Sachin returns to India's One-day squad


New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar was named in India's One-day squad for a five-match series in South Africa, ending a self-imposed 10-month lay-off from limited-overs cricket.


Tendulkar, 37, decided to rest from One-Day Internationals after smashing an unprecedented double-century against South Africa in Gwalior on February 24.


He missed 22 one-dayers this year, but a return was imminent for the away series in South Africa to prepare for the World Cup in South Asia in February-April.
Tendulkar, the world's leading run-getter, became the first batsman to score 50 Test hundreds during the opening Test at Centurion on Sunday.
The star batsman was included in a 16-man squad for the limited-overs contests which begin after the three-Test series ends on January 6.

Sarwan And Ramdin In West Indian World Cup Squad


The West Indies have named their 30-man preliminary squad for the 2011 World Cup, with experienced pace bowlers Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards missing out as they continue to recover from injuries.


Batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan and wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin - who were both not named in the recently-cancelled One-Day International series in Sri Lanka, are named in the squad.

Sangakkara replaces Tendulkar at number one

Tendulkar was dethroned from the top spot by Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara in the batting chart, but Indian pacer Zaheer Khan climbed to a career-high third in the bowling list of the ICC Test rankings issued on Monday.
Joining Sangakkara in the top 10 are South Africa's AB de Villiers, the current ICC ODI Player of the Year, and England's Jonathan Trott, both players entering the bracket for the first time.
De Villiers moved up eight places to fifth while Trott has risen to eighth position.
Siddle has risen to 14th after claiming 6-144 in the first Test at the Gabba while ICC Young Player of the Year Finn has broken into the top 20 in 19th place time after his six-wicket-haul.
However, Australia's Shane Watson has displaced England's Graeme Swann for fifth place after the 29-year-old scored 77 runs and claimed 1-96 during the first Ashes Test.

We won't be fooled by Johnson again: Pietersen


PERTH: England were blindsided by the intensity of paceman Mitchell Johnson's swing during their third Test defeat to Australia in Perth, but would not be caught out again in Melbourne, batsman Kevin Pietersen warned on Wednesday.


Johnson ripped apart England's top order in the first innings with a match-turning six wicket haul that propelled Australia to an emphatic 267-run victory that levelled the five-match series at 1-1.


Johnson said he had enjoyed taking Pietersen's wicket and described him as a 'smart-arse' after the South Africa-born batsman had asked him teasingly for his phone number so they could be 'best mates'.

Ishant, Rohit dropped for T20, ODIs againt SA


Fast bowler Ishant Sharma was the notable absentee from the Indian cricket squad which was announced for the T20 match and the ODI series against South Africa starting in January 2011. Middle order batsman Rohit Sharma who played in the ODI series against New Zealand also failed to retain his place.

Sachin beats Don Bradman in a poll publlished in Aussie Newspaper


MELBOURNE: Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who on Sunday became the only cricketer in history to have scored 50 Test tons, emerged runaway winner over Don Bradman in a poll commissioned by an Australian newspaper on who is the best batsman of all time.
In an online poll conducted by the 'Sydney Morning Herald' asking readers to vote for 'The greatest batsman ever: Bradman or Tendulkar?', Tendulkar secured 67 per cent of the votes as against Bradman's 33 per cent. 20768 cricket fans voted.
Tendulkar seemed to have got votes from those who took into account that he played in three formats of the game and against 10 countries while Bradman played in only Test matches and primarily in Australia and England only.

Gilchrist, Lara in top position of $400,000 for IPL auctions

Legendary West Indian batsman Brian Lara, dashing Australian wicketkeeper batsman Adam Gilchrist are among overseas players who have been put in the top bracket base price for the upcoming auctions of the fourth edition of Indian Premier League.


As per information received, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting's name doesn't figure in the list that the IPL governing council has sent to the franchisees.


Around 400 foreign players have expressed their willingness to be a part of the cricketing extravaganza. They have been classified in six brackets ranging from $20,000 to $400,000.


The Australians have only three players - top scorer in IPL 1 Shaun Marsh, Gilchrist, the captain of second edition champions Deccan Chargers and speed merchant Brett Lee in the top bracket base price. The Hussey brothers Mike and David are in the second base price bracket of $300,000 while T20 and ODI specialist David Warner is in the third bracket with a base price of $200,000.