The Victorious winning India T20 vs. Australia

India 2 for 135 (Gambhir 56*) beat Australia 131 (Finch 36, Praveen 2-21) by eight wickets


From fervently opposing T20s in 2006 to being asked to stop the T20 overkill, the irony the BCCI finds itself in is blatant.

India finally broke all the way through for their first win of the tour thanks to a dazzling display in the field. Ravindra Jadeja provide the spark - and did no harm to his probability in Saturday's IPL auction - with a pair of run-outs as Australia's batsmen were constricted by intense pressure from the fielders, and were dismiss in the 20th over for 131.


From being World Champs in 2007 to No. 7 in the T20 rankings, the slide has been alarming. In a format where the better team is not always definite a victory, India has won a little more than 50 per cent of their matches till date.

In 33 matches as well as the Melbourne T20 on Friday, India have won 17 and lost 14. Not figures that reflect brightness, but absolutely more than average.


However, if we put their performances post the 2007 T20 triumph into standpoint, the bald patches become ever more visible, In 24 matches since, they have a win percentage of less than 50, including the ouster from the group stages of the 2009 and 2010 edition of the T20 World Cup in England and West Indies in that order.

England clutch into lead as wickets fall over

England 104 for 6 (Strauss 41*, Rehman 3-23) lead Pakistan 99 (Shafiq 45, Broad 4-36) by 5 runs



PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf has assured that temporary coach Mohsin Khan will not be left "jobless" even if the board decides to replace him.

"We are thankful for his giving and we always praise his good work. Even if we make a decision to replace him as coach he will not be left jobless, as we will utilize his expertise in other assignments," Ashraf told the 'Express' from Dubai.

Mohsin apparently avoided meeting Ashraf in Dubai, as he was unhappy with reports about the board wanting to put back him with Australian Dav Whatmore after the current series against England.

The newspaper reported that Mohsin it appears that was upset with the board for the way it was treating him and had avoided meeting the chairman while he had a communication with the players in the stadium.

Mohsin also didn't be present at the official dinner hosted by the PCB chief for the national team, the report said.

Ashraf, however, deprived of Mohsin had any grievances with the board over the coaching issue.

"I don't think he is distress with us. He didn't come to the dinner because he was not feeling well and had informed us about this. As it is, any decision about who should be the coach is completely up to the board chairman," he said.

The former Test opener has guided Pakistan to series win over Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and England in the last four months and is upset that in spite of his results the governing body has been negotiating with what more, who is scheduled to reach Lahore later this month to apparently sign an agreement with the PCB.

The chairman, meanwhile, established that he had a one-to-one meeting with captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, in Dubai in which the senior player informed him about the problems faced by the players and also request him to increase salaries of players in the new central contracts.

"Misbah convey some issues to me which I have certain will be looked into when I get back to Pakistan. He also request that the board should give increments to the players which we will look into before presentation the central contracts," Ashraf added.

The PCB, due to its financial condition, has not given any increments to players for the last few years and Ashraf said any decision on giving cash bonuses to the team for winning the Test series against England would also be taken after the series.