I really respected Pataudi, says Sachin

Sachin Tendulkar expressed his condolences on the death of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi on Thursday.

"It is a terrible loss to the cricketing world. I had the privilege of meeting him on a few occasions. World cricket will miss a hero like him. I really respected him.", said the master blaster.

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, one of the greatest cricket captains India has produced, died in New Delhi on Thursday after battling with a lung infection which was diagnosed about three months back.

Several people from the cricketing world also expressed their commiserations on Pataudi's demise.

Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar tweeted; "mansur ali khan pataudi was a real star of indian cricket..even, long after he had retired...we will miss him ! RIP."

Rohit Sharma also tweeted, "Sad to hear about Tiger Pataudi, One of the fore fathers of Indian cricket. Legend, will be missed."

Known for establishing the winning mentality in the Indian side, Pataudi had huge amount of respect among the young and the old of the Indian team. Yuvraj Singh tweeted, "You were always a tiger !! India has lost one of the best captains ever ! Rest in piece ! Respect".

New BCCI President N Srinivasan also expressed his condolences on Pataudi's death.

"I am shocked to hear the news of Tiger Pataudi's demise. He was an exemplary individual, who guided Indian cricket to unprecedented heights, as batsman, fielder and captain. He revolutionised fielding standards in the Indian team, and across the country. In an age wherein a draw was considered as good as a win, Tiger Pataudi encouraged his players to go flat out for victory. He was an aggressive batsman who excelled in crisis situations, and showed the nation how to combat adversity. I join my colleagues in the BCCI to express my condolences at his passing away. His services to Indian cricket will never be forgotten", wrote Srinivasan.

Lalit Modi, who was the chairman of the Indian Premier League when Pataudi was a part of its governing council also expressed his sadness on Pataudi's demise. "I was saddened to hear of passing away of Tiger Pataudi. May his soul rest in Peace. He was a man which inspired generations of Indians.", tweeted Modi.

"My heart felt condolences to his family. We pray god gives them all the strength to deal with there Loss. Its a loss to the Nation. Lalit Tiger was not only a good friend to me but he was a key person who helped me develop the IPL. His insight for the game tremendous.", Modi added.

Former India captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi dies

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, who overcame an impaired eye to become a visionary and pioneering captain of the Indian Test team, has died in Delhi at the age of 70. He was suffering from interstitial lung disease. He is survived by his wife Sharmila Tagore, his son Saif Ali Khan and his two daughters Soha and Saba Ali Khan. Tagore, Saif and Soha are prominent actors in India's film industry.

Pataudi played 46 Tests between 1961 and 1975 and was arguably India's greatest captain. He was given the leadership in his fourth Test, when he was 21, in Barbados in 1962, because the regular captain Nari Contractor was in hospital after getting hit on the head by Charlie Griffith. Pataudi was the youngest Test captain, a record that stood until 2004. He led India in 40 Tests and had a successful career despite impaired vision in his right eye, which was damaged in a car accident. He also captained Sussex and Oxford University.

India won nine Tests under Pataudi and it was during his tenure that the team began to believe it could succeed. He advocated the multi-spinner strategy because he believed India needed to play to their strengths and used it to achieve their first overseas Test win, in Dunedin in 1968. India went on to record their first away series victory, beating New Zealand 3-1. Pataudi was the Wisden Cricketer of the Year that year.

Pataudi scored 2793 runs at an average of 35 and made six centuries, the biggest of which was an unbeaten 203 against England in Delhi in 1964. However, many rate his 75, scored on one leg with one eye, against Australia in Melbourne in 1967-68 as his finest. Pataudi retired in 1975 after West Indies' tour of India. After retirement, Pataudi served as a match referee between 1993 and 1996, officiating in two Tests and ten ODIs, but largely stayed away from cricket administration.

Pataudi was the ninth and last Nawab of Pataudi until 1971, when the Indian government abolished royal entitlements through the 26th Amendment to the Constitution. He was also the editor of Sportsworld, the now defunct cricket magazine, and a television commentator in the 1980s but gradually withdrew from an active role, though he remained a strong voice in Indian cricket.

