Lahore, Pakistan News :- Former Pakistan captain Younus Khan returned to first-class cricket on Monday after a month-long absence, raising hopes for a swift international comeback by the big-hitting batsman.

The 32-year-old was featuring in the five-day final of Pakistan’s premier domestic tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which began on Monday. Younus’s Habib Bank side lost the toss to the Karachi Blues, who elected to bat.

Younus pulled out of Pakistan’s New Zealand tour in November citing poor form, and said he needed a break from international cricket.

He last took the field in the third and final one-dayer against New Zealand at Abu Dhabi on November 9. Younus, who hit a triple century against Sri Lanka in February, managed just 22 runs against the Kiwis and Pakistan lost 2-1.

Younus also stepped down as captain, arguing he had “lost command” of the side, and was not considered for the current tour of Australia. Mohammad Yousuf took over as skipper.

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim last week said Younus would be considered for the five-match one-day series against Australia next month. The series will follow three Tests starting in Melbourne on December 26.

While resting, Younus remained out of touch with the Pakistan Cricket Board, but last week made a surprise appearance at a coaching course in Lahore.

“I will be available to play for Pakistan whenever needed. I wanted rest, which I have taken,” he told reporters in Lahore.

? 2009, CricketMove.Com. All rights reserved. Partner with APakistanNews.com

Ravindra Jadeja led a disciplined spin attack with a career-best 4-32 as India dismissed Sri Lanka for 239 after a blazing start in the third one-day international here on Monday.

Sri Lanka were strongly placed at 165-1 in the 23rd over after electing to bat in the day-night match, but left-arm spinner Jadeja sparked the collapse which saw the visitors lose their remaining nine wickets for 74.

The spinner bowled opener Upul Tharanga (73) in his opening over before he accounted for Chamara Kapugedera (15), Nuwan Kulasekara (10) and Ajantha Mendis (six).

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was the other bowler to keep the batsmen silent, conceding 29 runs off nine overs for one wicket.

The five-match series is tied 1-1. ( Watch Live Cricket )

In-form opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, who smashed brisk centuries in the last two matches, helped Sri Lanka get off to an explosive start with an 18-ball 41 as the visitors raced to 65 off just 6.2 overs.

Dilshan, who survived a run-out chance on 36, was caught by wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik off a mistimed pull off seamer Ashish Nehra after hitting 10 fours in his impressive cameo.

There was no respite for India as Tharanga and skipper Kumar Sangakkara (46) put on 100 for the second wicket to put their team on course for a big total on an easy-paced track.

Tharanga cracked one six and six fours in his 81-ball knock.

But India fought back after the dismissal of Sangakkara, stumped by Karthik off part-time spinner Virender Sehwag. They then never allowed Sri Lanka to build a partnership, striking at regular intervals.

Paceman Ishant Sharma, who conceded 46 runs in his opening three overs, came back strongly to remove Thilina Kandamby for 22 and Suraj Randiv for duck off successive deliveries.

? 2009, CricketMove.Com. All rights reserved. Partner with APakistanNews.com

NAGPUR: India Vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI Live Score, India lost two wickets for 37 in their second one-day international against Sri Lanka here on Friday.

Watch Live Cricket

Earlier, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni elected to bat after winning the toss against Sri Lanka.

India lost the wickets of explosive batsman Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.

India lead the five-match series 1-0 following their three-run win in the opening match in Rajkot on Tuesday.

Sri Lankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv and paceman Suranga Lakmal made their one-day debuts, while India kept the same side.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilina Kandamby, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Chanaka Welegedara, Ajantha Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Suraj Randiv.

Watch Live Cricket

India Vs Srilanka 2nd T20 Live Streaming, Watch live streaming and live scores of the 2nd Twenty20 between India and SriLanka which will be played in Mohali on Saturday, Dec 12th, 2009. Match start time 5-30 pm India time (12.00GMT).

Watch Live Cricket

It looks like India have lost track of the T20″s, they have lost 4 in a row.

The Indians put up a pathetic show to lose the first match by 29 runs in Nagpur and M S Dhoni and team have a tough task at hand to level the series 1-1.

The Indians fielding has been pathetic, they dropped four simple catches, missed out on a simple run-out chance and gave away easy runs in the field in the 1st T20.

The Srilankans will go into the match with a positive frame of mind after their convincing victory in Nagpur. They would look to win this one and win the series.

Watch Live Cricket

The Mohali track is known to offer some pace and bounce to the bowlers and it is not going to be any different this time around. “There is going to be something for the bowlers under the present conditions, but overall it will be a good wicket with pace and carry,” said chief curator Daljit Singh.

