Nothing seems to be going our way: Sehwag

          Virender Sehwag admitted his team would find it tough to make the play-offs in the IPL.

Delhi Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag on Thursday conceded that it has become difficult for his team to reach the play-offs of the Indian Premier League after suffering a 17-run defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders.

The Delhi team lost their fifth overall match in the tournament to languish at the bottom of the points table with just four points from seven outings.

"It's difficult and pressure is on us. We have to pull ourselves and really bat and bowl in coming games," Sehwag told reporters at the post-match press conference.

But the skipper sounded optimistic and said they still have an outside chance of making it to the next stage.

"Nothing is impossible. We can still back ourselves from here on and if we win two three games from here on, then it's possible for us but yes it's quite difficult," Sehwag added.

Kolkata Knight Riders comprehensively beat Delhi to notch up their fourth win in the IPL while Delhi suffered their fifth loss in the tournament and their road to recovery from here on looks pretty bleak.

Sehwag added that he has to back his own performance in order to turn around Daredevils' fortune.

"I have only got one fifty in the seven games. So I need to look at my performance also. If I get going it will be difficult for other teams to come back," the Delhi skipper said.

"I'll have to shoulder the responsibility and need to stay at the wicket for 12-15 overs. It will be good for my team," he said.

Sehwag defended his decision to send Travis Birt ahead of in-form Y Venugopal Rao, saying, "We thought a left-hander would be a better option against left-arm spinner. But nothing seems to be going our way.

"None of our plans are working. T20 game is like that only. Probably we will send Venu and Naman Ojha up the order in the coming games," he said.

His opposite number Gautam Gambhir lauded his bowlers for defending a modest total like 148.

"We just played very well as a team. We bowled and fielded well. It just goes to show how desperate we were for a victory," he said.

"If we can continue like this, definitely it will help our campaign. I am satisfied with the all-round performance today."

About man-of-the-match Manoj Tiwary, who scored a 47-ball unbeaten 61 to help his team's cause when wickets were falling at the other hand, the KKR skipper said, "He set the game for us. The entire credit goes to him for setting the game for us. He played a good innings."

About KKR's fielding today, Gambhir said they saved 15-20 runs which meant that the opposition had to chase a score of around 160-165 runs.

"When you start defending the modest totals, it gives you confidence for the games ahead. We defended the target and it has acted like a confidence-booster for us," he said.

He also defended Yusuf Pathan, who has been off-colour in this tournament so far.

"He has hardly played enough. He is hitting the ball good and till the time, he sticks to our game-plan, he remains a very important member of our scheme of things," Gambhir said.

I am available for WI tour: Harbhajan

                                     Harbhajan Singh has no intention of skipping the West Indies tour.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said that he would be available for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies but wasn't aware of the plans of other senior players.

"I have no idea from where the news (of senior players opting out of West Indies tour) have poured in. As far as I am concerned, I am available for the tour," Harbhajan said.

"As far others are concerned neither have I spoken to anybody nor has anyone spoken to me. We will be playing three Tests there and I don't want to miss any of those," he said.

Talking about the winning streak of the Mumbai Indians, Harbhajan said that he was happy the way things were going.

"I am happy with the way things have gone till now. We have been through rough patches but one player or the other has been able to pull us through. Like in the last match Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds batted well to help us to a reasonable score, which we defended successfully," he said.

Asked about the good form of Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne, Harbhajan said: "He is a great cricketer and the greatest spinner. I would be talking to him to get tips so that I can prolong my international career."

Harbhajan also praised his MI teammate Ambati Rayudu, saying that the Hyderabadi is a "special talent".

"It would also be a challenge for players like Rayudu to face a great spinner (in Warne). Rayudu is a special talent and we always knew that. He was unfortunately lost in between but lately he has been performing well. He is capable of filling in the big shoes of great Indian batsmen like VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid," he added.

Hashan Tillakaratne alleges match-fixing in Lanka

                 New selector Duleep Mendis with Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage.

Dropping a bombshell, former Sri Lanka skipper Hashan Tillakaratne has claimed that match-fixing is common in his country since 1992 and promised to reveal names of those involved soon.

Tillakaratne, who played 83 Tests and 200 ODIs for Sri Lanka, made the sensational claim while appearing in a TV show.

"I can tell this in agreement with my conscience. Match fixing is not something that started happening yesterday or today. According to my knowledge, it happened since 1992. I say this with great responsibility," Tillakaratne said.

