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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A full house at Bristol were handed an explosive match, India levelling the one-day series with a nine-run victory at Bristol as 649 runs flowed in ideal conditions. The win was set-up by the batsmen, as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid produced flamboyant 90s, and then India ‘s spinners took vital wickets. Piyush Chawla, enhancing his growing reputation with three key wickets, and Ramesh Powar removed England’s four middle-order big-guns, but Dimitri Mascarenhas, with a 36-ball maiden ODI fifty, and Stuart Broad kept India working until the end.Getting so close showed how vital India’s overs of spin were. The teams went in opposite directions with their selections, England dropping Monty Panesar and India strengthening their bowling attack with Powar.With his second ball Chawla beat Kevin Pietersen’s forward prod with a straight ball and later removed Paul Collingwood with his googly, a delivery which has been good enough for Tendulkar in the past. Each wicket meant England had to rebuild and with an asking rate constantly over six-an-over they were always under pressure. Andrew Flintoff, seven balls into his first international innings since the World Cup, felt the need to target the stands and picked out deep midwicket off Powar.England began their pursuit of what would have been a record chase in positive style. Whereas at the Rose Bowl Alastair Cook and Matt Prior took their time, with 330 facing them they knew making the most of the fielding restrictions was vital. Prior was dropped at slip by Sourav Ganguly on eight – the first of India’s many lapses – but in fairness to Ganguly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni feigned to go for the catch and put off his slip fielder. Prior then showed his true ability with a series of strong cover drives.Ajit Agarkar received most of the punishment, his first four overs costing 41 as his gentle outswing was easily dispatched. Prior was offered another life, top-edging a Patel no-ball to midwicket, but fell shortly afterwards when a manufactured swipe went steepling to Dravid. There was time for the batsmen to cross and next ball Cook edged a good offcutter low to Dhoni. In two balls India had control again, but, as often in the past, did their best to let it go.

Ian Bell, on one, was dropped by Powar at third man – who hardly raises the standard of India ‘s fielding – then a manic couple of moments included two chances against Pietersen in one Ganguly over. Firstly, Dhoni couldn’t pouch a thin edge and two balls later Ganguly himself couldn’t hold on to a return chance as Pietersen punched off the back foot. Chawla, not afraid to flight the ball, turned the game back India’s way with the scalps of Pietersen and Collingwood before adding Bell, who had played well for 64, as a third wicket.England continued to fight but eventually the lower order had been left with too much to do, although Mascarenhas’s five sixes of varying distance hinted at a miraculous turnaround. He came in with 110 needed off 12.1 overs, but added 59 in seven overs with Broad. Even when RP Singh had him caught at midwicket, England kept swinging hard with Broad taking 20 off the last over.India’s total could have been higher if Flintoff hadn’t collected a career-best 5 for 56, despite suffering pain behind his right knee after crashing into an advertising board. Dravid’s innings was faultless as he continually picked the gaps, taking 63 balls to reach 92, his highest score against England in ODIs, while India added 93 in the final 10 overs. Following the criticism he received for pedestrian batting at other stages of the tour it was a strong response from the Indian captain.After playing with great restraint during the Test series – and being tied down in the first ODI at The Rose Bowl – Tendulkar allowed himself more freedom. His fifty came off 56 balls and he twice swept Mascarenhas to the boundary before dispatching the struggling Chris Tremlett high over long-off for six. He offered one tough chance, on 57, when Tremlett failed to hold a drive a mid-off.But a bout of cramp in his hand halted his momentum and Collingwood reacted swiftly by recalling Flintoff. The move paid off as Tendulkar fended at a rapid bouncer. However, replays showed the ball took arm-guard rather than glove as a century continued to elude him. It was the second 99 Tendulkar has made in ODIs on tour, following the near-miss against South Africa, at Stormont, in July. There is one key difference, though. That day India lost, this time they have come out on top and the series is all square heading to Birmingham with the promise of more thrills to come.

