Dhoni defends Chawla inclusion

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today defended the selection of Piyush Chawla for their World Cup match against the Netherlands here and said the struggling leg-spinner badly needed a game to regain his confidence for the bigger matches ahead. Dhoni said he wanted his bowlers to be in a "good mental state" and Chawla was selected for this match to get his rhythm back.


In pic: Piyush Chawla lets it rip at the nets as Eric Simons watches on © AFP

"We had to see which player needed this game. Piyush (Chawla) has been under pressure a bit. You want your bowlers to be in good mental state, and that is one reason why we gave him the chance," Dhoni said at the post-match press conference after India clinched a hard-fought five wicket victory over the Netherlands.

"He was bowling more freely today, it was an important game for him. He started off well but struggled against England. He made his debut early and is coming back into the team. People criticised him a lot, so it was a big game for him. Overall, I am quite happy with him," he said.

Dhoni acknowledged that the five-wicket victory may not look too great on paper but it was largely because of some experimentation they tried in the batting order. "Winning is important. It is not a bad win. Of course it looks bad on the record books. We were under some pressure in the middle overs, overall it was a good experience," he pointed out.

The Indian captain tried to draw positives from the hard-fought win and said all the batsmen have now got a decent hit which will stand in good stead in the knock-out stages of the mega event. "Everybody has got a fair exposure. That will be quite handy in the knock-out stage. It is important to keep improving in all departments of the game," he said.

Asked whether the team would continue to experiment, Dhoni said, "We have not really experimented as such. We just tried a few things. We are playing against two big teams and it is important to keep the momentum going. On why Yusuf Pathan was promoted to the number three slot, he said the idea was to improve the net run rate and to give him a decent outing. "He is an aggressive batsman. We wanted him to play a long innings but the wicket was a little too slow. I am happy with his performance, he has a certain role in the team," he said.

Dhoni said he introduced his spinners as early as the fourth over of the innings as the track did not offer much to the fast bowlers. "The Netherlands are not used to spin. There was no point carrying on with the pace bowlers, that is why we tried out Yusuf. When we thought that the pacers will get some reverse, we brought them back," he said.

Dhoni lavished praise on Yuvraj Singh, saying he has turned the table. "I have always believed that he is a big match player. It's good to see him score runs and get wickets," said Dhoni. Rival captain Peter Borren said he was happy with the "brave" performance of his team and described the match as some kind of a "roller coaster ride". "It was a kind of roller coaster ride. We started off well, lost our way in the middle, made some runs in the end. Then we had India at 99 for four and we had a chance," Borren said.

"We had a couple of good moments but we could not turn it around, probably we lacked the firepower I guess. But it was a brave performance and I am happy with the boys," he said. —PTI

Spinners star in dramatic Indian win

India 214 (Sehwag 54, Lee 3-35) beat Australia (Ponting 57, Chawla 4-31, Harbhajan 3-15) by 38 runs

	Piyush Chawla has given the Indian selectors plenty to think about with his performance against Australia © Getty Images

Indian fans who left the Chinnaswamy Stadium after watching Australia control the first 70 overs of the high-profile warm-up match on Sunday will be kicking themselves. An early finish seemed likely when Australia coasted to 116 for 1 in 21 overs after rolling over India for 214, and there was an early finish, but it was India who ran out victors as Australia lost their final nine wickets for 58 runs.

A massive crowd befitting an actual World Cup game had turned up to cheer India, expecting much from the star-studded batting line-up, but it was the less-heralded spinners, led by Piyush Chawla, who gave them plenty to shout about. Chawla spun out four middle-order batsmen before Harbhajan Singh applied the finishing touches to a back-from-the-dead victory.

Australia made a solid beginning to the chase as Shane Watson kick-started the innings with a bunch of boundaries. Ricky Ponting and Tim Paine then carried their side halfway to the target before things started to fall apart for Australia. Paine had lashed four fours in the first six overs but got bogged down after that, and fell trying to clear long-on, where Munaf Patel sprinted to his right to take a sharp catch. During the 67-run stand between Paine and Ponting, Chawla went for 22 runs in four overs.

