SouthAfrica,the chokers at the world events would look to wash out this name at least this year and at this T20 world cup.Twice they have been knocked out of the T20 world cup in bizarre circumstances.During the Inaugural T20 Worldcup in their home.They were unbeatable
till the time they clashed with India and then they got beaten so bad to get knocked off the T20 world cup.
Again the same story last year in WestIndies as they came unbeaten through to be beaten by an Afridi special in the Semifinals.Here is the SouthAfrican Squad
Graeme Smith (captain), Jacques Kallis (vice-captain), Lungile Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Juan Theron, Roelof van der Merwe.

South Africa have Smith and Kallis as their go to men in the batting department with good support by AB Devilliers and the ever reliable Mark Boucher.Their batting stars Gibbs and JP Duminy still looks to be circumspect and out of form.Bosman is another dynamite who can
explode to surprise a few in this world cup.They have riches in the allrounder department with Morkel brothers and Kallis.Botha and Van de Merwe can also bat in addition to their wily Spin that they bring to the table.Their fast bowling is still depended on Steyn though the new comer Theron looks a bright prospect after his showings in the IPL.All in all time and again South Africa starts as favourites,continues as favourites and fail at the last hurdle.They would come hard to
prove that point wrong

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Australia would be itching for the T20 world cup to start as this is the only trophy that does not exist in their envious cabinet.Here is the Australian Squad
Michael Clarke (Captain), Cameron White (Vice-captain), Daniel Christian, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Dirk Nannes, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, Shaun Tait, David Warner, Shane Watson.
Australia looks pretty strong both in the batting and bowling department with an high speed pace bowlers in their lineup with Johnson,Tait and Nannes.All the three can bowl in the high 140’s or 150’s and can trouble the batsman in the air.Their spin bowling does not make ahuge reading with Hauritz and Steven Smith though Clarke and White would also be keeping themselves as slow bowling options.Tim Paine and Haddin are able keepers and smashing batters in their own right and either of them can be in their starting XI for this
Australian team.

And to say that they have a huge bench strength is very apt as a player of the calibre of Lee who is out with an injury in the last minute is replaced by Ryan Harris.Harris has proved himself for Australia in the home season and he is an able guy as a batsman.Someone like Doug Bollinger who did very well for Chennai Super kings in the IPL as well as for the past season in Australia is not even in the squad speaks so much about the Australian bench strength.The Batting honours need to be shared among Clarke,Hussey brothers and white in the middle Shane watson could be the surprise weapon with both bat and the ball.
Australia have a strong chance of lifting the trophy if they could repeat the performance they displayed with the same team in the Champions Trophy 2009 in Southafrica

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The Srilankan Squad for the T20 worldcup in West Indies does not have too many surprises and Sanath Jayasuriya at 40 and contesting the elections and still playing cricket is the all too surprising story to tell.
Kumar Sangakkara (Capt), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews, Thissera Perera, Suraj Randiv, Dinesh Chandimal, Nuwan Kulasekera, Lasith Malinga, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Chamara Kapugedera, Ajantha Mendis, Chanaka Welegedera.

Their batting looks strong with their ever reliable Captain Sangakkara and the former Captain Jayawardena in the Middle.Their top order is also strengthened by Dilshan.Jayasuriya has to fire as he has been long due in all forms of cricket.Matthews as a hardhitting lower order bat and a usefule medium pace bowler lends them the balance.
The bowling attack remains the most potent with the three M’s Malinga,Murali and Mendis in the mix.The old wily Jayasuriya’s left armers is also useful in this form of the game as he proved that in the last worldcup.
Srilanka would look to avenge for their last year finals loss to Pakistan as they looked quite strong to take the cup after defeating Pakistan in the Super six stage.The carribean Climate and pitch conditions would also suit them and this time they would want to go one better in the Carribean( for 2007 worldcup runners up) in the T20 worldcup(2009 T20 world cup runners up)

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Pakistan team have a great track record in the two T20 worldcups held so far in South Africa and in England.They were the runners up in the 2007 Edition and worthy champions in the 2009 Edition.
The Pakistan T20 Squad captained by Shahid Afridi is as follows
Muhammad Hafeez, Salman Butt, Khalid Latif, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Irfan, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad
Aamer, Mohammad Sami, Hammad Azam.