South Africa are hopeful of Dale Steyn’s chances of bowling in the Kingsmead Test and the rest of the England series after an “inconclusive” scan revealed no tear to the muscles or ligaments around his right shoulder.Steyn first experienced discomfort on the first day of the match, left the field after bowling 3.2 overs in the second innings but was not taken for a scan immediately. Instead, with a view to not being penalised for being off the field if he could bowl, Steyn stayed on the park and then delivered three more balls only to leave left again in the 21st over.At that point, he was taken for the scan but on his return, he was back on the field again. He threw underarm and with his left arm for the rest of the day. He will test his ability to bowl in the warm-ups on the fourth morning before a firm decision is made over any further participation in this match.”Dale first experienced discomfort in his right shoulder after day one, which was probably because of a long lay off and great deal of bowling load on the first day,” Mohammad Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager said. “He woke up sore on the second day but got through first innings but then in second innings, the pain increasingly troublesome so he had to leave the field.”The scan is inconclusive in that it showed no tears to muscles or ligaments so we are treating it as shoulder stiffness. If he gets through warm-ups, he will be allowed to bowl tomorrow and then we will take a call on his availability for the Cape Town Test after this match.”Given the current situation – South Africa are 261 runs behind and England still have seven wickets in hand – a speedy recovery for Steyn will be foremost in South Africa’s mind. They will also be concerned about his long-term future, especially as this is the ninth time in two-and-half-years and second in successive series that Steyn has been injured.He sustained a groin strain in South Africa’s first bowling innings of a four-Test series in India and sat out the rest of the matches. That meant he spent almost seven weeks on the sidelines and the inaction followed by intense action contributed to the current niggle.If Steyn is unable to bowl in this match, South Africa will have to rely on their two pacemen, Morne Morkel and Kyle Abbott, the specialist spinner Dane Piedt and the part-timers. Should not Steyn not recover for the Newlands match, which starts two days after this one is scheduled to end, Kagiso Rabada, who is in the squad, will be the most likely replacement. South Africa will probably also look for cover in the form of some of their franchise players and Hardus Viljoen could find himself in line.The Lions’ quick took ten wickets in a first-class match last week and has already taken six in this week’s fixture, in which he has only bowled in one innings. Marchant de Lange, who travelled to India as cover, may also be called up.

Holly Colvin could miss England’s tour of Australia and New Zealand for the sake of her education. Colvin, the slow left-armer, said she would be prepared to miss the trip Down Under in February and March if her chances of getting into Cambridge University would be compromised.”If it came to the crunch I would put my education first and stay at home,” Colvin told newspaper. “Women’s cricket is not yet professional and I have to think of my future career.”The tour runs at the same time as some of her final-year A Level studies, including a one-off Test for the Ashes. She said there could be room for compromise in that she may consider playing the Australian part of the trip.”It would be heart-breaking to miss the tour,” said Colvin, who earned her England call-up on the eve of the last Ashes, in 2005. “I love my cricket and would relish the opportunity to help defend the Ashes. I might try and play in the Australian leg, even though that could mean missing a couple of weeks of school.”

The Pakistan board has reiterated its faith in Shoaib Malik as captain and insist he will remain in the post as originally planned till December 2008.Malik’s position has come under intense scrutiny following Test and ODI series defeat to India, a second successive reverse in both formats following the loss to South Africa at home. His cause wasn’t helped by an ankle injury which kept him out of the final two Tests against India, both of which were drawn. A number of ex-players, including Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, have questioned the wisdom of Malik as Test captain when he has yet to establish himself fully as a Test batsman.”We will stick to our decision to name him as captain for the year (2008),” said Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman. “We will give him our full backing and we feel he can mature into a good captain in time. He is young and he will learn from his mistakes.”The backing for Malik came in the wake of a board meeting constituted specifically to review Pakistan’s poor performances in India. The board also decided to prevent players from writing articles during series and concentrate solely on the cricket while on tour. There was criticism of the surge in Pakistani players’ extra-curricular media activities: many were writing for newspapers and a number had separate TV commitments as well. One column by Younis Khan, in particular, seems to have caught the board’s attention. As stand-in captain for the second Test in Kolkata, Younis distanced himself from the team selection, hinting that he might not have been happy with the composition, in a column for .The role of Geoff Lawson, Pakistan’s coach, in his side’s performances will also come under the scanner. The board has asked Lawson to explain Pakistan’s generally unimpressive and insipid performances, which led to their first series loss in India for 27 years.Ashraf told that Lawson has been asked for a detailed report on how he plans to lift the team for future assignments including the home series against Australia in March.”We believe that our team didn’t show much mental toughness and professionalism during the tour of India,” Ashraf said. “It is the responsibility of the coach to lift his team and we are certainly going to talk to Lawson about it,” he added.Ashraf was quick, however, to add that the board still has complete faith in Lawson. “He will remain our coach and we are hopeful Pakistan will become a force under his wings.”Though the board has yet to read fully the tour reports handed in by the team management, immediate changes are not expected. The participation of national players in domestic tournaments was again stressed, and three camps, for bowlers, wicketkeepers and openers, have also been arranged for after the domestic Twenty20 tournament.

