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Sourav Ganguly is getting better as a captain with everypassing day and his record is beginning to reflect it too.The Indian skipper’s 12th win in 28 Tests at the helm wasscripted by his main trump cards on home soil – hisspinners.

After winning a good toss, Ganguly wisely decided to batfirst on a newly laid track. The ever-confident VirenderSehwag was at hand to ensure that his team got off to astrong start. The more I see of the dashing opener, the moreI am convinced that he is the most refreshing thing to havehappened to Indian cricket in recent times. He never seemsto be saddled by any unwanted burden and always gives fullrein to his naturally aggressive instincts.I thought Pedro Collins bowled a good spell on the openingday. He was bowling the odd heavy ball, and getting a few tobounce rather nastily. It was one of these quick bouncersthat smashed into the back of Sehwag’s helmet. This is whatthe Windies fast bowlers have been most renowned for -hostility. I must add that Mervyn Dillon, though, cut asorry figure; he was too keen on bowling well withinhimself. Dillon and the rest of the West Indies fast bowlersfailed to apply any pressure on Sehwag and gave him enoughwidth to play his trademark strokes through the off side.Sehwag’s partner Sanjay Bangar is also coming along nicelyas an opening batsman. It is always good to have a batsman,who puts a high price on his wicket and will do his utmostto stick around and take the sheen off the new ball. WithSehwag blazing away at one end, Bangar certainly makes foran ideal foil. Each of the 201 runs that the duo put on forthe first wicket bears testimony to the strength of theirnewly-forged partnership. I sincerely hope that theselectors give these two openers a good run.The other batsman to come up with a standout performance wasRahul Dravid. By scoring his fourth consecutive Testhundred, the Indian vice-captain yet again underscored hisimportance in this Indian team. The moment he retired hurt,the rest of the Indian batting fell apart.Moving on to the West Indies, I just can’t find anythingpositive to say about their performance. With the exceptionof Chanderpaul’s batting, everything about their cricket wasat best mediocre. If they continue to bowl, bat and catch inthis fashion, they’d even struggle to get the better ofBangladesh in their next series.Their woeful catching was what appalled me the most; no teamcan afford to drop so many crucial catches. This from a teamthat is in India with a fielding coach! As for the batting,I feel the current team is sorely missing the spark and theconfidence that the presence of great batsmen like GordonGreenidge and Viv Richards could have provided.When it came to the Indian efforts in the field, ParthivPatel’s performance behind the wickets during the two WestIndian innings gave me a lot of heart. The young man was nottroubled one whit by the prospect of keeping to eitherKumble or Harbhajan and his glove-work was confident andvirtually impeccable. This does augur well for Indiancricket.Moving on to the bowling, I felt that Harbhajan Singh didnot bowl all that well in the West Indies first innings,being yet again guilty of bowling flat and quick. That saidhe was quick to correct his mistakes in the next innings,bowling much more slowly and getting the ball to turn a lot.

Zaheer Khan was the other Indian bowler to make animpression. The left-arm quick has come on by leaps andbounds, and these days he can be seen charging in to bowl. Ithink he deserves a five-for in Tests now and I am confidentthat he will claim that soon.Bangar also drew my attention when he rattled RamnareshSarwan with a few bouncers. The medium-pacer was generatingmore pace than Srinath, which suggests that he couldactually share the new ball with Zaheer Khan. Given thenature of tracks in Chennai and Kolkata, it would be a goodidea to go along with this combination and replace Srinathwith the young leg-spinner Amit Mishra. It is always best toplay to one’s strengths, and in India’s case it is our spinbowling.All said the beleagured West Indies team is, in my opinion,not in any position to salvage anything out of this series.Their weakness as a side places Sourav Ganguly’s men in theenviable position of recording India’s first clean sweepover the West Indies by winning the Chennai and KolkataTests. I for one would dearly love to see the Indian juggernautroll on.