Tillakaratne, who was Sri Lanka's captain between April 2003 and March 2004, said people involved in the menace have been successful in burying the issue with money power but promised to expose them soon.

"There were threats of this issue being exposed during various times. But it was pushed down by giving money to various people. If the people who were responsible for that are listening to this, I state this today with great responsibility, I will shortly reveal the names of those responsible," he said.

Tillakaratne, who led the side in 10 Tests during his tenure as captain, stopped short of calling the World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka a fixed match but had some reservations about the team selection.

"I am not saying that this match (The world cup final) was fixed. But anyway match fixing is something which has been in this country over a period of time. This has spread like a cancer today," he said.

"Why were four players changed for this match? Those are questions that should be asked. Arjuna (Ranatunga) spoke about this, we who have played cricket talk about this. We were playing an entirely different side.

"Why was Mendis removed to put another spinner, Kapugedara was never among runs but he was chosen to replace Chamara Silva. It is not fair, is it?" a report in the Daily Mirror quoted him as saying.

The former Lankan skipper also doubted the timing of the selection of the World Cup squad.

"The world cup team was selected on the (January) 7th. I questioned at a TV show why this team was picked on the day before the IPL auction. The IPL auction was on the (January) 8th. Then it was said that we have time when we pick the team before the IPL auction and it was said that we have enough time as there were ten more days. Those were the excuses given.

"Also at the provincial tournament on the (January) 11th, 12th and 13th, we had the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the finals. If Sri Lanka Cricket conducted a tournament, we could have watched those tournaments and picked the team two or three days later. If that happened, I believe another two or three players could have replaced some of the players. I had my doubts whether it was the best team that was picked.

"In this country, there is a side which you don't know but I know. We discussed this. Inquire into this. Anyone can investigate this. Why was the team picked before the IPL?" he asked.

Tillakaratne said it was a vicious circle and the way things are moving, Sri Lanka would soon surpass Pakistan in terms of fixing.

"This has been happening since 1992 and I know all the people who are connected to it. I say this with responsibility. It is just like a relay. I run my lap and hand over the baton to you, you complete your lap and give it to another. This is a network. No one can ever go out of it and no one can come into it

"This situation was always there. When it came out from time to time, it was quietly swept under the carpet. If someone doesn't intervene and stop this menace, within another two-three years in this country, with these politics, with these corrupt administrators, I believe this country won't be second to Pakistan in the near future," he said.

Three Pakistani cricketers -- Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammad Aamer -- were recently handed lengthy bans by the ICC on charges of spot-fixing.

MCA sorts out security issue with Mumbai police

The BCCI will not shift its matches from Mumbai after the issues it had with the police have been so

The Mumbai Cricket Association officials have sorted out the controversial issue of the need for Cricket Board officials to have police accreditation for entering their own offices inside the Wankhede Stadium during the ongoing Indian Premier League.

"We had a meeting today with Additional Commissioners of Police, Mr Naval Bajaj and Mr Madhukar Gavit, and other police officers and the issue has been sorted out. The issue was only with police passes. They (police) will now honour the accreditation issued by the BCCI," said Ratnakar Shetty, Treasurer of the MCA.

"The IPL matches on May 24 and 25 would be held at the Wankhede Stadium as scheduled," he added.

Shetty, who is also BCCI Chief Administrative Officer, and MCA Vice-President Dilip Vengsarkar met the police officials, a day after the issue had been raised at the BCCI's Working Committee meeting on Wednesday.

Thursday's meeting lasted for around two hours. The Board officials were upset at the need for them to sport police accreditation in addition to their own identity cards for entering the Cricket Centre housed inside the stadium, the home venue for IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

The BCCI even threatened to shift the first two IPL play-off games scheduled for May 24 and 25 at the stadium and gave the MCA officials three days' time to sort out the matter with the city police.

Deputy Police Commissioner (Operations) Rajkumar Vhatkar told reporters that henceforth the police personnel would not be handling the security inside the stadium but would continue to man the surroundings.

"The security responsibility inside the stadium would be taken care of by the MCA's private security staff. Police would be deployed outside the stadium only for the IPL matches," Vhatkar said on Thursday.

"It will be left to the MCA's security staff to decide whom to allow or not allow inside the stadium with or without accreditation. If they don't have police passes, we would not object," he said.

The frisking of the spectators would also be done by the private security staff, Vhatkar added.

Only on Wednesday, Vhatkar had insisted that police credentials were a must to enter the stadium.