South Africa’s four-day domestic title, the SuperSport Series, is back in Bloemfontein after the Eagles drew their final match against the Cape Cobras, to top the table with a whopping 117.52 points.Dean Elgar, the Eagles’ 20-year-old former Under-19 captain, finished unbeaten on 54, following his fine 122 in the first innings as the match drifted to a draw. Rory Kleinveldt picked up five wickets, removing the top-order, as the Eagles struggled in reply to the Cobras’ first innings of 395. But Elgar, showing a solid technique, along with Ryan McLaren – who finished on 121 not out – defied the Cobras bowlers as the Eagles were bowled out for 353. Elgar and McLaren’s efforts limited the Cobras’ first innings lead to a manageable 42 before Henry Davids, Cobras’ leading run-scorer, scored his third century of the season to extend their lead in the second innings. However, the Cobras only declared after lunch on the final day as hopes of an exciting conclusion cooled. Stiaan Van Zyl added an unbeaten half-century to his epic first-innings score of 152.In Pietermaritzburg, the Dolphins were heading for a comprehensive defeat against the Warriors before brothers Ahmed (150*) and Hashim Amla (99) rescued them with a 219-run stand for the third wicket in their follow-on innings. The Dolphins, who trailed by 173 runs in the first innings, finished on 372 for 4 but a flat Oval pitch and sweltering heat made it immensely hard work for all the fast bowlers.Robin Peterson was the one bowler to prosper, finishing with eight wickets in the match. Arno Jacobs scored 218 not out in the Warriors’ first innings of 500 for 4. HD Ackerman added 112 in the pair’s 246-run fourth-wicket partnership as the Dolphins bowlers were made to toil. The Dolphins made a steely reply as openers Imraan Khan (69) and Doug Watson (78) put on 127, but the rest of their innings crumpled like tin as Peterson picked up 5 for 124. Dave Miller, the 18-year-old making his first-class debut, did provide a late fightback with a highly promising 63 not out.A wet outfield marred the match between the Lions and Titans in Potchefstroom, delaying play until the afternoon. The Titans built a solid first innings of 365 around half-centuries by Heino Kuhn, Rushdi Jappie, Farhaan Behardien and Brendon Reddy. The Lions were grateful for a top-class 90 from Stephen Cook, son of the former Somerset and South Africa star Jimmy, as they replied with 266.The Titans, leading by 99, rattled off 322 for 5 in their second innings thanks to an inspired an unbeaten 176 by Kuhn which meant they only occupied the crease for 79 overs, leaving them 91 overs in which to bowl out the Lions.But Cook, who has struggled with his form in the past couple of years, lifted the Lions to 283 for 3 with a fluent 108 not out. Neither the Titans nor the Lions, first and second respectively last season, had the wings to get off the bottom of the table, however.Player of the Week – Stiaan van Zyl
In amassing 210 runs without being dismissed by the Eagles, Cape Cobras batsman Stiaan van Zyl finished in the top five of the SuperSport batting averages for the season. The Cobras finished last and winless in last season’s competition and have been combing the winelands and peninsulas for answers to their batting woes.van Zyl, coming into the side with Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy on international duty, immediately impressed with his determination to battle it out at the crease. And, for a 20-year-old, he showed unusual daring in being willing to leave the ball. Cobras coach Shukri Conrad should take plenty of credit for the left-hander’s progress.”From the first time I saw him bat for Boland, I really liked him,” Conrad said. “Being able to let the fifty-fifty [deliveries] go was his biggest asset and he can bat for long periods. Some guys you feel strongly about and you want to back them even if they go through a barren patch. But Stiaan has fully justified the selectors’ choice and he is a quiet, unassuming lad.”

