Rain forecast may cause delayed start of first Test

Intermittent rains on Tuesday and the prediction of more showers in the coming two days could disrupt the first cricket Test between India and England, beginning on Thursday.

Meteorological Centre Regional Director S R Ramanan told PTI that one or two spells of rains was suppose to lash city in the next 48 hours."For the next 48 hours, there would be one or two spells of rain and cloudy weather conditions would prevail due to activity of the North East Monsoon over Tamil Nadu," he said.

"There is no alert of low pressure or depression in the Bay of Bengal. This is only a normal monsoon activity.

Gradual reduction of rain fall was expected from Thursday, the day that the first Test was to commence," he added.City has been experiencing intermittent rain forcing the Indian team to abandon their practice session, which was delayed from morning to the afternoon, while the England team already in the stadium also faced the same fate.

England team arrived here last night to commence their short tour of India with the first Test but was denied of any practice at the Chepauk grounds so far due to constant drizzle.

Reaching the stadium around 2.00 pm the English were forced to stay indoors at the stadium dressing room, while the Indian could have their sessions for over an hour and were forced to abandon it, also due to rain.In fact, the Indian team which was scheduled to have their practice session from 10.00 am rescheduled their plan to 12.30 pm this afternoon.

The two-Test series was originally scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai, but was shifted to Chennai and Mohali for security reasons after the Mumbai terror attacks.

India-England series should go on: ICC

The International Cricket Council on Sunday said the two-Test series between India and England should be held as scheduled provided there was enough safety and security for the players and officials.

The world governing body of the game expressed 'shock' over the Mumbai terror strikes and also promised to address the security issue which was affecting the game worldwide.

"If safety and security allow then I would urge the England Test tour of India to go ahead and if it does so then representatives of the ICC will be there to show solidarity with the competing teams," ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

"And if those Tests are played I would also urge supporters of the game to attend them as that will be the best way to send a message to those who seek to disrupt our way of life, that we will not be prevented from doing what we want or what we enjoy," Lorgat added.

Lorgat commiserated with India in the wake of the Mumbai mayhem which claimed nearly 200 lives but urged cricket playing nations not to let terror affect the game in any part of the world.

On behalf of the ICC, I would like to offer the condolences and sympathy of the entire cricket world to Mumbai and to India in the wake of the terrible events of the last few days."Sadly, terrorism appears increasingly to be a fact of life that we must endure.

What we as a cricket family must do is to try, wherever possible, to rise above it and show that those who wish to perpetrate evil cannot win," he said.

Lorgat said they will ponder over the issue of security at next week's Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) meeting of the ICC to be held in South Africa."At that meeting I intend to raise the question of how we can all come together to address the challenges that the issue of safety and security brings to our game.

"Cricket is a common thread that binds all ICC Members and we must seek to ensure those ties endure. By doing so we will ensure our strong sport will grow even stronger," added Lorgat.

ICC also pledged support to the India and England cricket boards to help game get back on track.I have today written to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) pledging whatever support the ICC can offer to help ensure that, if appropriate, cricket goes ahead."I have also written to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with a similar offer of support and solidarity," Lorgat said through the statement.

Boycott ICL and IPL, Latif tells Pakistan players

Karachi: Strongly reacting to reports linking Mumbai terror attack to Pakistan, former skipper Rashid Latif on Monday said their cricketers should boycott the IPL and ICL even as pace legend Wasim Akram felt the sport could be a platform to dispel the growing tension between the countries.

Rashid said he was appalled by the manner in which Indian media and government functionaries had tried to implicate Pakistan in the Mumbai attacks.

"What happened in Mumbai is wrong but Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism. And it is so unfair the way they are trying to drag us into this incident," he said, adding clear message has to be sent to India that Pakistan was not prepared to accept blind accusations.

"Our players must pull out of the IPL and ICL and send a clear message to the Indians. As it is I have a feeling very soon the extremist elements in India will try to stop our sportsmen and artists from working in India," he said.

He also advised the Pakistan Cricket Board to stop pleading with the Indians to send their team to Pakistan.