"Thorough security checking is required. Not even the city Police Commissioner is allowed to enter the ground without police accreditation. Then why are the BCCI officials making an issue out of it? Egos should be kept aside when it comes to security of thousands of people," he had said.

"We will not compromise with security. We have taken heightened security measures keeping in mind the safety of thousands of spectators, cricketers and all others present inside the ground. We cannot put all these people's security at stake because some people have ego problems," he had asserted.

Home Minister RR Patil said IPL matches would not be pulled out of the Wankhede Stadium.

"We will ensure that people and players are safe and the security personnel do not trouble them," he told reporters.

Patil admitted that there were a few complaints from BCCI over the security arrangements, but they have been sorted out now.

Preview: Mumbai vs Rajasthan, Match 34

Shane Warne will need something special from his troops to stop a strong Mumbai.

With Mumbai establishing an early superiority in IPL-4, all teams go up against them as underdogs. Mumbai had done the same thing in the league stages of IPL-3, but this time they have an even stronger team, with no glaring chinks at all. Thus every match against them is a chance for the opponent to up their confidence a fair bit if they can get to victory and that is exactly what Rajasthan will be aiming at.

Mumbai Indians:

Their only weak link - if it can be called such - is the question of what would happen to the rest of the attack if Malinga has a bad off-day. It is not much of a weak link, since in their 5 victories so far, Mumbai have seen Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel be man-of-the-match once each for their bowling skills. The batting is packed with match-winners from the top-down with Sachin Tendulkar once again leading the run-charts. Ambati Rayudu has only grown, while Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds have shown that in the rare event of a top-order failure, they can do the job pretty well themselves too. And then there is Kieron Pollard lurking at Number 6 - yet to have a proper hit, yet to score a run in fact and still amongst the most dangerous men to have at that spot in the order.

Mumbai have gone back to Davey Jacobs as their fourth foreign player and he has done a pretty good job of taking the bowlers on in the initial overs and allowing Tendulkar just that bit of extra time to settle and anchor and the innings. They have talented players such as T Suman and Clint McKay on the bench, but on the principle of 'don't fix it if it ain't broke', no place has been found in the playing eleven for them so far.

Rajasthan Royals:

Rajasthan are currently in the top half of the points table with 7 points, but they haven't looked convincing always. Unlike Mumbai, Rajasthan depend heavily on 2-3 players to deliver superstar performances and rely on efficient team-work from the rest to pull through. Those players are Shane Watson, Ross Taylor and Shane Warne. Of the three, Taylor has had a pretty average outing so far, while Watson has had some good contributions but is yet to hit his straps. Warne has been outstanding though and apart from one match in which he got caned, he still looks like he could walk into any international eleven with the turn, the fizz and the bag of tricks intact.

Rajasthan will need solid contributions from Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha - their other established stars - alongwith stand-out performances from one of the first three to challenge Mumbai. The fact that they are playing on home turf could help, but more than the home advantage they need their players to do well.

Evergreen Contest:

Sachin Tendulkar versus Shane Warne has been one of THE contests of the past decade and a half, and both have had their moments against the other. Will Tendulkar dance down the track and deposit Warne into the stands? Or will Warne spin one viciously across Tendulkar and grab the edge? One only hopes that Tendulkar is there at the crease when Warne comes on to bowl to see the old masters at it once again.

First to give chance to youngsters: Mohsin

Misbah ul Haq and Wahab Riaz celebrate after Pakistan won the ODI series against West Indies.

Former Pakistan batsman Mohsin Khan has credited himself as being the first national selection committee chief to really give opportunities to new players and build a new look national side.

Mohsin said that in the past selectors had claimed about blooding new players but given few chances to youngsters.

"I think the present selection committee is the first one to properly work on a plan to blood new players and build a new team," Mohsin said.

"We have already taken this bold step of resting some senior players and sending some new players to the West Indies with the consultation of the captain and coach," he said.

The former Test opener said while he was satisfied with the progress shown by some new players, the batsmen, in particular, needed to learn to build innings.

"I have played Test cricket and I know that if one wants to play cricket for a long time, 30s and 40s are not enough to keep you going. These new players need to learn to convert good starts into big scores," he said.

"They need to look at the greats we have produced like Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and see how they built their innings and went for big scores," he said.

Mohsin also denied suggestions that he was a yes-man to the Pakistan Cricket Board.

"Pakistan is not the only country that has system of having paid selectors. That does not mean we don't take decisions on merit. Our system is such that all teams need to be approved by the Chairman of the board and we follow that procedure," he stated.

Mohsin said he himself had struggled hard to become a Pakistan player and he as chief selector would never ignore merit.