A party of young cricketers from Somerset are busy preparing themselves for the trip of a lifetime.Somerset Under 13’s are gearing themselves up for their tour to South Africa in the spring of 2003 that will culminate with them watching the final match of the Cricket World Cup.Whilst they are out in South Africa the Somerset team will be playing in a specially organised tournament that is being organised in Johannesburg that will involve other Under 13 teams from England including Cornwall and Worcestershire.However in addition to honing their cricketing skills to the highest possible level before they leave in just a few months time, each of the fourteen youngsters is having to raise £900 towards the cost of the trip.Last season the Somerset team enjoyed considerable success, winning six of their twelve matches and only being beaten on two occasions, so the team will be going out to South Africa with the intention of winning their tournament as well as enjoying the World Cup final.Team manager John Davey, who will be accompanied on the trip by Somerset Youth Development Officer Pete Sanderson and coach Ben Wellington told me: "This is a wonderful opportunity for the young players, and it will be a trip that they will never forget. There are some very talented cricketers in the team and they are all looking forward to it immensely."Whilst the young players are busy raising their own funds to pay for the tour John Davey is still anxiously looking for a sponsor for the Somerset Under 13’s team shirts.If anybody feels able to help Mr Davey with shirt sponsorship he can be contacted at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground in Taunton, telephone 01823 352266

Text of letter from the West Indies touring squad to Dinanath Ramnarine, the CEO of the West Indies Players’ Association

Dear Mr. Ramnarine,We would like to bring to your attention in your capacity as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the West Indies Players Association our astonishment, disappointment and displeasure at remarks made by the Chief Executive Officer of the West Indies Cricket Board, Mr. Bruce Aanensen with regard to us players on the West Indies team. We, however, felt that it would more appropriate to bring up this matter at the end of the England Tour rather than during when the comments of Mr. Aanensen were actually made.We are highly offended that Mr. Aanensen saw it fit to have publicly labeled us the players as ‘incompetent’. We register this with you and ask you to bring it to the attention of the Directors of the West Indies Cricket Board as well as to the Chairman of the Cricket Committee Mr. Clive Lloyd. Please implore the directors and Mr. Lloyd that we the players wish for this matter to be seriously addressed and appropriate action taken.We are also disturbed to learn that Mr. Aanensen made an issue of your meeting with us just prior to our departure for the tour to England. Although we question his claim that he was well within his rights to do so, we, nevertheless, find it incredulous that he should contemplate a position to debar the constitutional representative of the players from meeting them in his official capacity.We are now left with the rather difficult situation of determining whether as players we would be able to continue working with Mr. Aanensen. Unfortunately, given the unfair and frankly thoughtless nature of his comments we would not be keen in having any further interaction at a professional level with Mr. Aanensen.From Mr. Aanensen’s comments, for which, significantly, he has made no withdrawals or apologies, we would find it virtually impossible to engage him in any meaningful manner.Sincerely, Members of the West Indies Team in England & Ireland

Text of letter from Ramnarine to Ken Gordon, the West Indies Cricket Board president