This Pakistan team is lagging behind in terms of experience,match practice and in form before the T20 Worldcup and though the same scenario can be said of them in the last edition,this time it looks far more severe than one thought.
Mohammad Yusuf and Younis Khan has been pillar of Pakistan batting and the absence of Shoaib Malik too makes the batting department weak.The fulcrum of batting remains with the Akmal brothers with Afridi to support them.Salman Butt,Fawad Alam and the Veteran Misbah have more things to prove than what they have delivered.It could not get worser than this in the bowling department with Umar Gul getting
injured in the last minute and replaced by Mohammad Sami.Gul has been the leading wicket taker in T20 Internationals and have been instrumental in pakistan getting to finals in both the Edition.
Though the New Gen Mohammad Ameer is there along with seasoned Saeed Ajmal Pakistan looks wanting in the seam bowling department.
All said and done they do have the habit of coming out with surprises in their performance now and again,their Mercurial nature is what stands them in good stead in this T20 worldcup 2010 in WestIndies

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Australia suffered a stunning one-run loss to outsiders Zimbabwe in their opening World Twenty20 warm-up match in St Lucia on Tuesday. Zimbabwe made 173 for seven, featuring a dashing 76 from Elton Chigumbura, in their 20 overs before holding Australia to 172 for seven.

Opener David Warner top-scored for Australia with 72 and Twenty20 captain Michael Clarke made 49 but, even though left-arm quick Mitchell Johnson had earlier taken four wickets for 23 runs, Zimbabwe denied Australia victory. Australia needed 13 off the final over but Clarke was dimissed off the penultimate delivery before Johnson, one of several Aussies to be run out, was exited off a wide. Chigumbura’s 76 runs came from just 35 balls with six sixes and five fours in an innings where Australia all-rounder Shane Watson’s two overs went for an expensive 34 runs.
Australia’s opening match of the tournament proper is against defending champions Pakistan in St Lucia on Sunday. In other warm-up matches, New Zealand proved too strong for minnows Ireland in a 40-run victory in Guyana. Pakistan has it easy against the Windward Islands winning by 68 runs in a warm-up match in St Lucia while, in Bridgetown, Bangladesh beat Barbados by 36 runs.

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IPL interim chairman Shirayu Amin has promised that the whole mess surrounding the IPL brand would be cleared at the earliest possible and a much bigger,cleaner and transparent IPL 4 would commence from Next year.

Two teams are added to IPL 2011 and there is going to a whole revamp of player selections with fresh auctions planned in September this year.Sources say that the concept of retaining Domestic and Foreign players in their current franchise would also be up for discussion as IPL should provide a level playing field to the new teams in Pune and Kochi with the availability of full list of players.Shane warne too supported this idea of not retaining players by franchisees.
Meanwhile Ad sources say that IPL 4 would become a big hit with the existing potential and the commercial success of IPL3 this year.IPL night parties may get the boot next year though the concept of cheer leaders may still remain as it is with all the 3 editions.Shirayu Amin also added that the brand of IPL would still be the same and he would go out of his way to assure the team owners that their investment is safe and this whole controversy would be cleared and soon business as usual would return.

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Brett Lee miss the Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean after injuring his arm in Australia’s one-run loss to Zimbabwe in a warmup match, according to a news report. According to some reports on Wednesday Cricket Australia had asked the International Cricket Council for permission to name a replacement, likely either Doug Bollinger or Ryan Harris.

Lee took 1-13 in Tuesday’s loss to Zimbabwe at St. Lucia and had MRI scans on a tender area near his right elbow. The 33-year-old Lee previously had surgery on his right elbow, which prompted his retirement from Test cricket to prolong his international career in shorter formats.The ghosts have comeback to haunt him again as he missed the 2007 world cup in WestIndies due to an injury just before the start of the tournament and the same thing has happened again in 2009.Dougie Bollinger or Harris should be a more than able replacement as both have been performing outstandingly for Australia in their 2009-2010 home season.

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Ms Dhoni and his men leave for westindies from Mumbai yesterday with high hopes of reversing the fortunes of last year.India went into the 2009 T20 world cup in England last year at the finish of IPL in SouthAfrica and went through a bad world cup where they lost
all the three super six matches to westindies,England and SouthAfrica.The shoulder Injury to Sehwag made huge headlines as he was unable to play a single game though he was in the
squad right from the start.Though India did well in the practice match to beat pakistan and beating Bangladesh and Ireland in the first round,the young Indian batsmen Raina,Rohit and Yusuf pathan were brutally exposed by the faster men of Westindies and England.