"If they can't come to Pakistan then we shouldn't also go there for any cricketing activity. The security situation is the same in Pakistan and India," he said.

Rashid also said if England went ahead with their Tests in India it would show double standards on part of western countries who refuse to tour Pakistan due to security concerns.
While Rashid was fuming, Akram struck a conciliatory note.

England ready for India tour after venue change

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has put an end to the speculations over England cricket team's returning to India for the two-Test series as it has agreed to send the team to India for the Test series.

The first Test that was to be played in Ahmedabad from 11 to 15 December has been shifted at Chennai, while Mohali will now be hosting the second Test starting from 19 to 23 December.

The three-day tour match has been called off.However, ECB will be sending their security consultant for discussions with the Authorities in India before final clearance is given for the Tour.

India almost steal 2nd place in ODI championship

South Africa retains place by a fraction of a point; England lose ground in sixth position as Sri Lanka strengthens position.

Third-placed India has reduced the gap with South Africa in second position on the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table to a fraction of a ratings point following its successful ODI series against England.

With the postponement of the final two ODIs in the series, India lost the chance to go second on the table but by winning the series 5-0, the home team gained four ratings points and now sits on 119, the same number as South Africa but behind the Proteas when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point.

One more win for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men would have put them into second position but it wasn't to be and they will now have to wait until their next series for the opportunity to make further inroads.

England, on the other hand, has suffered the effects of that comprehensive series defeat by losing five ratings points and is now under pressure in sixth place from Sri Lanka, whose 5-0 series victory over Zimbabwe has put it within one point of Kevin Pietersen's team.

Despite being competitive in several of those games, Zimbabwe loses further ground to Ireland in 10th position and is now only two ratings points in front of Kenya in 12th.Australia is still on top of the ICC ODI Championship and with Test cricket set to dominate the international schedule for the next few weeks, that situation is not likely to change any time soon.

Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship (as of 1 December)Rank Team Rating

1 Australia 131

2 South Africa 119

3 India 119

4 Pakistan 114

5 New Zealand 113

6 England 108

7 Sri Lanka 107

8 West Indies 91

9 Bangladesh 47

10 Ireland 19

11 Zimbabwe 13

12 Kenya 11

Indian terror attacks could affect cricket economy

The terror attacks in India can have serious repercussions on world cricket's economy because India generates 70 percent of the game's revenues.

England cut short their seven-match ODI series in India, leaving their next month's two-Test series in doubt. The Twenty20 Champions League has also been postponed after the Mumbai mayhem.England's decision not to play the last two one-dayers may trigger a compensation issue.

"If you look at Pakistan and Sri Lanka, they quite clearly have their own political difficulties. India has always floated just below the surface," Jonathan Ticehurst, a sports insurance expert and director of Long Reach insurers, was quoted as saying by The Times.

"I think what the last 24 hours has shown us is that, all of a sudden, India is right in the frontline when it comes to terrorism. As a consequence, the insurance market will significantly increase the premium rate they require to cover the cancellation of sporting events in India.

"The revenue of the postponed Champions League was estimated at $15 million and one Indian insurance company won the bid to insure the tournament for a meagre $30,000.

"The London market quoted $60,000 for the abandonment for the entire tournament. That shows you how they regarded the Indian risk. It isn't going to be $60,000 next year," Ticehurst said.The cancellation of the league has also burnt a hole in Australian cricket's pocket.

Western Australia and Victoria will miss out on the minimum $250,000 for competing teams, while Cricket Australia (CA) - a 25 percent stakeholder in the tournament - estimates that its losses are in the millions. The winners would have bagged a whopping $3 million.

"CA is losing quite a lot. It's millions of dollars. Again, this whole issue and all of the problems in Mumbai are bigger and greater than cricket. We fully understand that these things happen. Unfortunately that's how it is.

There are a lot of people worse off than us," CA chief executive was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.Andy Sutherden, managing director of sports marketing and sponsorship for Hill & Knowlton, said sports tourism will be hit hard.