Since 2007, bilateral Test series between India and England have been contested for the Pataudi Trophy, named after his family for their contribution to Anglo-Indian cricket. Pataudi's father, Iftikhar Ali Khan, represented both England and India in Tests. Pataudi had taken ill since his return from England this summer after presenting the Pataudi Trophy to Andrew Strauss at the end of the four-Test series.

Pataudi was also a consultant to the BCCI from 2007 and part of the first IPL governing council but refused to continue in the role in October 2010, when the BCCI made significant changes to the league following the sacking of Lalit Modi as its chairman. As the spate of controversies increased, Pataudi was the only member of the governing council to admit the body's culpability, saying it "failed in its role to monitor the IPL's administration and be more questioning of decisions taken." He also took the BCCI to court in April this year, claiming the board had not abided by its contract with him while he was a consultant as well as a member of the IPL governing council.

"The possibility of lung transplant was discussed very early as soon as his condition worsened but he was not a suitable candidate for it," the doctor said.

He was being treated by a by a team of pulmonologists and critical care specialists here.

Pataudi, regarded as one of the finest Indian captains, played 46 Tests for the country, scoring 2793 runs for an average of 34.91 with an unbeaten 203 being his highest score.

In all, he smashed six centuries and 16 fifties in his career.

'Good opportunity for youngsters to prove themselves'

Fresh from his fantastic knock of 95 at Chester-le- Street, Parthiv Patel feels that the current ODI series is an ideal opportunity for the youngsters to step up and make best use of the opportunities.

"It's a good opportunity for youngsters to prove themselves. If they do, it would be good for themselves as well as the team," said Patel ahead of the second ODI here on Tuesday.

Sachin Tendulkar joined the list of injured Indian cricketers going home on Monday when it was found that his toe injury would take at least four weeks to recover.

The late realization that Tendulkar is missing would leave the visitors a batsman short as Manoj Tiwary and Ravindra Jadeja are unlikely to join the squad before September 7.

'I would play my natural game'

It would imply that India would go into the match with only six frontline batsmen, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and would perforce be playing five frontline bowlers.

It would also increase responsibility for the likes of Patel who have shown themselves to be in good touch. The left-hander though insisted it wouldn't help if he changed his natural aggressive style and look to bat through the 50 overs.

"I would play my natural game. Personally, I don't need to change my game. I scored with it in West Indies and in the first ODI.

"However, it is everyone's responsibility that once he gets in, he needs to score big runs," he added.

'I was prepared for short-pitch stuff'

Patel was impressive during his knock of 95 and looked particularly good in tackling the short deliveries of England fast bowlers.

"I had the advantage of watching England's bowling in Tests. They had a plan to bowl short to our batsmen. In the 7-8 days I was in National Cricket Academy (NCA), I prepared myself against short-pitched bowling. I knew if I opened, they would come hard at me."

"I am happy that I could execute my plans in the first game and would like to continue (in the same manner)," he added.

Improved batting

Despite breaking into the Indian side in 2002, Patel has only got sporadic games since then. His hard work has now paid off since he is being selected in the XI purely as a batsman without needing to keep wickets.

"I had that belief that I could do it. That I could play as a batsman in any side. It kept me going and improve both my batting and wicketkeeping. The age was on my side. I was out of the team at 21 -- a lot of players even don't start playing at 21.

"I had the experience and belief that I could play again for India."

Patel sounded confident that even a depleted side can give a good account of themselves in the second game.

"We made 274 in the first game and with England at 27 for 2, we were looking good to win the game. We hope to turn it around tomorrow as well."

ICC likely to debate UDRS in Sept meet

The ICC is likely to debate the effectiveness and accuracy of the Umpires Decision Referral System with the use of existing technology during its chief executive meeting in London later this month.
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Sources in the board said that although the ICC was yet to release the agenda for the meeting that will take place on the sidelines of the ICC awards from September 12, there is every likelihood of the UDRS issue coming up for discussion at the meeting of the CEOs.

The debate on the UDRS got heated again during the India and England series and the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Galle.

Australia umpire Simon Taufel, the senior international umpire, has referred Phil Hughes' second innings lbw dismissal in the first Test to the ICC as a serious question mark against the accuracy of Hawk-Eye, the ball tracking technology.

Taufel and the officiating umpires Richard Kettleborough, Aleem Dar and Tony Hill have also sent the relevant footage of the incident to the ICC's cricket operations department.