Hope this time all the errors of the past were rectified and this team seams better on the bowling front than the previous team as it has experienced Zaheer,Nehra and Harbhajan.Alongside Praveen Kumar and Jadeja the bowling atleast looks good on paper.India
play Afghanishan and SouthAfrica this weekend at st.Lucia.Lets hope they progress well till the semifinals and then they would have a brigher chance of winning back the T20 world Cup

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The curse of the tweet has caught up with Shahsi Tharoor and Lalit Modi. Tharoor has been a tweet happy guy ever since he was drafted into the Manmohan Singh Government. With the increased popularity and an imparted image of a modern politician, Tharoor wanted to tweet from everywhere from restrooms or while running to catch a flight.

The adulation he receieved from the Indian younger generation sent him on a coalition course with less tech savvy politicians. From his comments of Cattle Class on austerity drive to commenting on policy announcements on Government, Sashi Tharoor was always one strike away from red carded.

On the other end Lalit Modi started the profitable business from BCCI, though it wasnt as original or as new, he had the ability think out of the box to make it a huge commercial success. Modi knew the knack of attracting Big business houses into IPL and at times we were wondering if IPL was created for the audience or the corporate bosses. Lalit Modi never had a clean image earlier, Be it getting arrested for cocaine possession, or kidnapping charges or his murky deals in Rajashtan.

But one thing he always had was backing from Big Business houses and politicians. With the success of IPL he went on a powertrip, Sharad Pawar was his godfather in politics andVijay Mallya and Mukesh Ambani did the same from coporate world.

But with all the Glam Sham both these twitterers were getting, it was destined that both their careers would be screwed by a tweet.And it was from Lalit Modi trying to bring to the fore ownership details of Kochi IPL franchise, but what Lalit Modi was thinking when he twittered this information isnt clear.
Maybe he did in a fit of anger or maybe he thought he can do it because he had information.Could be that Modi was irritated he couldn’t get a franchise for his close friend Dhoot (Videocon Chairman) or maybe he wanted to irritate Shashi Tharoor.

Being a twitterer himself Tharoor wasnt backing in the fight, he started ponting out Modi’s past and also pressure on their franchise to backout. The first wicket was Shashi Tharoor, thanks to opposition and media. But then when you fight with ruling party results usually wont favor you, BCCI team who have been rubbed the wrong way more than once by Modi, came out publically reprimanding Modi. And Congress pressured Pawar to back down his support for Lalit Modi. Once Pawar was told that if Modi falls, Pawar or his party wouldn’t be disturbed, Pawar had to give in.

Now our hero Lalit Modi doesnt have his allies to protect him.. though he gave a sentimental speech on the IPL3 finals and also quoted Bagavat Gita. Of all the wrong doings he has done over years.. its just that one Tweet which ended a small but this controversial saga.

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As the Dramatic finishing touches was happening at the DY Patil stadium between Chennai and Mumbai before a packed audience.BCCI Members were staying at a five star sub urban Mumbai hotel planning for the today’s IPL Governing Council Meeting.Not waiting for the Meeting to happen,Lalit Modi has been suspended as IPL chairman.

The BCCI has suspended Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, for “alleged acts of individual misdemeanours”, bringing down the curtains on one particularly unsavoury episode in the BCCI’s history but very possibly leaving the door open for more twists in this saga. Modi’s
three-year reign was effectively ended moments after the conclusion of the tournament final in Mumbai on Sunday and he responded in melodramatic fashion with an emotional speech at
the awards ceremony.
The agenda at the Governing Council Meeting is now likely to focus more on life after Lalit: picking an interim IPL chairman and working out a plan for the future. BCCI sources say for the moment Manohar will himself take charge of the IPL sub-committee. The first few
weeks are likely to be spent in a clean-up operation and a scrutiny of the Modi-era transactions. The actual management of the league is likely to be handed over to a CEO – probably appointed from outside – with reduced powers but greater assistance. He could be
assisted by department heads for marketing, finance and logistics.

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