Ramnaresh Sarwan will lead West Indies in their forthcoming one-day series against Bangladesh. Brian Lara, who is nursing a finger injury, has been rested for the first two matches of the three-match series as a precautionary measure.Lara’s finger was first injured in March in the first Test against England at the Sabina Park. He then missed the first one-dayer against England and then came back into the side, only to be hit on the same finger in the final match.Sarwan, who has led the team in Lara’s absence before, takes over the captaincy for the first two matches. There is a recall for Devon Smith, while Mervyn Dillon and Corey Collymore miss out.This is Bangladesh’s first full tour of West Indies, and they kick off with a match against a West Indies Cricket Board XI. Following this they play three one-dayers and two Tests.Teams
West Indies (from): Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ricardo Powell, Ramnaresh Sarwan (capt), Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Sylvester Joseph, Dwayne Bravo, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Ian Bradshaw, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul.Bangladesh (from): Rajin Saleh, Hannan Sarkar, Habibul Bashar (capt), Shahariar Hossain, Mohammad Ashraful, Alok Kapali, Mushfiqur Rahman, Khaled Mahmud, Khaled Mashud (wk), Mohammad Rafique, Manjural Islam Rana, Faisal Hossain, Tapash Baisya, Tareq Aziz, Abdur Razzaq.WICB XI Wavell Hinds, Kurt Wilkinson, Sylvester Joseph, Lendl Simmons, Ryan Hinds, Denesh Ramdin (capt), Austin Richards, Carlton Baugh (wk), David Bernard, Pedro Collins, Jermaine Lawson, Dwight Washington.

Shoaib Akhtar has been fined 75% of his match fee and banned for two one-day internationals for ball-tampering. Akhtar was found guilty of changing the condition of the ball (Law 42.3) and breaching Level 2.10 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players.Shoaib was hauled before Gundappa Viswanath, the match referee, on Tuesday night after television footage showed him scratching the surface of the ball during Pakistan’s 22-run victory over New Zealand.”Tampering with the ball is contrary to the laws and the spirit of cricket,” said Viswanath. “I consider this offence to be of a serious nature and the penalty imposed reflects this view.”It is unfair to attempt to gain any advantage by altering the condition of the ball, apart from the traditional method of polishing, or the drying of a wet ball,” added Viswanath. “Players are aware that they can clean the seam under the direct supervision of an umpire.”Shoaib wasn’t available for comment, but Haroon Rashid, the manager of the Pakistan team, indicated that Shoaib was disappointed by the ruling. “He is disappointed as anybody would be but he accepted the decision. He had a fair hearing although he did try to put across his point of view, which was that he was cleaning the ball.”Shoaib will miss the final of the Bank Alfalah Cup on Friday.Shoaib was warned for ball-tampering during Pakistan’s recent tour ofZimbabwe by Clive Lloyd and, later in the same tour, was banned for one match for throwing a bottle into the crowd.Shoaib was dropped from the team after a poor World Cup, and was brought back for the triangular series in Sri Lanka only after being warned by Tauqir Zia, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Zia made it clear that Shoaib’s behaviour would be scrutinised closely and any further misdemeanours would jeopardise his career.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Tuesday night accused India of”going back” on its “commitment” to play in the second edition of theAsian Test Championship beginning at Multan on Aug 29 and said thecouncil would go ahead with the holding of the event.Reacting to Indian government’s decision not to take part in thechampionship, ACC secretary Zakir Sayed told PTI in Islamabad that theentire ACC programme, including the India-Pakistan match, was drawn upwith the “permission of the Indian government.””It was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India ACMuthiah who had obtained permission from the government and worked outthe ATC schedule at the ACC meeting in Lahore sometime back,” Syedsaid.”Having given permission to the competition, it is strange on the partof India to go back on its own commitment,” he said.Syed said “we have tried our best to take India along but it is sadthat India have chosen to opt out.”He said both the Pakistan Cricket Board and the ACC would sufferfinancial losses due to India’s absence from the competition as therights for the telecast of the ATC matches have already been firmedup.But, Syed said, the ACC would “emerge stronger” out of thedevelopment.

On an rather interesting day’s play Railways reduced the hosts UttarPradesh to 157 and gained a first innings lead of 77 runs, and went onto extend it by another 125 by the end of the third day at the SportsStadium in Meerut on Wednesday.Resuming at the overnight score of 98 for 5, the UP innings folded upin a further 30.5 overs. Skipper Gynender Pandey (56 not out) whoscored a sedate half century fought a lone battle. After the fall ofhis overnight partner Rizwan Shamshed (25) none of the other batsmenmanaged to stay long at the crease thus leaving Pandey stranded.Parida (5 for 33) added one more scalp to his credit while the otherwickets were shared allround.In reply Railways made a sedate start to their second innings withopeners TP Singh (32) and Sanjay Bangar (5) adding 33 runs in 10.1overs. Then Shalab Srivastava sent back Bangar and skipper AbhaySharma (4) in quick succession. TP Singh also did not last long and hedeparted, bowled by Raza. But Yere Goud (26) and Raza Ali (34) added63 runs for the fourth wicket. But UP made a come back after the fallof Raza Ali, bowled by Pandey, when Mohd Kaif struck two blows toleave the visitors in a spot of bother at Stumps. Railways by the endof the day had extended their lead to 202 runs.

