Harbhajan eyeing quick return to cricket

Discarded off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who is out of action due to a shinbone injury, on Thursday said he will return to competitive cricket soon.

harbhajan

"I am recovering from my injury. I will exercise here in Pune for four days and I will also undergo a three-week training at the National Cricket Academy. After that I will return to competitive cricket," he told reporters here.

Asked whether injuries to cricketers had increased due to too much cricket, the veteran cricketer, who has taken 406 wickets in 98 Tests and 259 wickets in 229 ODIs, replied in the negative.

"Injuries depend upon the capacity of any player. Injuries may vary from player to player. How can one predict about injuries?" he asked.

Asserting that he was optimistic of a comeback into the Indian team, Harbhajan said he was eager to wear the Team India jersey as soon as possible.

However, he refused to comment on India's disastrous performance in the ongoing Test series in Australia.

Harbhajan, who is the goodwill ambassador of the wrestling show 'Ring ka King - Wrestling ka Mahayuddh', was present here for the formal launch of the show.

Noted TNA wrestlers Jeff Jarrett, Matt Morgan, Scott Steiner and Monster Abyss, who are among the 30 Indian and international wrestling superstars to participate in the show to be aired on Colors, were also present on the occasion.

Updated Cricket news : PCA for "qualified support" to review

The Professional Cricketers' Association has urged fellow stakeholders to make certain they safeguard the sport's honesty when their chance comes to discuss the Morgan Review.


The key recommendation of the appraisal, undertake by former ECB chairman and ICC president David Morgan, comprise a reform of championship cricket to 14 matches per county each season and an enlarge from 40 to 50 over’s in the domestic one-day competition.

The PCA has spoken "qualified support" for the review, but with misgivings they hope county legislature will take note of when they get together the ECB on January 23.

PCA chief decision-making Angus Porter said: "The ECB board has said the recommendation of the Morgan Review should be established in whole or not at all.

"Notwithstanding that, we urge the ECB and the county to ask whether we can have enough money the loss of honesty to our domestic competitions, and to consider the enhancements we are proposing."

Those enhancements include an alternative method of devising a fair 14-match fixture list for the county championship from 2014 onwards, with one first division of eight and two second-division 'conferences' of five, rather than two tiers each containing nine teams.

The PCA believe their suggestion would "maximize the truthfulness of the competition" and "eliminate the element of chance understood in the structure recommended in the Morgan report".

The players' union also takes issue with the suggestion to increase the minimum number of Twenty20 group matches to 14, believing the move would be "openly for commercial reasons" and would stop the winners from on behalf of England in the lucrative Champions League in India each September.

The PCA statement nonetheless added: "We welcome the decrease in the volume of first-class cricket and support the goal of ensuring the counties are monetarily strong and well-managed."

Updated Cricket news : Cricket Schedule - 2012

Month Series Details Host
Dec 2011-Jan 2012 Sri Lanka tour of South Africa 2011

(3 Test and 5 ODI Matches)
South Africa
Dec 2011-Jan 2012 Big Bash League

(31 Twenty20 matches)
Australia
Dec 2011-Feb 2012 India tour of Australia 2011

(4 Test and 2 Twenty20 matches)
Australia
Jan-Feb 2012 Pakistan vs England 2012

(3 Test, 4 ODI and 3 T20 matches)
UAE
Jan-Feb 2012 Zimbabwe tour of New Zealand 2012

(1 Test, 3 ODI Matches and 2 Twenty20)
New Zealand
Feb-Mar 2012 Australia Tri Series 2012

(8-11 ODI Matches)
Australia
Feb-Mar 2012 South Africa tour of New Zealand 2012

(3 Twenty20, 3 ODI and 3 Test Matches)
New Zealand
March 2012 Asia Cup 2012

(6 ODI and 1 Final match.)
Bangladesh
Mar-Apr 2012 Sri Lanka tour of Bangladesh 2012

(5 ODI Matches)
Bangladesh
Mar-Apr 2012 Australia tour of West Indies 2012

(5 ODI, 2 Twenty20 and 3 Test matches)
West Indies
Mar-Apr 2012 England tour of Sri Lanka 2012

(2 Test matches)
Sri Lanka
Apr-May 2012 IPL 2012

(74 IPLT20 matches)
India
Apr-May 2012 Pakistan vs Bangladesh 2012

(2 Test and 3 ODI matches)
UAE
May-Jun 2012 West Indies tour of England 2012

(3 Test, 3 ODI and 1 Twenty20 match)
England
May-Jun 2012 Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka 2012

(3 Test, 5 ODI and 2 Twenyt20 matches)
Sri Lanka
Jun-Jul 2012 Australia tour of England 2012

(6 ODI matches)
England
Jun-Aug 2012 New Zealand tour of West Indies 2012

(3 Test, 5 ODI and 2 Twenty20 matches)
West Indies
Jul-Aug 2012 India tour of Sri Lanka 2012

(3 Test matches)
Sri Lanka
Jul-Sep 2012 South Africa tour of England 2012

(3 Test, 5 ODI and 3 Twenyt20 matches)
England
Aug-Sep 2012 Bangladesh tour of Zimbabwe 2012

(2 Test, 3 ODI and 2 Twenty20 matches)
Zimbabwe
Aug-Sep 2012 New Zealand in India 2012

(3 Test matches)
India
Aug-Sep 2012 Pakistan vs Australia 2012

(5 ODI and 1 Twenty20 match)
UAE
Sep-Oct 2012 T20 World Cup 2012

(27 Twenty20 matches)
Sri Lanka
October 2012 Champions League Twenty20 2012

(23 Twenty20 Matches)
N/A
Nov 2012-Jan 2013 England tour of India 2012

(4 Test, 1 Twenty20 and 7 ODI matches)
India
Nov-Dec 2012 New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka 2012

(2 Test, 5 ODI and 1 Twenty20)
Sri Lanka
Nov-Dec 2012 South Africa tour of Australia 2012

(3 Test matches)
Australia
Nov-Dec 2012 West Indies tour of Bangladesh 2012

(2 Test, 5 ODI and 1 Twenty20)
Bangladesh

India sent in as both sides pick four quicks

Australia's captain Michael Clarke won the toss and sent India in to bat after both sides chose four fast bowlers on the first morning of the third Test at the WACA.

Clarke and the selectors chose to go away out Nathan Lyon, his place taken by the left-armer Mitchell Starc, who has shown inspiring control, speed and swing in recent club and Twenty20 appearances.

India built-in the seam and swing of Vinay Kumar at the expenditure of R Ashwin, on a pitch that has retain a distinctly green hue all through its training.

The last time India fielded four quicks in a Test was at the SCG next to Australia in 1992, when Kapil Dev, Manoj Prbhakar and Javagal Srinath were connected by the debutant Subroto Banerjee.

Australia needs only a draw to recover the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, have lost it to India in 2008.

India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Australia: David Warner, Ed Cowan, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin (wk), Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Starc.