India in South Africa

After being outplayed by the hosts for the better part of the one day series, India brace themselves up for the bigger challenge in the longer version of the game.
The party moves on to Chatsworth for a three-day practice match against a South Africa 'A' side. This is the only game the visitors have before the first Test begins at Bloemfontein over the week end and so every thing needs to be got right.
All the players who joined the side for the Test series are likely to be given a game.
Skipper Ganguly and Rahul Dravid are most likely to sit out. Anil Kumble will be leading the side. The South Africa 'A' side on the other hand has a few promising players including Charl Langeveldt, Adam Bacher and David Terbrugge in the team.

The teams for today's game:

India: Anil Kumble (Capt), Shiv Sundar Das, Connor Williams, Venkatsai Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag, Deepdas Gupta, Sameer Dighe (wk), Venkatesh Prasad, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, 12th man: Harbhajan Singh.

S.A. President's XI: Adam Bacher (Capt), Jacques Rudolph, Pieter Koortzen, Loots Bosman, Ashraf Mall, Kruger van Zyk, Goolam Bodi, Albie Morkel, Garnett Kruger, David Terbrugge, Charl Willoughby;

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Rahul Dravid was taken to Cape Town for a precautionary X-ray to his right shoulder, after he complained of pain in the area. Dravid has been having the additional burden of keeping wickets as well in the past two matches and the strain could be telling on him.

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The former President of the BCCI Raj Singh Dungarpur has lashed out at the Karnataka duo of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad saying they should no more be included in the national team.
He said Srinath and Prasad had served Indian cricket well and like all good things their careers have also come to an end.
He also hit out against the selectors for not including Nayan Mongia in the Test squad for South Africa stressing that he would like to know the exact reasons for the exclusion of the Baroda stumper.

The England tour

English Cricket officials said there was no question of calling of the tour of India despite anti US demonstrations in Mumbai a few days ago.
John Carr, director operations the ECB, said he had spoken to the British High Commissioner in Delhi, Sir Rob Young, on Saturday who assured them security situation had not worsened as far as the England team was concerned.
The England players have been given until Friday to decide if the want to make the tour or not.

Khaleej Times Trophy, Sharjah

Zimbabwe collapsed to their 14th consecutive loss in one-day internationals when they lost to Pakistan by 106 runs in the 3rd match of the Khaleej Times Trophy.
Batting first, Pakistan piled up a formidable total of 279-6 in 50 overs, with Shahid Afridi (67) and Saeed Anwar (64) being the main scorers.
For Zimbabwe, apart from valiant innings by S Carlisle (43) and A Flower (51) there was nothing much to talk about. They collapsed to 173 all out in 39.1 overs.

Miscellaneous

The Newly elected president of the BCCI Jagmohan Dalmiya said his main priority would be to upgrade the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
He said that trips abroad and playing against good opponents is an absolute must for players in the under-19 level.
Dalmiya also said that he would be talking to the government about India's participation in tournaments in Sharjah and Singapore.
Dalmiya also said that India was willing to host the 2002 ICC Knock out if the government assured the Board of tax exemption.

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Brett Lee and Damian Martyn both coming back from injuries performed with the bat and ball to ensure their places in the first Test against New Zealand at Brisbane beginning on November 8.
Lee took five wickets for New South Wales against South Australia and appeared to be bowling with a good rhythm.
The only question mark as far as the Australians are concerned is the fitness of their skipper Steve Waugh.
The Test squad will be named this week. Australia's other fast bowlers Jason Gillespie and Glen McGrath also appeared to be in good form in their interstate matches.

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India meets Pakistan on at Centurion on 1 March 2003 in the World Cup to be hosted by South Africa.
Dr Ali Bacher director of the tournament said 12 key matches have be scheduled on weekends to ensure maximum television and live spectators.
An estimated 1.2 billion people are expected to tune into watch the 2003 World Cup the biggest to be held so far.
The matches will be played in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe. Dr Bacher said although the political situation in Zimbabwe is a cause for worry it is being monitored carefully.

Quick Single

Australia's Damien Fleming made history of sorts on Australia's 1994-95 tour of Pakistan for different reasons. He took a hat-trick on debut and went through all the rest of the tour without scoring a single run.

Said on air!

"I'll hit you if you, don't shut up" - Geoff Boycott to Tony Greig on Channel 9

Scores at a glance

Khaleej Times Trophy
Zimbabwe vs Pakistan (3rd match)
Played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Toss: Pakistan

Pakistan: 279-6 in 50 overs (S Afridi 67S Anwar 64, A Razzaq 45)
Zimbabwe: 173 in 39.1 overs (S Carlisle 43, A Flower 51; S Malik 3-42, S Afridi 2-21)

Result: Pakistan won by 106 runs
Man of the match: S Afridi (Pak)

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