New Zealand appoint Allan Donald as bowling consultant

New Zealand have hired former South African fast bowler Allan Donald as their bowling consultant.
The former player was recently associated with Zimbabwe Cricket for three months as a head coach for their domestic side, the Mountaineers.

Donald was offered to be a part of the Kiwi team under the recently appointed coach John Wright, and he accepted the offer. He had to request the Zimbabwe Cricket to release him from his contract with them.

Although the New Zealand cricket board has requested Donald to be a part of the team on temporary basis, the fast bowler is very excited about the opportunity.
He said, “I'm extremely grateful to Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) and the Mountaineers for agreeing to release me and I'm equally excited about the possibility of joining New Zealand Cricket on a more permanent basis.”
The former South African bowler further stated that he had learnt a lot from his experience with the Zimbabwean cricket team. Although he had been just a part of the team for three months, he said that he enjoyed the time with them.

Commenting on the Zimbabwean team, Donald said that he had seen a lot of potential in some players and the team was heading into the right direction. The Zimbabwe team will return to Test cricket in 2011 after the World Cup.

Donald was also excited to be a part of international cricket alongside John Wright. He stated, “The opportunity to return to international cricket was irresistible and to work with somebody of the stature of John Wright is something which doesn't come along every day and I can't wait to get started.”
The Kiwi team made many changes in the management after their disastrous run in 2010, the first one being the appointment of John Wright as the head coach in place of Mark Greatbatch.
The team is keen on improving their performance ahead of the ICC World Cup 2011 and Donald’s inclusion to the coaching staff seems a big step towards that.

New Zealand are currently engaged in a Test series against Pakistan where the hosts are trailing by 0-1 in the two-match series.

India World Cup 2011 squad announced

The BCCI national selectors-led by K Srikanth has announced the final 15-member squad for the forthcoming World Cup 2011 on Monday.

Not surprisingly, selectors have included four pacer and three spinners in the squad while the batting line-up is at par the expectations. The selection of batsmen indicates that selectors are not in mood to disturb the trusted order, which includes Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni.

However, exclusion of Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma from the final 15, was little bit surprising. Despite of selecting three wicketkeepers in the 30-member list of World Cup probables, Srikanth & Co. have shown interest in just one stumper (Dhoni).

Ravichandran Ashwin’s great run in the cricket field continues as he managed to get the World Cup ticket along with leg spinner Piyush Chawla.

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin

No Rohit Sharma in World Cup squad

The exclusion of middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma was the surprise in India's 15-man World Cup squad announced in Chennai. The other bone of contention had been the second specialist spinner's slot, and the selectors have picked both offspinner R Ashwin and legspinner Piyush Chawla, ahead of left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha. Most of the other names in the squad were along expected lines.

India's major concern ahead of the team selection was the injuries to four first-choice players - Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and quick bowler Praveen Kumar - but the selectors picked all four, confident that they will be fit in time for the tournament which starts on February 19.

India's bowling attack for the World Cup will be significantly different from their standard Test attack, with only Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh being named. The fast bowling pair of Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma, and Ojha are all excluded while Munaf Patel, who helped India to a series-levelling victory over South Africa on Saturday, has found a place as the fourth seamer.

The selectors have gone in for a well-stocked slow bowling department, expecting traditional subcontinent tracks for the World Cup. Besides Harbhajan, there are two specialists in Ashwin and Chawla, an allrounder in Yusuf Pathan besides the part-time offerings of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Virender Sehwag.

Chawla was also something of a surprise pick, though he is part of the one-day squad currently touring South Africa. He hasn't played any one-dayers for India since the Asia Cup in July 2008, and none of his 21 ODIs have been at home.

The squad also has only seven specialist batsmen, including MS Dhoni, which might be a worry in case of injuries. India haven't played their full-strength one-day side since the New Zealand tour in early 2009. There is no reserve keeper in the squad either, but that shouldn't be a concern as they can have one travel with them in case he is needed at short notice.

Kris Srikkanth, chairman of the national selection committee, was confident India could end their 28-year wait for a one-day World Cup. "This particular Indian team is doing brilliantly for the past couple of years in both Test and ODI cricket. They are playing consistently not only in India but outside," he told reporters after the team was announced. "We are confident this team will do well and win the World Cup for us in front of the home crowd."

He also defended the large spin contingent in the squad. "Don't forget that you are playing in India. The spinners probably play a very major role on the turning wickets. I am confident that the kind of balance we have, the kind of batting line-up we have, this team led by Dhoni will do the job for us."