India: Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, S Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Ashish NehraGautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag,

Sri Lanka: Chamara Kapugedara, Angelo Mathews, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando,Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), Mahela Jayawardene

India piled up 642 in their first innings of the second Test at Kanpur and has Sri Lanka battling hard at 66 for 1 at Stumps on Day 2. The visitors had lost Tillakaratne Dilshan in the very first ball of their innings when he played a flick shot too early off Zaheer Khan to get caught off a leading edge. Paranavitana (30) and Sangakkara (30) have gone past some nervous moments against pace and spin to see the day through for Lanka who had to bat for 24 overs before stumps.

Overnight batsman Rahul Dravid went onto score 144 (from 226 balls with 15 fours and a six) before getting run out at the non-striker’s end for no fault of his. His overnight partner Sachin Tendulkar was the first to depart on the second day after failing in an attemt to loft Ajantha Mendis over mid off. It was in the same over that Tendulkar had taken the bowler for a straight six over his head. Sachin fell having scored 40 from 91 balls. VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh helped themselves to score 60s to put on a century stand for the fifth wicket.

India was charging towards the 700-run mark but were bowled out for less than 650 itself with left arm spinner Rangana Herath producing some late magic. Herath produced a couple of sensational deliveries that came back with the arm instead of turning away from the right hander. Skipper MS Dhoni and Harbhajan were the victims of those deliveries as they got bowled through the bat pad gap. Herath wrapped up the Indian innings with a five-wicket haul.

? 2009, CricketMove.Com. All rights reserved. Partner with APakistanNews.com

India smashed as many as 417 runs in the opening day’s play of the second test at Kanpur. Gautam Gambhir top scored with 167 from 215 balls while his partner Virender Sehwag came up with 131 from 122 balls. The opening pair put on a terrific stand of 233 in just over 40 overs against an attack that had Muralitharan, Herath and Mendis.

It was a good toss to win for Dhoni’s team as the Green Park pitch is expected to crumble and keep low as the match goes ahead. Sehwag was put down by the keeper and first slip in the very first over when he had not even opened his account. After a watchful first hour, Sehwag along with Gambhir got used to the slow pace of the wicket and what followed in the rest of the morning session and the afternoon one was a wonderful display of strokeplay by both the openers.

By the time Sri Lanka could break the opening partnership which was in the 42nd over, India had raced away to 233! Sehwag was the first to go after driving Murali in the air to covers but not before he had set up the match with a dominating 18th test century. His innings contained a couple off sixes which came against Ajantha Mendis. Gautam Gambhir lasted a little longer than Sehwag and was key to another solid partnership in the day for India. The left hander put on 137 with the inform Rahul Dravid before getting brilliantly caught and bowled by Muralitharan. Gambhir’s 167 had 15 fours and most of his runs had come from some superb running. It was his 8th test hundred and the second consecutive one against Sri Lanka.

At close of play, Rahul Dravid (85* from 153 balls with 8 fours) consolidated India’s position with an unbeaten stand of 47 with Sachin Tendulkar (20* from 53 balls). The hosts had made two changes going into this match with Sreesanth and Pragyan Ojha replacing Ishant Sharma and birthday boy Amit Mishra. Sri Lanka brought in Ajantha Mendis in the place of the injured Dammika Prasad.

? 2009, CricketMove.Com. All rights reserved. Partner with APakistanNews.com

Kanpur: India Vs Srilanka 2nd Test Live Streaming, It was India’s willow all the way on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka as the final scorecard read 417/2. The innings was studded with some elegant shot-making and one could only feel for the bowlers, who had no help from the Kanpur pitch either.

Watch Live Cricket

Gambhir was the man of the day, having crossed one hundred fifty runs, with the panache of the best stroke masters of cricket.

He finally fell to Murali’s guile and was caught out at a score of one hundred sixty seven runs.

Rahul Dravid continued with his good form with the bat, scoring a fine half-century as his shots were in sync with his centurion effort of the previous match.

The first and only jolt of the first half of the day had come in the form of Virender Sehwag’s scalp as the batsman was out at 131 runs from just 122 balls while trying to whack another one out of the park.

Muralitharan was his nemesis too, with the tweaker lofting one up to catch Sehwag’s fancy, resulting in his dismissal. However, Gautam Gambhir kept the tempo up, recording his 8th Test century in the process.