Younis Khan has pulled out of Pakistan’s squad for the remaining three one-day internationals against Bangladesh, citing the need for rest. Younis asked the selectors to be omitted from the squad, a wish the committee granted.”He asked us for rest and we agreed,” Salahuddin Ahmed, chief selector, told Cricinfo. “It gives us a chance to give some other players a go as well, guys like Bazid Khan and Fawad Alam in the batting.”Younis has seemed out of sorts in the first two matches, scoring 1 and 13. Before the first ODI in Lahore he had threatened to pull out of the match, apparently disturbed by an interview with officers from the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) about a function he attended onthe tour to India in 2007. There is bound to be speculation that the pull-out is related to that, though Salahuddin denied it, saying only that Younis had cited ‘personal reasons.’No other changes have been made to the squad ahead of the third ODI against, with Pakistan sticking to a reduced 15-man squad. If Pakistan wrap up the series on Sunday in Lahore, it is likely new faces will be inducted into the squad for the remaining games.Squad: Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Yousuf,Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal (wk), Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk),Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Bazid Khan, Wahab Riaz,Sohail Khan, Fawad Alam

As Brian Lara announced his retirement from international cricket, former West Indies players offered tributes and some amount of criticism on his 17-year career.Wes Hall, the former West Indies fast bowler, said Lara’s announcement to retire from international cricket, and not just from one-day cricket, was unexpected. “I am at a loss for words,” Hall told AFP. “He was a great servant to West Indies cricket. His legacy is fantastic, a great batsman, 400 in a Test, 501 in first-class cricket, I mean it’s a big legacy.”At the press conference following West Indies’ win against Bangladesh – their first win of the Super Eights – Lara announced that the game against England on April 21 would be last international match. There had been rumours that the West Indies selectors were planning to drop him from the squad to tour England in May.Another fast bowler, Charlie Griffith, agreed that Lara was leaving behind a strong legacy and players would have to work very hard to fill his shoes.Ramnaresh Sarwan, expected to replace Lara as the West Indies captain, added that Lara’s mental strength stood out as he had come under a lot of scrutiny throughout his career and yet managed stay strong.But there were others who felt that it was the right time for Lara to make his exit. Michael Holding felt that no doubt Lara had had a great career but there were lots of times when his captaincy had been questioned. Joel Garner too felt that there was nothing wrong in Lara’s decision to retire. “A captain can only be judged by his success record and that’s not good in his case,” said Garner. “Now we have to take drastic steps to carry West Indies cricket forward.”