Dear Mr. GordonIt is no secret that since Mr. Bruce Aanensen assumed the position of CEO of the WICB on April 16, 2007, his modus operandi has not been viewed favourably by WIPA. The attached letter dated July 07, 2007 received from the West Indies team in England adds further fuel to the matter. Even admitting that no one is perfect or 100 per cent correct, we continue to find it increasingly difficult to work with Mr. Aanensen in the interest of West Indies cricket. Mr. Aanensen’s management style is unfortunate and surprising for a CEO who has only recently assumed his position and should therefore be trying to build bridges for the future.Recent examples of such negative management style are as follows:1. Indicating to the public that the Board had submitted all relevant documents to the Arbitration Panel re the Future Tour Programme when, indeed, it had not done so.2. Issuing misleading statements regarding Caricom’s official position on the Zimbabwe tour.3. Displaying little tact as a CEO in publicly criticizing the players as “incompetent” while they were in the middle of a tour.4. Causing much embarrassment in not ensuring that replacement players arrived in time for the commencement of the ODI series in England.5. Flouting the MOU regarding the need for prior consultation and agreement with WIPA with respect to the tour to Zimbabwe and the proposed dates for the upcoming first class regional tournament. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, WIPA had to learn about both these scheduling arrangements in the media.6. Failure to consult and agree with WIPA in determining ‘Team Policy” which the WICB is required to do under the terms of our agreement.7. Seemingly insufficient understanding of the Agreements signed and the issues involved, resulting in the recent lengthy and costly arbitration exercise.8. Leaks to the media by Board sources which I have discussed with you previously, that caused embarrassment to WIPA and the players (e.g. captaincy issue re Ganga/Gayle)9. Making uncomplimentary remarks to the media about me as President and CEO of WIPA.10. Apparent reluctance to meet with me as President and CEO of WIPA in spite of at least three requests made by me. We have met only once through my initiative, and this was prior to his assumption of duty as CEO.11. On the only occasion I spoke to Mr. Aanensen on the telephone, he hung up the phone on me and when I called him back he ended up again hanging up on me. I regarded this as the height of discourtesy, and12. We continue to receive feedback from talk show hosts throughout the region, regarding public opinion about Mr. Aanansen’s negative management style.Naturally we recognize the right of WICB to employ anyone they choose but at the same time they should make every effort to select the right person for each job, especially if the position is a public, high-profile post where credibility and transparency are so important in the eyes of other relevant parties. With deep respect and in the view of the Executive of WIPA and the players, Mr. Aanensen has not started off on the right foot.Given the above comments, we feel strongly that in the interest of W.I. Cricket, Mr. Aanensen should be asked to resign with immediate effect so that the incoming Board can start with a clean slate.Respectfully yours, Dinanath Ramnarine

Text of letter from Gordon to Ramnarine

Dear Mr. Ramnarine,This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of July 12th re the management style of our CEO.Having discussed with Mr. Aanensen the alleged examples of “negative management style” about which you complain, and heard his explanations, I am satisfied that there is no justification to your charges.Nonetheless, it is desirable that I convey my own response to your complaint. It is of the utmost importance that organizations like WIPA and WICB should work closely together. That was one of my principal objectives when I assumed the Presidency and as I think you are aware, I invested a considerable amount of time in attempting to build a relationship. I have not succeeded and perhaps there is something more that I might have done which I did not do… if so I continue to ponder what that might have been.On the other hand I have heard your bitter complaints about the WICB and all it’s officials: The Board is totally incompetent; the former President was inaccessible; the former CEO could not be trusted; the CFO is inefficient; the Corporate Secretary is dishonest and you refuse to communicate with him even on official business, causing complications in the communication flow between our organizations for which you blame everyone but yourself. You have been frequently abusive to Deryck Murray and his team at negotiations and I have had to inform you that such behaviour is unacceptable. You have stated at meetings with one of our Board members and two executives of WICB present, that I am a liar. You have since denied saying so, while everyone present heard your comment. I even understand that you have informed both Barry Thomas and Tony Deyal that you would have them fired.In addition, you publicly denigrate the WICB Board, its Officers and Executive at every opportunity and remain constantly critical in the media.Now you state that Mr. Aanensen should be asked to resign because of his “negative style”.Permit me to suggest that self analysis of your own style is long over due. I have urged you on more than one occasion to do so. You have done much on behalf of the players and I personally commend you for that. But you appear incapable of rising to the level of maturity now required if the relationship between WIPA and WICB is to contribute to the development of West Indies Cricket.I sincerely hope you will accept the foregoing in the spirit in which it is written, bearing in mind that whatever differences may exist, civility is at the core of all healthy relationships. When people feel abused, many hit back and then everything goes downhill.It is not too late to attempt a new beginning and if you are disposed to doing so, I would be pleased to arrange a three cornered meeting before I demit office between Mr. Aanensen and us both.With kind regards(not signed when sent electronically)K. Gordon

Who will be India’s next coach is very much an open question. When the seven-member committee formed to tackle this very issue meets on June 4, it is likely to be faced with two conflicting opinions: the current players would like the job to go to a foreigner, whereas a campaign, championed by no less than Sunil Gavaskar, a member of the committee himself, is building up from former cricketers to appoint an Indian.In a significant development, four senior members of the Indian team, Rahul Dravid, the captain, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, are learnt to have met Sharad Pawar, the Indian board president, and conveyed their wish to be coached by a foreigner. The meeting took place during India’s tour of Bangladesh.There is precedence of the players’ views playing a decisive role in the appointment of the coach. John Wright, who was appointed India’s first foreign coach in 2000, was recommended by Rahul Dravid, who had played under Wright for Kent in the County Championship in England and when Wright’s contract came up for renewal, he was publicly backed by Tendulkar and Ganguly. And in 2005, when there was a clamour for a homegrown coach, the job went to Greg Chappell, whose candidature was supported by, ironically, Ganguly.This time too, the opinions are divided. Though Dav Whatmore, with whom some of the BCCI officials have had informal talks, has emerged as a strong candidate, the final decision is yet to be taken. And lobbying for an Indian coach has begun, with Gavaskar and Kapil Dev leading rally.Gavaskar, writing in his column in the Mumbai tabloid , has made some thinly-veiled attacks on Whatmore, who is believed to be the frontrunner. Writing after the second Test against India, Gavaskar pointed to the “lack of cricketing acumen” in the Bangladesh camp following their decision to bat first.”It’s here that Bangladesh suffered the most, for even allowing for the fact that Habibul Bashar is not the wiliest of skippers, it was clear that he had little help, and if anything, the lack of tactical input was exposed by the decision to field first in the last Test as well as that of not trying for a win in the first Test when the target was achievable with some bold batting.”Kapil Dev, was even more direct. “Who is Whatmore,” he thundered in an interview in the , the Kolkata based daily. “Why do we need to talk about Whatmore? Or, for that matter, anybody not associated with our team at this point in time. In my opinion, when Ravi (Shastri) isn’t available after Bangladesh, the Board should give the coach’s powers to Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh, both of whom have played international cricket and are currently working with the boys.”Kapil, who is director of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, has already made his preferences clear by appointing Rajinder Goel, Sarkar Talwar and Rajinder Pal, to instruct the trainees.Interestingly, while the focus has been solely on Whatmore, the name of Graham Ford has suddenly begun to do the rounds as a contender. Ford, who prefers to be low-key, had successful stints with South Africa, Natal and Kent, and could be a good man for the job. However, it is unclear whether the board has even got in touch with Ford to check on his availability or interest. From all indications the board is waiting till the meeting in Bangalore on June 4, set to begin sometime in the evening, to make its moves.

For the second week in a row Army came from behind to snatch victory after conceding a first-innings lead and maintained their position atop the Premier Tier B standings.With the Tier A clubs enjoying a free weekend, the focus was on Tier B and whether Panadura, the nearest challenger to Army’s position, would be able to close the gap. By the end of the second day it looked likely that they would do so with Army struggling against Air Force. But Army were able to come back strongly and overcome a first-innings deficit and win, Panadura were denied victory by Police, who managed a draw at the Police Park Ground in Colombo.Panadura were in a strong position, having reduced Police to 104 for 9 in reply to their first-innings total of 272. A follow-on looked inevitable for Police but they managed to avoid it with a last-wicket stand of 36 which meant that Panadura had to bat again. In the process, they lost precious time while setting Police a target of 335 to chase in the fourth innings. When play ended on the final day, Police were 215 for 7.Army’s match-winner was once again right-arm spinner Ajantha Mendis, who helped dismiss Air Force out for 92 in the second innings, leaving Army only 146 to chase. The victory was Army’s sixth of the season and they maintained their unbeaten streak.Third-placed Saracens also lost ground when they conceded a narrow first-innings lead of 13 runs to Singha in a drawn match Nondescripts Cricket Club.Sebastianites were the only other club apart from Army to record a win Burgher Recreation Club Ground, beating Burgher by 170 runs, their first victory of the season in six matches.Player of the Week: Ajantha Mendis
Ajantha Mendis isn’t playing in one of Colombo’s most influential club sides and his team isn’t competing in the elite Tier A but the less glamorous Tier B of the Premier League. However, Mendis’ spin bowling is one of the main reasons why Army are on top of Tier B and could be promoted to Tier A next season if they keep up their current form and emerge champions.Although classified as a right-arm, slow-medium bowler, Mendis is a spinner who bowls a mixture of googlies, offbreaks, top-spinners, flippers and legbreaks. Batsmen have been confounded by the variety of deliveries he has up his sleeve and are at a loss to figure out what his stock delivery is.”I had only two variations when I started to play for the Army but within a period of one year I have managed to increase it to four. Now I can bowl in six different ways,” said Mendis, who bowls with an unorthodox action.Mendis is the season’s top wicket-taker with 46 wickets at an average of 10.56 and strike-rate of 31 from six matches with five five-fors and one ten-wicket haul.Sri Lanka’s spin-bowling coach Ruwan Kalpage predicted a bright future for him and said that Mendis should be nurtured carefully because he was going to be Sri Lanka’s next Muttiah Muralitharan”The most impressive aspect of Mendis’ bowling is that he maintains a consistent line and length while still bowling five different deliveries in an over. To be a good bowler at international level you need to have a lot of variations and Mendis has them,” said Kalpage, a former Sri Lanka off-spinner.”Mendis came under the watchful eyes of Mahela Jayawardene, when he played in the provincial one-day tournament, and the captain was quite impressed with his bowling,” he said. Mendis turns 23 on March 11. He has a whole new world waiting for him, if he can be guided on the right path.

Ian Bishop turned up in shorts and a rugby T-shirt and rolled his arm over at the Pakistan nets at the Eden Gardens. The rate at which Pakistan’s players are dropping, through injury, illness or both, they might just find it hard to put out a strong eleven when the second Test begins in Kolkata on Friday.Late on Wednesday evening, all that was known was that Shoaib Malik had a Grade 1 problem with his right ankle. “This type of injury takes a bit of time to heal,” Talat Ali, Pakistan’s manager, said towards the end of Pakistan’s practice session. If this left Malik, who still had his left ankle in strapping, a doubtful starter, the serious concern was over the other Shoaib.Shoaib Akhtar was confined to his room at the Apollo Gleneagles Hospital and there was no chance of his coming to the ground. However, the Pakistan team management was guardedly optimistic that his condition – a chest infection and the flu – would improve significantly by Thursday.”We are hopeful he will be well enough to make it to practice tomorrow,” said Ali. “The doctors will take another look at him later today [Wednesday] and he may be discharged.”Umar Gul, who did not make the eleven in the first Test, which India won by six wickets, bowled at full steam in the nets and has recovered fully from a back niggle; he should be able to step in should Shoaib not be fit in time. The Pakistan management, not taking any chances, gave Mohammad Sami the day off.Misbah-ul-Haq was suffering through flu off-and-on through the Delhi Test, and did not take the field, but his condition has improved significantly and he was still able to bat through the illness.The Indian team, in contrast, had no real fitness worries. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was struggling with an ankle injury, went through a full practice session, monitored closely by John Gloster, the physiotherapist, and Greg King, the trainer. Dhoni, who was initially involved in hitting slip catches, later took catches fired at him from short range by Robin Singh, the fielding coach, and King, who stood a few metres apart and hit balls alternatively to Dhoni, making him stretch from one side to the other in the course of taking his catches. Later Dhoni repeated the exercise while half lying on the field, ensuring that he had could not use his feet and had to lunge to his left and right.Murali Kartik suffered a minor yet painful blow when he collided with Venkatesh Prasad, India’s bowling coach, during one of the warm-up games that the team plays. This left him with a rather sore and cut lower lip, but was otherwise fine.