Taufel has observed the first two days of the first Test at Galle in part to assess the impact of technology's inconsistent use and accuracy, having umpired in England's home series against India under vastly different playing conditions and technological aids.

Taufel has said the ICC needed to see the veracity of devices such as Hawk-Eye, HotSpot and Virtual Eye via independent testing that sits outside the views of broadcasters and suppliers.

In the England and India series, senior batsman Rahul Dravid has now thrice suffered from debatable caught behind decisions despite them being referred to the television umpire raising questions about the accuracy of the modern technology.

The source in the PCB said that Pakistan's stance on the use of the UDRS remained unchanged.

"We still believe that it is a effective tool to reduce mistakes and errors in international matches but obviously discussions can be held on further improving the technological support for the system," the source said.

"Overall if you look at the big picture the system has been pretty effective especially during the World Cup and it has helped umpires," the source noted.

Asked if the chief executives meeting would debate on the response of the Pakistan board to the recommendations made by the special task force on Pakistan cricket, the source said this was an issue that was taken up at the highest level by the executive board of the ICC.

We are trying to turn things around

India may have suffered a humiliating 0-4 loss to England in the Test series, but Virat Kohli says there is nothing to be embarrassed about. Instead, the team, he feels, will now be able to play with out any pressure.

"There is no embarrassment. We didn't play good cricket and were beaten fair and square. If you play so much, this kind of phase happens. How you come back and fight is important. We are working hard and trying to turn things around," Kohli said, ahead of Saturday's first ODI against England.

"If it was before the tour began, there would have been pressure on us [to live up to World champions status]. Now, considering how the tour has gone, it's up to us to just focus on cricket and not anything else," he added.

Most of us would like to bat through 20-25 overs

The 22-year-old middle-order batsman said youngsters in the team have had enough time to prepare for the One-day series and they will try and give their best in the rest of the tour.

"There are fresh faces with the mindset to do well and have had time to prepare. We would hopefully try and win it," said Kohli, who has scored 2153 runs from 59 matches at an average of 43.94.

"We need to be tight and have strong bonding and leave out everything else. That's how we did well in World Cup. Just be together and not worry about anything else. I can feel in Indian dressing room that bonding is still there," he added.

The Delhi batsman believes it would be important for his side's batsmen to take up the responsibility and try and win matches single-handedly.

"The challenge is tough. They are really a good side. We have to take the responsibility in the middle order. Most of us would like to bat through 20-25 overs.

"We would all like to take up responsibility. You need to have the belief you can win the game single handedly. If we go with that mindset, we would put up strong challenge and compete," Kohli said.

If I am asked to bowl 4-5 overs, I am up for it'

Kohli, who joined the squad as a replacement for Yuvraj Singh, said he prefers preparing for a contest mentally.

"I'd rather make myself mentally prepared -- take sometime off the game, not to bat at the nets at all, or might be batting regularly for a week. I need to do whatever makes me comfortable mentally," he said.

India is struggling to fill up the 10 overs of the fifth bowler, and Kohli, who got Kevin Pietersen stumped off his bowling at Old Trafford, said he is ready for the job.

"It wasn't planned. I tried to bowl a straight ball and it ended up being wide and he was stumped. I like bowling. I believe in myself that I wouldn't get smashed for 8-9 runs in an over. If I am asked to bowl 4-5 overs, I am up for it," he said.

England alone don't bowl short

Most international teams now look to pepper India's young batsmen with bouncers, but Kohli doesn't see any problem with short-pitched bowling.

"England alone don't bowl short. South Africans do as well. West Indians do. As an international cricketer, you can't expect not to get short bowling. If you try to run away you could end up somewhere else. If you are positive, you can handle short stuff from any kind of bowler. As far as I am concerned, I am up for it. I have no problem," he said.

Kohli said there was no let-up in their game and India had put up a tough fight in the last one-off Twenty20 match but, unfortunately, they could not stop the English cricketers from winning the tie.

"We fought really well in the last game. There wasn't any sign of letting the game go at any point of time. There was an odd mistake here and a bad decision here and there and it can cost you a game. We did really well to fight back but unfortunately we couldn't win the game," he said.

Dhoni rues lack of partnerships after T20 defeat

Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed his side's six-wicket loss to England in their one-off Twenty20 International on the batsmen's failure to build partnerships.