"Look, unintentionally mistakes can be made by us as well, but we have always tried to reward the good performers," said Mohsin.

He also denied that he as chief selector was afraid to face the media and that was why preferred to announce teams through press releases.

"That is a policy decision of the board that teams will be announced through press releases. I have no issues facing the media and announcing the teams before them or taking questions from them," he said.

Mohsin said the present selection committee was working on a long term plan to build strong national T20, one-day and Test squads.

"It will take some time but we are slowly getting there and that is why we are introducing new players in every series."

Pune, Kochi short payment to be discussed at BCCI meet

The Cricket Board's all-powerful Working Committee will discuss the shortfall in the annual payment made by two new Indian Premier League franchises Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors, in its meeting on Wednesday.

The two franchises have paid only 75 per cent of the bid amount due to the BCCI and withheld the remaining 25 per cent as they feel the Board has not fulfilled the clauses in the Invitation to Tender in total with regard to the number of matches this season, according to sources.

As per the clause, each team was to play 18 matches on a home and away basis, but the BCCI reduced the number to 14 per franchise and brought down the total number of matches from 94 to 74, including four in the play-off stage, to avoid player burn-out.

Pune and Kochi franchises were bought from BCCI with successful bids of USD 370 million (Rs 1800 crore) and USD 333 million (Rs 1500 crore) respectively and each year 10 per cent of the amount was to be paid to the BCCI by them.

"They have written to us on the matter and it would be taken up at the Working Committee," said BCCI chief Shashank Manohar.

Apart from this issue, the organisation of the World Cup held jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, would also come up for discussion, as per indications.

Manohar said a few days ago that the appointment of a new coach for the Indian team to replace successful coach Gary Kirsten, who quit the post after the country's triumphant run in the World Cup, would not be discussed at the meeting as there was enough time before the squad's tour to the West Indies in June.

Dhoni played innings of his life in WC final: Yuvi

Flamboyant all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who was named World Cup's man-of-the-tournament, on Tuesday complimented Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his match-winning knock of 91 not out in the final of the mega event, terming it as the Indian skipper's best-ever innings.

"It was a dream come true. As M.S. (Dhoni) said (earlier) I did not know what to do. I wanted to jump on M.S. and keep jumping on him. He had just played the innings of his life," the flamboyant batsman said about the Indian skipper's masterly innings, in the latter's presence.

The Ranchi-born wicketkeeper-batsman had promoted himself to number 5 above in-form Yuvraj and simply took away the game from Sri Lanka by slamming two sixes and eight fours in his 79-ball masterpiece at the Wankhede Stadium.

Dhoni, only the second captain after Kapil Dev to lead India to the game's showpiece trophy, put on 109 runs for the fourth wicket with Gautam Gambhir (97) and an unfinished 5th stand of 46 with Yuvraj, who remained unbeaten on 21.

"It was the highlight of my career. To win the World Cup after 28 years, was very special. Can't explain the feelings," said Yuvraj who scored 362 runs in 9 matches averaging 90-plus and also grabbed 15 wickets with his left arm slow bowling.

Dhoni, for his part, conceded he had gone blank after hitting the winning shot, a six.

"I was quite blank at that point of time. I didn't know how to celebrate. Then I saw Yuvraj's 6-foot, 2-inch (frame) coming towards me. I thought, he's not going anywhere; let me get to the stumps (souvenirs) first," said Dhoni at the event organised by Reebok to felicitate the triumphant team members.

Yuvraj said he worked hard to make a memorable comeback into the Indian squad after being dropped from both the Test and ODI teams last year.

"Last year was not a great one. I suffered a lot of injuries, but I received a lot of support from my teammates and people close to me. I kept on working hard and performed at the right time," he said.

Dhoni also talked about the importance of fielding and fitness. "Of course we have to put in a 100 per cent effort (to keep fit). Fielding is an integral part. Twenty overs (games) are said to be demanding but in 50 overs (games) you have to maintain intensity throughout," he said.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said for him the team always came first. "Whenever there is a time to celebrate I celebrate. That's the way I have always been. I am there always for the team, the team comes first," he said.

Leg spinner Piyush Chawla and big-hitting all-rounder Yusuf Pathan also shared their memorable World Cup moments.

"I felt very good to take the World Cup in my hand. We played well," said Pathan.

"I don't have words to describe those feelings. It was a dream come true for me. For me it was a special feeling as it was my first home series. That (triumph) is something I will cherish all my life," he said.