Australia in India 2010, Schedule

Date	Match Details	Time	Venue
Oct 01 - 05	India v Australia, 1st Test Ind won by 1 wickets	9.30	Mohali
Oct 09 - 13	India v Australia, 2nd Test	9.30	Bengaluru
Oct 17 - Sun	India v Australia, 1st ODI	9.00	Kochi
Oct 20 - wed	India v Australia, 2nd ODI*	14.30	Vizak
Oct 24 - Sun	India v Australia, 3rd ODI	9.00	Margao

Australia v Pakistan in England 2010

Sehwag continues his number one position in ICC Ranking

The glitzy Virender Sehwag continues his number one position in the ICC rankings for Test batsmen and India also held on to its top spot in the latest ICC ranking chart.

Virendar Sehwag is a leading the list with 863 points and is followed by South Africa's Hashim Amla (842) and Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene (836).

Left-handed opening batsman Gautam Gambhir (824) and Sachin Tendulkar (805) are the other two Indian batsmen in top-10 at number six and seven positions respectively.

VVS Laxman (14) and Rahul Dravid (16) also had their rankings unmoved.

In the bowlers list, India have two players in the top-10 with paceman Zaheer Khan placed at number six followed by spinner Harbhajan Singh at number 7.

In the teams list, India are at the top with 124 points followed by South Africa 120 points and Australia 119 points.

India in Sri Lanka Test Series 2010

Date	Match Details	Time(IST)	Venue
Jul 18 - 22	India v Sri Lanka, 1st Test Sri won by 10 wickets	10.00	Galle
Jul 26 - 30	India v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test Match Drawn	10.00	Colombo
Aug 3 - 07	India v Sri Lanka, 3rd Test Ind won by 5 wickets	10.00	Dambulla

Tri-angle Series In Sri Lanka, 2010

Laxman practices on grate for Sri Lanka tour

Leaving no stone untwisted in his preparation for next month's Sri Lanka tour, stylish batsman VVS Laxman is practising on grate wickets to fine-tune his technique against spinners.

VVS Laxman said playing spinners well would be critical to the team's success in Sri Lanka and he was not taking any chance.

"For the last two weeks, I have been practicing hard for the coming Sri Lanka tour. I am playing on the gravel pitches to fine-tune my technique as Sri Lanka has some quality spinners in Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan," said the elegant stroke player.

"They also have some other good slow bowlers like Rangana Herath. I want to do well and start the season on a high," he said.

"Two years back when we toured Sri Lanka we lost the series 1-2. This time we want to turn things around," said

India will tour Sri Lanka in July-August for a three-match Test series and a triangular one-day series with New Zealand as the 3rd team.

The first Test match will start on July 10 at Galle while the remaining two matches are scheduled in Colombo and Dambulla on July 18-22 and July 26-30 respectively.

It is, however, Australia which brings out the best in VVS Laxman and Laxman said he was waiting to strut his stuff against the old enemies when the Aussies tour India later this year.

"Australia will tour India in winter and it's always a great enjoyment to host them," Laxman said.

"Australia is a highly competitive side in Test cricket and I hope to present a tough challenge to them. We want to repeat our earlier performances on home soil where we have always won against them," he said.

Dwelling on the second-string Indian team playing a tri-series in Zimbabwe, Laxman said these are the players who would take over from the seniors.

"The team in Zimbabwe is a very talented one and the boys have that killer sense in them. The match against Sri Lanka was indication of this fact where they crushed them in a comprehensive manner. These youngsters are the future of the country," Laxman said.

Afridi will lead Pak in all three formats of Cricket

Pakistan's T20 skipper Shahid Afridi is all set to take over the wheel of the ODI and Test side as well for the upcoming Asia Cup and the tour of England.

Although the board was yet to make a formal announcement in this hold, sources confirmed that Afridi along with team manager Yawar Saeed today met Butt in his office to discuss the future tours where the glitzy all-rounder was offered the captaincy for all three formats of the game.

"The meeting also discussed the situation in view of yesterday's meeting of the National Assembly standing committee on sports which recommended that the bans and fines on players be removed," a source said.

"Afridi was asked by the chairman whether he had any problems accepting Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik back in the team and he said he was fine with their presence in the Test side," the source added.

This is the 1st time that Afridi will lead Pakistan in Tests and the all-rounder himself has not played any since mid 2006 in England.

"Yawar's presence indicates how powerful a role he is wielding these days in the cricket affairs because he was the one who convinced Afridi to make himself available for the Tests as well," another source said.

After their meeting, Afridi and Butt went into a discussion with the national selection committee at the Gaddafi stadium for the finalisation of the names of 30 probables for the Asia Cup and England tour.

Pakistan, after playing in the Asia Cup in June, will leave for England to play 2 Test series against Australia and then a 4 Test series against England.

They will also feature in four Twenty20 internationals and 5 one-dayers on the tour. Afridi recently led Pakistan in the T20 World Cup in the West Indies where they lost to Australia in the semi-finals.

My Test Cricket career is over: Shahid Afridi

Pakistan T20 Captain Shahid Afridi today made it clear that his Test career is over and will now focus only in one-day and Twenty20 cricket which he said is more suited to his attacking style.

Shahid Afridi, who is tipped to be named next week as skipper of the one-day side for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, ruled himself unavailable for Pakistan's six-match Test series in England this summer.

"Some of my well wishers and supporters wanted me to return to Test cricket. But it's the end of Test cricket for me and it's my firm decision," says Afridi.

"Now my focus is forthcoming Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, T20 and ODI series in England and next year's World Cup," he told a state owned news agency.

Afridi, who has not played a Test since 2006, agreed that his attacking style suited limited-over cricket more.

"To be frank, Test cricket has its own demands and it doesn't suit my style. I love to play in attacking manner and I get it from Twenty20 and ODIs," Afridi said.

Teammates were busy ogling at girls: Shahid Afridi

Pakistan T20 Skipper Shahid Afridi has alleged that some of his teammates were busy ogling girls and loafing around the border line line, not giving their 100 % in the team's unsuccessful tour of Australia earlier this year.

The leaked video tape of Pakistan Cricket Board's investigations showed Shahid Afridi questioning the pledge of some of his teammates, even though he said all the talks about match-fixing is something he too has heard but never found any evidence of.

"Some of the players, once they have made some honest runs with the bat, would think their job is done and would go to field in the deep," Afridi was shown as speaking.

"There they would be hectic chatting with the crowd, ogling girls and giving autographs. I have identified some players doing that. They just play for themselves," said Afridi, who was part of the team that lost all One day Internationals in Australia.

He was also dangerous of the then coach Intikhab Alam.

"Coach told me to lead the team in the fifth ODI just 40 minutes before the match and put needless pressure to win the toss."

"He said it would be all gloom and doom if we lose the toss. I interrupted him and asked why he was demoralizing players even before the toss? Why it would be all gloom and doom even if we just lose the toss?" Afridi asked.

On whether some of his teammates were involved in match-fixing, Afridi said, "I can say that more than being beaten, we gave away those matches."

"About match-fixing, I too have heard but have no evidence," said the all-rounder.