His second spell transformed the game. In his first over back - immediately after Paine was dismissed - Chawla had Michael Clarke playing-on for a duck. Four overs later, Cameron White chipped a legbeak to midwicket, and David Hussey picked up a golden duck, drawn forward by Chawla before being beaten by the turn. Australia had slid to 138 for 5, and the first Mexican wave of the day made its way around the ground as the fans found their voice again. Callum Ferguson probably had the worst time of the lot: in a nine-ball stay, he was nearly run-out, was dropped at first slip, inside-edged a drive to square leg, was beaten by a vicious turner from Chawla and finally nicked one to slip. Chawla's second spell was 5-0-9-4, and it provided more questions for the Indian selectors.

Harbhajan, who was off the field for a while, returned to remove Ponting through a quicksilver stumping from MS Dhoni, and the rest of the Australian batting folded. There was help for the spinners from the pitch but this was not the minefield the Australian batsmen made it seem.

One consolation for Australia will be the gritty half-century from Ponting, in his first match since the Boxing Day Test. He began with a couple of Chinese cuts against the unlucky R Ashwin, who bowled far better than the scorecard indicates, but soon produced some convincing shots - an on-drive off Ashwin and a pull when Chawla dropped short. Even in a warm-up match, Ponting retained the intensity of old. Sreesanth had some advice for him after a delivery pushed out to cover, and added some more after a strident appeal for caught-behind on the next ball. Ponting wasn't going to just ignore it; he walked up to Sreesanth and doled out some advice of his own. The innings itself wasn't Ponting at his best, but he showed no signs of the finger trouble which sidelined him last month.

The top scorer for India was also a player coming back from injury - Virender Sehwag, whose shoulder problem didn't bother him during his half-century. He began with an effortless push past extra cover for four off a low full toss, but couldn't provide his customary high-speed start since he was starved of strike: he faced only four deliveries in the first five overs. Sehwag was at his most attacking against Jason Krejza, skipping beyond leg and looking to cut four times in Krejza's first over. He carved three fours off Krejza, and blasted him over long-off to reach his fifty, but the offspinner had his revenge by bowling Sehwag next ball.

Before his dismissal Sehwag watched a procession of India's specialist batsmen come and go, none of whom made big contributions. Gautam Gambhir never looked at ease in a short stay before edging to slip; Virat Kohli showed glimpses of class in his 21 before chopping John Hastings to backward point; Yuvraj Singh walked after an indecisive response to a bouncer - initially looking to sway out of the way before feathering the ball to the keeper; Dhoni was bowled for 11, prolonging his fallow spell in one-dayers.

At 113 for 5, with the seniors dismissed, Suresh Raina had a chance to stake his World Cup claim by reviving the innings. He survived the short balls Australia fired at him initially but didn't last very long, nicking Brett Lee as he attempted an on-the-up drive. Once again, it was left to Yusuf Pathan to ensure India put up a fight, and he did with an unusually patient 32 (after being 18 off 34 at one stage).

India made it past 200 thanks to some late resistance from Ashwin and Ashish Nehra but Australia would have been happy with their bowling performance, barring the huge number of wides. Brett Lee was in top form, accurate and slipping in the bouncers and yorkers at pace; Krejza had a decent outing against batsmen looking to attack him, and even their lowest-profile bowler, Hastings, provided two significant breakthroughs.

India's batting, which is their strength, has one more chance to get it together, against New Zealand on Wednesday, when they will have the re-assuring presence of Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the order. -ESPNcricinfo

Dhoni defends Chawla's inclusion in World Cup squad

CAPE TOWN: Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday defended Piyush Chawla's inclusion in India's 15-man World Cup squad, saying the leg-spinner's presence provides variety to the attack.


In pic: Indian captain MS Dhoni

Chawla has been a surprise inclusion in the squad, announced on Monday by the Kris Srikkanth-led selection committee in Chennai.