"The loss of revenue for those staying at home will be significant. I think there will be a crisis of confidence in attending sport in this part of the world and confidence is quite a difficult thing to win back at speed," Sutherden said.

Andrew Wildblood, a senior vice-president and corporate director for India at IMG and one of the architects of the Indian Premier League (IPL), hoped that things would return to normalcy.

"It's too early to say but generally when these things happen, the world returns to normality, otherwise the world would stop. But normal now is not what normal was pre 9/11. These circumstances cannot be planned for," he said.

England's decision to return home lauded

London: England cricketers' decision to abandon the One-Day series against India and return home after the terror attack in Mumbai has been backed by the nation's cricket fraternity, which termed it a 'sensible' move.

Kevin Pietersen's men, trailing 0-5 in the seven-match ODI series, decided to return home after cancelling the remaining two matches in the wake of the devastating terror strikes in the financial capital of India.

Both the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) and its English counterpart are optimistic about England's return to India for the Test matches and in a bid to salvage the two-match series, the BCCI on Friday shifted the venue of the second Test from the terror-hit Mumbai to Chennai.

But if the English players are reluctant to travel back to India, they have an ally in former England and Wales Cricket Board Chairman Lord MacLaurin.

"It was absolutely the right decision to come home. The England cricket team are very high-profile individuals. If these fanatics are going to target people then the England cricket side could be a very big target for them," MacLaurin was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

"My own view is that I would be very, very surprised if the security people will give them the OK to go back. I don't think they should go back. I think it's sad for cricket but the safety of our players is absolutely paramount and I am sure the ECB will take the same view," he added.

Former England cricketers also backed the team management's decision to return, saying the situation in India was not safe for the players to stay back. "I'm sure they would have taken a lot of security advice.

Two one-day internationals may have been cancelled but if you look at the bigger picture there has been a devastating attack on the commercial capital of India and a lot of people have lost their lives," Solanki said.

Wicket-keeper Paul Nixon, who represents Leicestershire in county cricket and the World XI in ICL, lauded the rebel league management for calling off the World Series which was being held at Ahmedabad and said the Mumbai attack was too scary to continue playing cricket.

"Obviously the top board members of the ICL made the decision that it was getting too scary out there really for everybody's safety," Nixon said.

"It was horrific. The bombs in London . . . It's been exactly the same in India."

India shine bright in rain-hit tie, win series

Bangalore: Penetrative bowling by Indian seamers backed up by some superb fielding helped the hosts win the rain-curtailed fourth One-Day International against England by 19 runs and wrap-up the seven-match series 4-0 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.

After the tourists were set a target of 198 runs following the Duckworth-Lewis Method, England were bundled out for 178 for eight in 22 overs.

First to go in England chase was Ravi Bopara, who was caught brilliantly by a diving Ishant Sharma at mid-on off Munaf Patel for one with the tourists needing nine runs per over to reach the target.

In an unexpected move, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni brought in Yusuf Pathan ahead of Harbhajan Singh and England plundered the off-spinner for 17 runs with new man Owais Shah smashing two fours and one six in that over.

Shah, who chanced his arm too often, was then dropped by Gautam Gambhir at short mid-wicket off Harbhajan's first over on 29 though the off-spinner managed to get rid of Bell off the very next ball when he castled him for 12 off 15 balls.

But there was better news in store as a beauty from Ishant Sharma cleaned up England skipper Kevin Pietersen for just five runs bringing back the memories Ricky Ponting's dismissal by the pacer in Mohali during the Test series.

But England were kept in the hunt with a blazing 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Shah and Andrew Flintoff. Shah completed his half-century off just 35 balls including eight fours and one six. Flintoff was in blistering mood as he hit 15 runs off Harbhajan's third over, as the fourteen and fifteen overs yielded 26 runs in total.

Flintoff matched Shah stroke for stroke before Shah was caught by Sachin Tendulkar at short covers off Zaheer Khan during the batting power play after making a solid 72 off 48 balls with nine fours and three huge sixes.

Danger man Flintoff was then caught in the covers by Zaheer off Ishant Sharma after making 41 off just 30 balls with three fours and a six.