Dav Whatmore, the Bangladesh coach, was, not for the first time, left pondering over his side’s ill-disciplined performance with the bat, slipping to 197 all out on the first day of the second Test at Chittagong.Bangladesh, who gave Australia a mighty scare in the first Test at Fatullah, gained an early advantage by winning the toss but Habibul Bashar and Co. surrendered the initiative with some irresponsible batting. “On the surface of it, it looks as if [after] the first session the game is gone,” he told reporters after the day’s play.A vital 71 from Rajin Saleh, the gritty middle-order batsman, lent the total some respectability but Whatmore admitted that Bangladesh were already up against a huge task. “It is going to make it very hard for us to get back into the game; it is going to take a huge effort with the ball to reduce the lead from the first innings. I was very, very disappointed. What I have seen is an inability again to play straight and even be a little patient before we start playing shots. That has been the story all along and what we are trying to cure.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Danish Kaneria shrugged off an indifferent tour with a crucial four-wicket haul to put Pakistan on the verge of a series-levelling win in Jamaica. With some help from West Indian ineptitude, a wearing pitch, and David Shepherd’s largesse, Pakistan rode on, and even occasional breaks for bad light and rain could not stop their march towards victory. At the end of the fourth day they had West Indies on the ropes at 114 for 6, and suddenly the target of 280 looked an Everest-climb away.On this pitch, with the odd ball taking the top off the surface and either kicking up or staying low, it needed a bold and aggressive innings from the likes of Chris Gayle or Brian Lara to give West Indies comfort. Neither was forthcoming. Gayle, after struggling for a time against the new ball, slashed Shabbir Ahmed to Yasir Hameed in the slips (27 for 1). Soon after Ramnaresh Sarwan, who treated Kaneria with exorbitant respect, trod on his stumps and was hit-wicket (48 for 2). Lara, who needed to turn it on, tickled Kaneria to Kamran Akmal, who snapped up a fine catch down the leg side, and walked before Shepherd could give him out (48 for 3).Then Shepherd got in on the act. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a key batsman for West Indies now that the big strokemakers were gone, attempted a pull shot as ungainly as a movement of Clarence the Crab, the cheerleading float fluttering in the breeze atop the stands. The ball pitched outside the off and struck the pad outside the line of off, and yet Shepherd upheld the appeal (56 for 4). Kaneria finished with the shiny figures of 4 for 36 off 14 overs.Devon Smith was the glue that held the West Indian innings together, but he too fell as twilight descended, caught behind off a quick one from Kaneria for a 49 that included some handsome strokes (94 for 5). Wavell Hinds was the next to go, out-thought by Abdul Razzaq, and the wheels were coming off. When the light was offered with the score on 114 for 6, a long and depressing day for West Indies came to an end.When the day began, Pakistan were 193 ahead, and in a good position to seal the match and settle a score. Shahid Afridi was at the crease, ready to do his worst, with the orthodox and composed Inzamam-ul-Haq at the other end to make sure nothing went wrong. Afridi opened his arms and powerful Pathan shoulders as only he can, and attacked from the word go. He heaved and missed more than once, but he also connected. Daren Powell was the first to suffer, as a ball marginally short of length was dispatched over the midwicket fence with monstrous power.Afridi launched into a succession of big hits – mostly cross-batted shots over the on-side – and forced the bowlers to keep a full length. He added two fours and a six to his overnight tally, and reached a run-a-ball 43 before chipping Tino Best straight to Smith at midwicket (267 for 5).Razzaq replaced Afridi, but his stay was brief. He was bowled by one from Best that nipped back and stayed a touch low (273 for 6). Best then made it three good ones, sending back Akmal, attempting to cut, with a short ball that went safely to Courtney Browne’s gloves via the outside edge (279 for 7).Reon King chipped in with a wicket, and in the meantime Inzamam had moved in sight of a century, but was fast running out of partners. Good fortune did not abandon him – he chopped hard at one from King on 92 and edged to the keeper, only to see Darrell Hair signal no-ball. Eventually he did get to three figures, glancing King to the fine-leg fence.Best then rounded off a good morning’s work with his fourth wicket, when Shabbir tickled one through to the wicketkeeper (295 for 9). Kaneria was well shielded by Inzamam, but succumbed when he was left to face a full over. He fended awkwardly at a short one from Corey Collymore and managed only to spoon a catch down the pitch. Collymore covered ground well in his follow-through and took a good tumbling catch to end the Pakistan innings on 309. Inzamam was unbeaten on 117, and Pakistan had set West Indies a sizeable target to win.

How they were out

West Indies 2nd inningsGayle c Hameed b Shabbir 15 (27 for 1)
Chased a wide one and edged to the slips.Sarwan hit wicket b Kaneria 8 (48 for 2)
Trod on his stumps shifting his weight after playing a stroke.Lara c Akmal b Kaneria 0 (48 for 3)
Tickled one down the leg side and walked.Chanderpaul lbw b Kaneria 0 (56 for 4)
Adjudged lbw when struck outside the line while playing a shot.Smith c Akmal b Kaneria 49 (94 for 5)
Tickled a quick one that did not turn.Hinds c Younis b Razzaq 19 (100 for 6)
Poked at a wide one.Pakistan 2nd inningsAfridi c Smith b Best 43 (267 for 5)
Chipped a full one to midwicket.Razzaq b Best 2 (273 for 6)
Done in by a ball that came in off the pitch and kept low.Akmal c Browne b Best 1 (279 for 7)
Edged a lifter trying to cut one that was too close.Naved-ul-Hassan b King 0 (280 for 8)
Dragged a wide one back on to his stumps.Shabbir c Browne b Best 0 (295 for 9)
Tickled a full one to the keeper.Kaneria c & b Collymore 0 (309 for 10)
Fended a short ball for the bowler to take a tumbling catch.

ScorecardNamibia ended an action-packed opening day of their match against Uganda at Windhoek on just about level terms. After they were bowled out for only 165, Namibia struck back with four wickets as Uganda closed on 91 for 4.Deon Kotze won the toss and chose to bat, but Namibia were in trouble straight away when D Keulder was caught off K Kamyaka for a duck. The wickets continued to tumble, as four of Uganda’s bowlers chipped in with two scalps apiece. Only K Walters, at No. 3, managed to get into the 20s, scoring 25 before he was caught off Kamyaka, as Namibia folded in 67.1 overs.Uganda then made a brisk start to their innings, as M Naiko and B Musolo put on 61 for the opening wicket. However, after they were both accounted for by the Burgers, Kotze chipped in with two more wickets to take the total tally to 14 in one day. Uganda trail by 74 runs.