Partnership is key, doesn't matter what format it is. Once you lose quick wickets, like we did after 12 overs, it doesn't help. You want to have at least five or six wickets in the slog overs," remarked Dhoni after his side lost nine wickets.

India were 104 for one in the 13th over before being bowled out for 165, with three balls remaining.

Dhoni said one of the reasons for his side losing quick wickets was because they wanted to press on for 15-20 runs extra to make up for the lack of a fifth bowler.

"Since we don't have the fifth bowler, we wanted to push a bit hard. We wanted to get those extra 15-20 runs and in the process we lost quick wickets.

"Once you lose quick wickets it becomes difficult. Virat (Kohli) hasn't bowled much in Twenty20 format and there were two part-time off-spinners," he said.

Problem of fifth bowler persists

Even though India struggled to get through the quota of fifth bowler between Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the four overs cost the visitors 48 runs and Dhoni doesn't see the possibility of the team going with six batters and five bowlers in the forthcoming one-day series.

"In the last two years, we haven't played with five bowlers. I don't see it happening now. We don't want to play with a batter light (less)."

'Rahane expressed himself'

Two bright aspects for India were the batting of young opener Ajinkya Rahane who made 61 and Rahul Dravid who slammed three sixes in his knock of 31 runs.

"Rahane expressed himself. He didn't worry too much about the occasion. Whenever the ball was in his area, he scored most off them. He got over 50 runs which was critical for us.

"As for Dravid, he tends to take the leg to the ball in longer formats of the game but here he needed to take the leg out of the line of the ball. That's what you sometimes need to do in international cricket," he added.

Same old story as India struggle at The Oval

For a team low on confidence, it is imperative to get off to a good start. It can lift the spirit.

Team India's case was different.

Going into the opening day of the fourth and final Test against England , the visitors had lost their best bowler, Praveen Kumar , to a thumb injury. His replacement, RP Singh , hadn't played a Test match in 28 months, and to expect instant results from him seemed a tad too far-fetched.

There was a surprise in store at the toss as well. Andrew Strauss , having called correctly, opted to have a bat first -- a somewhat surprising decision considering the conditions at The Oval were overcast, as expected.

Andrew StraussHowever, England's captain had confidence in his batsmen. The same couldn't be said for his Indian counterpart though.

MS Dhoni's bowlers were a tired lot. No wonder he had expressed his desire to bat first and put up a good total on board on the eve of the Test. True to form, the Indian bowlers did precious little in the first hour.

Ishant, Sreesanth and RP had neither speed nor direction. Strauss and Cook were never really tested. The duo started on a cautious note before slowly freeing their arms. There was a free flow of runs thereafter and the 50-run partnership was achieved in the 16th over -- a record 31st 50-plus stand for the pair, 27 of those having come for the first wicket.

When lunch was called, the home team had scored 75 without loss off 26 overs. Strauss was batting on 38 and Cook on 34.

The Indian think tank has a lot of work to do during the breather to prevent the home team running away with the match.

India played too much cricket

Former captain Kapil Dev has lashed out at Team India for lacking team spirit in the ongoing Test series against England, and also criticized senior cricketers, including captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, for not motivating the youngsters in the squad.

The former all-rounder, who led India to its maiden World Cup title in 1983, slammed Dhoni's men for "going through the motion(s) more than their love for the game" in the ongoing four-match series, which England have already pocketed with an unassailable 3-0 lead.

"Indian players did not play as a team. I am not trying to blame anybody, but I think they played too much cricket. Within four days of winning the World Cup you play IPL. They then travel to West Indies for a tour and then from there to England. I think our players were going through the motion(s) more than their love for the game," Kapil told Press Trust of India.

Asked whether there are any other reasons for the humiliating defeat against England, which dislodged India from the No 1 position, Kapil said the seniors have not guided the youngsters during the tour.

"No cricketer walked up to young bowlers to advise them on what line to bowl. Dhoni could go up to Ishant (Sharma) and tell this. Media termed him as 'Captain Cool'. He says everybody should know their job.

"In Indian sports, we have not reached that level where all the players know what they should do. We still look up to the captain and senior players. We need somebody with aggression. All the senior players have become so senior that they do not want to be aggressive," he said.