With the run-rate climbing all the time, the lower order batsmen tried to hit out but only succeeded in playing into India's hands as Samit Patel found out when he held out to Gambhir off Zaheer for 11 runs to reduce England to 161 for six with just two overs left.

Soon after Graeme Swann was run out for six and with time and overs running out for the visitors, Paul Collingwood was caught by Tendulkar at mid-wicket off Munaf Patel for 22 with just a ball left to get 19 runs for victory which Broad played and missed.

In the Indian innings, which was interrupted twice by rain, Virender Sehwag slammed a stroke-filled 57-balls 69 to take India to 166 for four in 22 overs in the rain-curtailed game. The Duckworth-Lewis method set England the 198-run target off 22 overs.

Sehwag, who made his intentions clear by dispatching the first ball of the game to the cover fence, was in terrific form and treated the English bowlers with disdain, slamming nine fours and three sixes before being caught by James Anderson on the long-on boundary off spinner Graeme Swann.
The dashing Delhi opener added 79 runs off 62 balls for the second wicket with Gautam Gambhir, who was dropped down to number three to accommodate Sachin Tendulkar to open the batting with Sehwag.

After the game was reduced to a 22-overs-a-side contest due to rain, India resumed play at 106-1 in 17 overs. Hence with the overs running out for the hosts, Sehwag and Gambhir went for runs. But soon both fell while trying to accelerate.

Gambhir held out to Anderson at long-on off Swann for 40, which came off 37 balls with seven hits to the fence.

Man-in-form Yuvraj Singh and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni then resorted to some lusty hitting to try and take India to a fighting total before the later was bowled by Samit Patel for nine.

Yuvraj remained not out on 25 off 11 balls with three sixes while Yusuf Pathan hit the only ball he faced off Patel for a six to post a competitive total.

The first rain interruption stopped play for two hours with the hosts on 85 for one off 14 overs.
The staff at Chinnaswamy stadium did a remarkable job to bring the ground back to playable conditions within two hours by employing four super-soppers.

The only wicket England managed before the rain interruptions was that of Tendulkar, who was bowled by Stuart Broad for 11 after adding 38 runs off 7.5 overs. Broad pegged back the highest run-getter's (in both One-Day and Tests) off stump.

Undaunted by the early departure of Tendulkar, Sehwag smashed Anderson for a boundary to bring up India's first fifty and then followed it up with a smashing six between long-on and mid-wicket.

After reaching his half-century with a couple, Sehwag unleashed a flurry of shots all round the wicket, including a four and a six off consecutive balls off Broad.

Sehwag also became the sixth Indian to cross 6000-run mark in One-Day cricket from 195 matches when he flicked Anderson for a four to move to 36 and join five other Indians, including batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin and Yuvraj Singh.

Sehwag and Gambhir, put on 68 runs off 9.1 overs before the skies opened up for the second time after the tourists had bowled just three overs forcing the umpires to suspend the match with Sehwag on 61 and Gambhir on 30.

Ishant fit to play in Kanpur ODI

Indian speedster Ishant Sharma, who could not take part in the first two ODIs due to injury, was declared fit to play the third ODI against England in Kanpur, scheduled to be played on November 20.

The lanky Ishant, who bagged the man-of-the-series in India's 2-0 Test series win over Australia missed the first two games against England with an ankle injury.

An MRI scan on his ankle revealed that it was just a minor sprain and it was suggested that he take a little rest.

If Ishant returns to action in Kanpur, either Munaf Patel or R P Singh will make way.England will play seven One-dayers and two Tests during their tour of India

ECB-IPL talks end in stalemate

Uncertainty remained over the participation of England players in next year's Indian Premier League with the talks between England and Wales Cricket Board and IPL here ended in a stalemate on the main issue of reciprocal release of players.

ECB president David Collier and chief executive Giles Clarke had a meeting here with IPL officials including its chairman Lalit Modi, but they failed to work out a solution that would make way for the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff play in India.