India were off to a great start with Sehwag and Gambhir hitting amazing knocks, reasserting the notion that they are the best opening pair in the world. Their stroke-play turned the scoreboard into a Tokyo taxi, with the total near the 250-run mark in a jiffy.

If the pre-lunch session had India stamped all over it, the post-lunch session was not much different either, barring the wicket of Sehwag.

It was an incredible session of play for India in the morning too, as the world’s most dangerous openers unleashed a flurry of boundaries on the islanders, rotating the strike at will.

Scorecard: India Vs Sri Lanka

There have been two changes floated into the Indian side with S Sreesanth and Pragyan Ojha coming in for Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra respectively. Sri Lanka too made a change to their line-up, bringing in Ajantha Mendis, the mystery spinner to have a three pronged spin attack.

With the three spinner theory not working for Sri Lanka, Sangakkara would hope to use the morning dew tomorrow to try and shake the middle order from turning loose an array of records on a batsmen friendly pitch.

Kanpur: India Vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test Today, The first jolt to the Indian juggernaut came in the form of Virender Sehwag’s scalp as the batsman was out at 131 runs from just 122 balls while trying to whack another one out of the park.

Watch Live Cricket

Muralitharan was his nemesis, with the tweaker finally getting rewards for his efforts of the day. However, Gautam Gambhir kept the tempo up, recording his 8th Test century in the process.

India were off to a great start with Sehwag and Gambhir hitting amazing knocks, reasserting the notion that they are the best opening pair in the world. Their stroke-play turned the scoreboard into a Tokyo taxi, with the total near the 250-run mark in a jiffy.

If the pre-lunch session had India stamped all over it, the post-lunch session was not much different either, barring the wicket of Sehwag.

It was an incredible session of play for India in the morning too, as the world’s most dangerous openers unleashed a flurry of boundaries on the islanders, rotating the strike at will.

Live score: India Vs Sri Lanka »

There have been two changes floated into the Indian side with S Sreesanth and Pragyan Ojha coming in for Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra respectively. Sri Lanka too made a change to their line-up, bringing in Ajantha Mendis, the mystery spinner to have a three pronged spin attack.

India (Playing XI): Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(w/c), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara(c), Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene(w), Muttiah Muralitharan, Chanaka Welegedara, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis

After a high scoring draw at Ahmedabad, India and Sri Lanka have moved onto Green Park in Kanpur for the second Test which begins tomorrow. Batsmen on both sides have ran into form and the onus now lies on the bowlers to take 20 wickets atleast this time. Harbhajan Singh and Muttiah Muralitharan could be feeling most of the heat in this Kanpur Test after a below par results at Ahmedabad.

The Green Park in Kanpur in general has been a batting paradise but every now and then the Curator had to come up with pitches that are tailor made to suit India. A turning track this time could prove to be a problem for India as they are up against Sri Lanka which has three world class spinners in Murali, Herath and Mendis. The pitch is already talked of taking turn from the third day or so. What it would need is better pace and bounce compared to the one at Ahmedabad so that the batsmen have lesser time to adjust when they do not pick the variations off the bowlers’ hands.

Toss will play a crucial factor in this Test and it is important that the team batting first has to make most by piling up the big scores and control the game thereafter. Sri Lanka are going to make one change atleast with fast bowler Dammika Prasad breaking down with a hamstring injury. The replacements for him could be Dilhara Fernando or Nuwan Kulasekara. There is enough pressure on Sangakkara to bring in Ajantha Mendis and there are only two ways to go about it – Sri Lanka play with just one pacer in Chanaka Welegedara and have three spinners or the other way is to drop Rangana Herath and replace him with Mendis.

The homeside could remain unchanged because of the nature of the wicket. Amit Mishra could still be retained despite a rank bad show in the first Test. Ideally India should bank on a pace attack against Sri Lanka and have Sreesanth to add fire along with Zaheer and Ishant. The Sri Lankan batsmen have shown that they are not so good at handling the short pitch stuff and at the same time have proved that they can toy with the spinners even in their sleep.

Live Scores along with Ball by Ball Commentary of this 2nd Test at Kanpur can be followed at www.cricketmove.com.

? 2009, CricketMove.Com. All rights reserved. Partner with APakistanNews.com

JOHANNESBURG: England captain Andrew Strauss elected to field after winning the toss against Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy here on Friday.

Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 55 runs in their opening match of the four-team group, while England are playing their first game. New Zealand are the other side in the group.

The top two sides advance to the semi-finals.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Thilina Kandamby

England: Andrew Strauss (captain), James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Joe Denly, Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK) and Billy Bowden (NZ, TV umpire: Tony Hill (NZ)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND).