India captain Sourav Ganguly likes to get his team on to the field with a target in mind. Every player is assigned a role and it does not bother him how it is achieved.

"We go into the field with a target but it keeps changing. Players are also assigned roles. I just tell them the runs I want at a certain stage. How you get is your problem. I cannot ask somebody to hit out every ball because it might not be his game. He might still find his way to get six an over," Ganguly says.

"The same is true with bowlers who are given full liberty with the field they want. Only they must bowl according to the captain's requirement of whether to defend or attack. When they start, I give them the field they want because I want them to be comfortable. Many a times I do not agree but I still give them the field. Only I make my intentions clear whether I am trying to attack or defend," he adds.

Ganguly allows individuals to express their opinions and he says it is important to involve everyone for the team's good.

"I encourage them and they do express themselves. It is the sign of a healthy team. No way a team can survive on one person. It is my job to encourage people to speak. At the end of the day it is all eleven who will win you a game."

Indian cricket's first lady Dona Ganguly is still not sure whether she will be by flying out to South Africa to join husband Sourav.

"I have still not finalised my plans," Dona said.

Since India made it to the Super Six stage there's been speculation about when the players' wives joining their husbands in South Africa.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India had said the players' wives would be allowed to join them only after the team reaches the Super Six stage.

So far only Ajit Agarkar and Sanjay Bangar have been joined by their wives. Sourav has been in constant touch with his wife and other family members over phone since landing in South Africa.

"I speak to him regularly. He called me up last night also," Dona said.

Cricket is quickly catching up in the land of Diego Maradona and proof of this came when the Argentine Cricket Association won the inaugural award for the best run national body among Associate and Affiliate Members of the International Cricket Council.

The ACA has employed eight coaches to work on youth development and last March it successfully hosted the Americas Cricket Championship, securing a number of sponsors and hosted the South American Championships for the fourth time in five years.

The honour was in recognition of the major strides made by ACA in recent years and it now boasts a full-time staff in Buenos Aires.

On the African continent, Nigeria picked up the award for the best cricket promotional programme. The Howzat Cricket Foundation has introduced coaching, umpiring and administration courses to schools and youth organisations and organised tours for Nigerian age-group teams, a statement from the ICC said.

The award for the Volunteer of the Year went to Leona Ford in Cuba. Leona has been working on a full-time but voluntary basis from her home, co-ordinating coaching and training programmes for local and national cricketers.

BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sri Lankan fast bowler Chaminda Vaas have condemned the killing of Assam's Ranji cricket player Izaz Ahmed Hussain.

In a telephonic talk with Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Dalmiya demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the murder, sources said.

Vaas, who was an associate trainee with Hussain at the MRF Foundation, also condemned the murder in a message from South Africa.

Hussain was dragged out of his transport agency office in Assam by about 12 hired killers, who fatally injured him with sharp weapons in public view on March 5 before escaping towards neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, sources said.

Business rivalry is suspected to be the reason behind the killing. The police had so far booked three persons in connection with the murder.

Sandeep Patil will step down as Kenya coach at the end of the World Cup despite leading the country to a surprise semi-final place.

"I signed a four-year contract just after the last World Cup which ends at the conclusion of the tournament," Patil said after the side booked their place by downing Zimbabwe in a Super Six match.

"I have decided to return to India. I don't have a position to go back to, but Mr Dalmiya, the Indian board president, has shown an interest."

Patil, a member of India's World Cup-winning team in 1983, is now hoping to guide his new team to victory when the sides meet in the Durban semi-final on March 20.

"India are a great side. Our aim reaching the Super Six," he said. "It's a great feeling, we're happy and I'm sure people back home are happy for us as well," Patil said.

Even Steve Waugh's wife does not know whether he's going to retire or not, but, according to Glenn McGrath, Australia's Test captain is keen on touring India again.

Few Australian players are as close to Waugh and his wife Lynette as Glenn and Jane McGrath.

Like everybody else, says AAP, the McGraths have been trying to find out whether the 37-year-old Test skipper is about to hang up his boots, and like everybody else, they've been coming up with blanks.

"I would like to see him continue on," said McGrath.

"I am sure he has a few other things he would like to achieve yet and he's still a very good captain and still has something to offer the team."

Asked about Waugh's prospects after the upcoming four-Test series against West Indies, McGrath said: "I guess the sub-continent, more so India, is probably the one place we really haven't won yet.

"I am sure that is in the back of his mind. For him to go to India and win a Test series there, I think he would be pretty happy to call it a day if he was still playing. As a player, especially an Australian player, that's the one we haven't achieved yet."