The two sides met in the hope of hammering out a reciprocal agreement with the ECB agreeing to release England players for the second season of the IPL, which is due to be staged between April 10 and May 29, in return for Indian players being made available for the 2010 English Premier League.

Though there was no official announcement from either the IPL or the ECB, but sources said the talks ended in a stalemate though the two parties have agreed to meet again to pursue the matter in the next couple of weeks."The talks were constructive but the discussions have broken up without any agreement being reached.

The two parties have agreed to meet again soon in India for further negotiations," an IPL source said.Modi had been saying that while he would welcome England players in IPL they will have to play a substantial number of matches otherwise no franchise would be willing to buy them.

Among other topics discussed at the meeting were the future of Champions Twenty 20 League and whether English teams could feature in it after Kent were barred from entry because they fielded players from unsanctioned Indian Cricket League.
Anbu.

Yuvi's fitness only concern for confident India

With their confidence on a high after the landslide win in the opening ODI, in-form batsman Yuvraj Singh's back injury is India's only concern as they prepare to take on a battered England in the second one-dayer of the seven-match cricket series on Monday.

After drubbing the visitors by a massive 158 runs, the Indians are hoping that Yuvraj, who pummelled the English attack with an unbeaten 138, would be fit to take the field on Monday.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni says a final call on the attacking left-hander, who required a runner for most part of his innings in the Rajkot ODI, would taken just before the match.Pace spearhead Ishant Sharma, meanwhile, is all but out of the match after Dhoni admitted that his ankle sprain needs more time to heal.

England, on the other hand, have to battle low morale after the pasting they received at the hands of the marauding Yuvraj. Skipper Kevin Pietersen says his team would bounce back and come hard at India in the second clash.

But that looks easier said than done against an in-form Indian line-up, which did not show any sign of missing a stalwart in Sachin Tendulkar, who has been rested for the first three matches.It was Tendulkar's masterly batting that enabled India to tame Australia in the latter's lair in the triangular ODI series Down Under at the beginning of the year and his absence was surprisingly not even felt at Rajkot's Madhavrao Scindia ground.

The array of stroke-players that India possess in the batting line-up, starting with the potent opening combine of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir followed by Suresh Raina, Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma and Dhoni, must be causing not only envy but also awe among among the visiting team.

The Indian new ball bowlers Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel in particular extracted life even in the afternoon on what was a perfect belter in Rajkot while their England counterparts --led by the redoubtable Andrew Flintoff -- looked quite innocuous and failed to take advantage of whatever juice it possessed in the morning.

Pietersen's decision to ask India to take first strike must have been prompted by the array of pace bowlers at his disposal, but to his chagrin all of them were taken to the cleaners by the Indian batsmen.It is unlikely the South Africa-born batsman, who top-scored in England's reply with a confident and attractive 63 before he was run out, will repeat the same mistake henceforth."It's definitely disappointing to lose.

But there are six games left in the series and we intend to bounce back and hit India hard on Monday. We would give them a good run for the money", the England captain said after his team's humiliating defeat in the first ODI.

However, to achieve this he said the team has to improve in all aspects of the game.India, on the other hand, could not have asked for a better start to the seven-match series that concludes on December 2 at the Ferozshah Kotla ground in Delhi.

The mandatory new ball after 34 overs and the new Power Play rule, taken by India from 34th to 38th overs, also is a big advantage for big hitters.At the end of the 34th over, India were 216 for two giving a run-rate of 6.35 and the team added 171 runs in the last 16 overs at a whopping 10.6 per over, a clear indicator of the difference these two rules made to the overall picture.

Yusuf Pathan, who lasted just two balls after the electric start provided by the openers, could give way for left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha if the think tank feels that more variety is required in the spin department which had three off-spinners to fall back on at Rajkot.

England, meanwhile, are grappling with their problems of how to forge a potent bowling attack to take advantage of the wicket and weather conditions here.Samit Patel, who was set upon by Sehwag and Gambhir as soon as he was introduced to bowl, took two wickets but conceded 78 runs. With Monty Panesar not a part of the ODI fold, visitors' spin options are limited.