"It is good to have Piyush in the side as he provides that variety to the attack. He is one guy who can bat a bit. He has scored decent runs in Ranji and also while playing in County circuit. If we plan to play with five bowlers, then he can be a handy number seven or eight batsman," Dhoni said on the eve of India's third ODI against South Africa.

Chawla has been picked despite not playing a one-dayer since July 2008, and Dhoni was aware of that.

"I would always say that playing in first class match or IPL match and playing in the international match is different. Piyush needs that international match practice," the India skipper said.

Names like Rohit Sharma, S Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma missed out on selection but Dhoni said that the reserve players should be in a proper frame of mind during the tournament.

"If you are in the reserve and if any batter or bowler gets injured then you are going to come in. So it is important to be in a good frame of mind," he said.

"Finally you can pick only 15 players. It is not like that you will not get chance. Have a look at the players out here. They were not featuring in the original list. At the end of the day you can pick only 15 players and somebody is going to miss out. So I would say that you should do well in whenever you get to play and then wait for your chance."

Dhoni said India need to improve their fielding and focus more on bowling at the death.

"We have to improve in the fielding department. If we get one odd run out or take few outstanding catch, it can turn the course of the game. At the same time we have to put in lot of thoughts and work on bowling in the death overs. When we are going to play in the sub continent, bowling in the death becomes crucial," he said.

In Sachin Tendulkar's absence, Virat Kohli, in all likelihood, will open with Murali Vijay, with Rohit Sharma coming in at number three in Tuesday's match, Dhoni said.

"We will be looking out for giving a few players an opportunity. Even otherwise we have lost quite a few players through injury. We have seven batsmen left here, so all of them will get exposure before the World Cup."

About not playing with the best XI since almost a year, Dhoni said, "It is a big blow that we are missing quite a few players from our main list. But this is not happening for the first time. In the last one year we have never played with our best 11. This has given opportunities to the youngsters.

"Some of them have grabbed them and are part of the World Cup squad. Here too, we have levelled the series and there are three more games to go. This is an opportunity for young players."

The skipper said that India's thrilling win in the last match is history and it's going to be a fresh start on Tuesday.

"Whether we win the last game or lose, I always think that each match is a fresh start. I would like to think about the problems we are facing, and how we are going to resolve those issues. We are concentrating on what we are supposed to do. I think both the teams are pretty equal. Whoever gets good start will make an impact on the game.

On the the wicket and toss, he said, "I think the ball does a bit under lights, so toss will be crucial. But honestly speaking, I don't know the exact scientific reason as why the ball does a bit under lights. It may be because of not having natural sunlight, or it could be because of sea breeze. "Even spinners can play major role. If we win the toss and they have to bat second, then they might not be that affected. If we bat second, then facing their fast bowlers under lights will be a huge challenge. South African bowlers become a bit more effective if they are bowling under lights," Dhoni said.

Asked about Parthiv Patel's selection for the current series, Dhoni said, "It depends on the situation of the series. I would love to get rest from one match. But it depends on the situation."-PTI

India's World Cup squad announced; Rohit, Sreesanth omitted

Young batsman Rohit Sharma and pacer S Sreesanth were today omitted from India's 15-member squad for the upcoming cricket World Cup to be held in the sub-continent from February 19.

Tamil Nadu spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who is also a useful batsman, and Piyush Chawla were named in the squad to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and which includes most of the star players like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.

The national selectors, who met for one and half hours to finalise the team here, picked three specialist spinners considering that the high profile-event will be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Praveen Kumar, who are nursing injuries and have been ruled out of the ongoing one-day series against South Africa, have been included in the squad announced by BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan.

Left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel, who were among the front-runners to make the cut, failed to find a berth.

India is one of the favourites for the 14-team tournament, which commences with a match between India and Bangladesh at Dhaka on Feb 19.

The final will be played in Mumbai on April 2.

India's World Cup squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Virender Sehwag (Vice Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, R Ashwin, Piyush Chawla. -Agencies