Kamran Akmal special floors Indians in warm-up game

COLOMBO: In March last year, Kamran Akmal was the villain of the whole of Pakistan, as he dropped Ross Taylor twice behind the wickets, allowing the Kiwi to smash a brilliant hundred that caused the South Asian giants to lose to the unfancied Kiwis in a World Cup game at Pallekele.

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Akmal was eventually shunted out of the national team, and to make it worse for him, there were allegations of corruption against his name too. Last month, the Pakistan selectors, however, decided to give him one last lifeline by recalling him for the series against Australia and the World T20 in Sri Lanka.

Wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider, who was overlooked for Akmal, even alleged that he would expose the latter's misdeeds in front of the entire world.


On Monday, Akmal put perhaps the most gloomy phase of his life behind by smashing a brilliant, unbeaten 92 (50b, 5x4, 6x6) at the Premadasa to shape a five-wicket win over arch-rivals India in a warm-up game ahead of the World T20.


Choosing to bat first, India raced to a massive 185 for three, in which Virat Kohli, continuing his hot streak, smashed an unbeaten 75 (40b, 7x4,2x6),while the other explosive talent in the side, Rohit Sharma, who had endured a miserable run on the same shores a couple of months back, scored 56 (40b, 6x4, 2x6).


However, despite a four-wicket haul by off-spinner R Ashwin, India withered against Kamran and Shoaib Malik's magnificent onslaught as the duo added 95 runs off 46 balls for the sixth wicket.

Despite the loss coming in a warm-up match, Indian skipper MS Dhoni will go into the tournament a worried man, considering the meagre and mediocre bowling resources at his disposal.

West Indies favourites to win World Twenty20: Sourav Ganguly

 

NEW DELHI: Without playing down India's chances, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly suggested on Tuesday that West Indies were among the frontrunners to lift the World T20 title in Sri Lanka next month.

  

"West Indies are a powerhouse (in this format)," an impressed Ganguly told reporters at an event organized by tournament broadcasters ESPN-Star Sports.

"They have guys like Chris Gayle, (Kieron) Pollard, Dwayne Smith, Andre Russel and (off-spinner) Sunil Narine. They also have a good fast bowling attack with Fidel Edwards and Kemar Roach, all bowling at 90 miles an hour," Ganguly added.

Ganguly's fellow commentator for the event, former Test batsman Sanjay Manjrekar, agreed, saying, "West Indies are a strong Twenty20 team because they have got the best four T20 players in the world."

While both felt there are other teams like Pakistan who can rise to the occasion, India too will be looking to add to their one World T20 title, won in 2007, when they head to Sri Lanka for the Sept 18-Oct 7 event.

"When you have players like Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, it is very difficult to count India out. There is a lot of firepower there," Ganguly said.

"India always have a great chance, especially in limited-overs cricket. They have got the players who can clear the boundary with ease and they will be playing in the subcontinent, where the short ball will not bother them. India have most things going in their favour. If Sehwag fires at the top, it will be difficult to stop India. That said, they are in a tough group in World T20."

'Bhajji should have been recalled earlier'

Ganguly also chose to bat for beleaguered recalled off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, saying, "Harbhajan is one bowler who should be playing all three formats of the game. One year was a bit too long time to keep him out. The board should have spoken to him and told him, 'Look, we are giving you six months time to sort out your bowling'. You can't keep a bowler like him in domestic cricket for too long."

'27 cameras for each match'

The official broadcasters will be installing 27 cameras for each of the 27 matches during the World Twenty20. "We will have 27 cameras for each match. We will also have touch screen cricket presentation tool in our analysis," an ESPN director said.