all rounder had been sidelined due to fourth surgery on his troublesome left ankle and he has just now initiated the steps to recovery.He made a comeback earlier this week in a match for England lions as a specialist batsman but was sidelined for Thursday's game due to a stomach bug.This has been very encouraging for the player who has not played without discomfort since 2006.Well we all hope Flintoff recovers fully and is back to his best for the coming season.

CLARKE PULLS OUT OF IPL

Emerging Australian batsman and future captain Micheal Clarke has pulled out of IPL saying he wants to concentrate more on international cricket.Players who have followed Micheal clarke are Gillespie,Stuart clark,Mitchell Johnson and also Brad Haddin.It is said that the players dropped out of IPL because of the fear of losing their places in the Australian squad.Thirteen players from Australia have been confirmed for the IPL tournament including retired stars Warne and Mcgrath.Australian contingent for IPL includes

Brett Lee, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Matthew Hayden, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Nathan Bracken, Cameron White, Simon Katich, Shane Warne, Justin Langer, Glenn McGrath

GILLY BATS FOR PONTING

Adam Gilchrist has been in fine form of late but his captain Ponting is in the middle of a horrible run of form when compared to his own lofty standards.He has supported Ponting saying that the drama off the field in the Australian summer is as high as the drama on the field and this has started taking toll on him mentally.Australia have had a large off the field problems lately such as the tour of pakistan,Cricket Australia reluctant to allow its players into the IPL,harbhajan andrew symonds episode as well as Ponting himself is suffering from back spasms of late.He was off colour in the test series as well and just made a workman like century in the final test.He has been batting poorly in the one day series as well.

WASIM AKRAM SLAMS INDIAN BATTING LINE UP

Pakistani legend and former fast bowler Wasim Akram opinioned that the negative approach of the Indian team cost them dear in the match against Australia at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday.He criticised the team management decision of sending Irfan Pathan in the number three slot while chasing only a small total.He also said that the main reason why India lost was that they sent a pinch hitter while they should have sent a proper batsman in Pathan's place.He criticised the umpires for sending Sachin Tendulkar to the pavilion when the ball would have clearly missed the stumps.The sultan of swing said India now had an uphill task against Sri Lanka who will certainly feel more confident of advancing to the finals.

PCB GIVES OUT NOTICE TO AKTHAR

Whenever there is contrevorsy Shoaib Akthar will always be there and it doesn't matter for Shoaib at all to get involved in a brawl or drug abuse and so on.The maverick fast bowler and Danish Kaneria have been asked by the PCB to explain about the public criticism of the governing body for cricket in that country.Shoaib expressed his displeasure at not being included by the PCB and Kaneria was demoted to Grade C which includes only inexperienced players and newcomers.Shoaib also lambasted the board officials for questioning his fitness during the tour of India.The PCB has written to the pair and asked explanation from them.

AUSTRALIA POWER PAST SRILANKA

An inspired spell by Nathan Bracken who got an five wicket haul took Australia to victory against Srilanka in their first meeting of the tri series here today.Micheal Clarke made an unbeaten half century and guided Australia to a total of 253 for six.Ricky Ponting just got out for nine but Clarke scored 77 not out and James Hopes hit an unbeaten 34 runs.It was a great start by Aussies who put on 65 runs for the first wicket.In the reply Srilanka got off to a poor start with Jayasuriya and Taranga getting out off consecutive deliveries.The last six wickets yielded just 61 runs for the Lankans and Australia secured a convincing win of 128 runs to move to the top of tri series standings.

BANGLADESH TO DELAY SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT

Bangladesh have major worries before the upcoming series against South Africa.The fitness of certain key players must be analysed before they can select the players for this key series.They were due to announce the squad on Wednesday but must now select the squad later or select a preliminary squad for the time being.It appears that Tamim Iqbal and Syed Rasel are the main concerns for the Bangladesh selectors. And with fast bowler Shahadat Hossain also recovering from a groin injury,the squad announcement will be definitely delayed.The first test starts on Febraury 22 and South Africa are touring Bangladesh.