Cricket

England captain Andrew Strauss has said his side has an excellent chance of winning the World Cup in the Indian sub-continent despite a 6-1 defeat to Australia in the recent One-day series. Strauss said England were not tired despite playing for over three months at a stretch and his boys were now "motivated and excited" to play the International Cricket Council's showpiece event starting on Saturday. "We have had a lot of very good one day cricket for the last 18 months or so. We did not play so well in Australia, which is disappointing to us. But we've got a solid squad, a settled side," Strauss said in the Bangladeshi capital. "We really feel we can do very well in the tournament. We are excited about it," he said, adding: "We here to win it, obviously - no doubt about that. I think we feel like we have got excellent chance." The English captain said triumph in last year's World Twenty-20 cricket has boosted the team's...

Piyush Chawla spun India to victory against Australia with four wickets in the warm-up game, but his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the leg-spinner will also have to perform with the bat if he wants to play a vital role in the World Cup. Dhoni said it was heartening to see Chawla (4/31) bowl but reminded the leggie that he was included in the 15-member World Cup team as a spinning all-rounder. "It was good to see Piyush (Chawla) among wickets but he needs to contribute with the bat as well. If he can contribute 15-20 runs with the bat it will be very helpful for the side," Dhoni said after India beat Australia by 38 runs in a warm-up game. "But as a specialist spinner he has done really well," he said of Chawla, whose inclusion in the 15-member Indian World Cup squad was hotly debated. Stating that there has been healthy competition in the team for places in the playing eleven, Dhoni said performance of the middle-order still remains a concern going into...