They are also missing the swing bowling of Ryan Sidebottom, who could have caused some problems with his movement as the other four -- Flintoff, Steve Harmison, James Anderson and Stuart Broad -- rely on pace and bounce more than movement in the air to get wickets.

Sidebottom has not played since suffering a heel injury during the Stanford Super Series of matches in the West Indies and even if passed fit, it is difficult to see him getting in without bowling extensively at the nets after having had such a long break.

The odds, thus, seem to be in India's favour ahead of the second ODI, but the home team needs to guard against complacency more than anything else.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Virendra Sehwag (Vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, R P Singh, Munaf Patel, Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay.

England: Kevin Pieternsen (Captain), Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Alastair Cook, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Andy Flintoff, Samit Patel Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steve Harmison, Luke Wright and Ryan Sidebottom.

Wadekar predicts 7-0 ‘brown-wash’ for England

Bangalore: Former Indian skipper and coach Ajit Wadekar predicted a 7-0 ‘brown-wash’ for the touring England team after their miserable 158-run defeat at the hands of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men in the first One-Day International at Rajkot on Friday.

"I think the Indians’ morale was very high, coming into this match, after their 2-0 victory against world champions Aussies in the Test series. They look like a team on a mission under Dhoni and I won’t be surprised if they sweep the seven-match One-Day series 7-0 as they have the ammunition to beat any team in the world right now," Wadekar told Cricketnext.com on Saturday.

"Personally, this team seems to be more talented than the one I lead during our twin tours of 1971 to the West Indies and England. Of course we beat both the West Indies and England at their own dens in a Test series, but the confidence shown by Dhoni, as captain, and the team, as a united force, tempts me to compare them with the 1971 victorious team," Wadekar added.
Stressing that the Indian team was well on their way to becoming the number one team in the world in all forms of the game, Wadekar said, all other teams will now want to beat India thereby making the task of Dhoni that much more harder to keep-up the winning streak.

"Even when I was the coach of the Indian team, I never saw this kind of total commitment and the hunger to demolish the opponents. The Indians totally demolished the Englishmen with clinical precision by outplaying them in all departments of the game. Dhoni and company will now have to be doubly careful as all other teams would want to beat India to prove a point or two," Wadekar observed.

"I think Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag seem to compliment each other perfectly and the middle order looks as solid as a rock with Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni himself looking in fine touch.

"However, one weak link that seems to be quite evident is Yousuf Pathan, who seems to be a misfit in this team. Dhoni must have had lot of faith in him to be promoted ahead of him in the batting order and bringing him on as a specialist spinner ahead of Harbhajan Singh unfortunately did not click," he added.

"However, it is impossible to get everything right and when a team wins by such a huge margin the team selection does not become prominent. But I am sure in the next match, Dhoni will surely replace Pathan with another specialist spinner as the batting looks well settled," Wadekar pointed out.

"I was also impressed with Zaheer Khan’s lion hearted bowling. This lad has become an important part of our pace attack. Even without Ishant Sharma, I think, the Indian pacers – Zaheer, Munaf Patel and Rudra Pratap Singh -- did well and Sehwag seems to be improving as a bowler with every match.

"So there are lots of plus points for the hosts to suggest that the Englishmen are in real trouble to save the One-Day series at the moment," he added.

Anbu.

Tough to beat formidable India: Collingwood

Bangalore: Former England skipper Paul Collingwood said it would be very difficult for England to beat the formidable India in the on-going seven match One-Day series as they are an energetic and aggressive outfit.

"This India side is different from the one that we played against at home last year, where we won 4-3 last year by beating Rahul Dravid’s men in the last game. Now they are a formidable side and England will find it tough to beat them as they a very energetic and aggressive side under a young captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni," Collingwood wrote in his column in The Times of India.

"In fact the story is not too different from our side as well as we too have a new skipper in Kevin Pietersen and he has also brought with him freshness in thought and approach. It is important to remember that the Australian team against which the Indians triumphed was without the players who formed their backbone for close to a decade," he adds.

"personally, I have no goals as such for this series, other than ensuring that we win once again, this time in India," he wrote

Anbu.