Jadeja to go for lankan tour

Consistent performance in the Ranji Trophy saw Saurashtra's Ravinder Jadeja getting a maiden call to India's one-day side while Uttar Pradesh medium pacer Praveen Kumar also comes back in the side for the five-match series in Sri Lanka.

The selectors, who met here Sunday, made just two changes in the squad that played the fourth and the fifth one-day matches against England. Jadeja and Praveen replaced Harbhajan Singh, who is out with a hamstring injury, and batsman Virat Kohli.

Jadeja was member of India's World Cup-winning Under-19 squad and also in IPL champions Rajasthan Royals team last year. He made his case strong with his Ranji Trophy performances for Saurashtra this season.

Selectors also decided to go in with a five-prong pace attack and Irfan Pathan, whose selection ahead of R.P. Singh had caused a stir during the England series, managed to retain his place. Pathan along with Praveen, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel will bolster the pace attack.

Sreesanth, who is fit again after a prolonged side-strain problem, failed to find a place.

With injury keeping Harbhajan out of action, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha was also lucky to retain his place. Had Harbhajan been fit, Ojha would have been replaced by Jadeja.

Rohit Sharma with his two-match winning centuries in the Ranji Trophy final for Mumbai against Uttar Pradesh impressed the selectors and retained his place.

The trip to Sri Lanka, which begins Jan 28, comprises five ODIs and a Twenty20 international. The team arrives in Colombo Jan 26.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Pragyan Ojha

Sachin trips on ranking disorder

NOT FOR the first time, Sachin Tendulkar's absence from a list of rankings has caused a controversy. The ICC, who employed statistician David Kendix to come up with a system that quantified performances, has found itself in the midst of a media storm.

But two things should be made clear. Firstly, these rankings are not new; they are at least five years old and were only highlighted recently as Matthew Hayden, who is in the Top 20, announced his retirement. Secondly, these rankings do not aim to assess a player's overall career. So, no, the rankings do not say that Hayden's presence in the Top 20 mean he is a better player than Tendulkar.

So what do these rankings do? "The rankings give an indication of how players peaked during their careers but do not give a full picture of those players' level of consistency or longevity in the game," said an ICC spokesperson.

The rankings simply measure the peaks in a player's career. "For example, a batsman or a bowler who averages 700 ratings points for most of his career, apart from a purple patch where he shoots up to 900, before dropping again may be ranked higher on the all-time ratings," explained the ICC.

"But that does not mean he should necessarily be considered better than a player who hovered around the 850-point mark for his entire career." When the likes of Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Wally Hammond and Greg Chappell do not make the cut, all it means is that they did not have as purple a patch as those in the top 20.

As the ICC themselves put it: "The 'best-ever ratings' are effectively snapshots of greatness. When it comes to judging a player's greatness over his career, one has to look at his entire graph." In other words, don't take them too seriously. They're good for some idle discussion, some vacant arguments about who's better than whom but not when it comes to actually valuing a player's worth.

If Tendulkar does not figure in the Top 20, it's not so much a reflection on his place in cricket's pantheon. No-one can take away 28,851 international runs and 83 centuries.

Dhoni No.1 In ICC Ranking

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has maintained his top position in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) one-day rankings with Michael Hussey of Australia and South Africa’s Graeme Smith close on his heels.

Dhoni, who regained the numero uno position from Smith in August, has 779 points and is just three points ahead of Hussey who has 776 points while Smith has 760 points.

Yuvraj Singh (744) is the only other Indian batsmen in the top 10 at sixth position.

In the ICC player rankings for ODI bowlers, Australian Nathan Bracken (775) is perched at the top followed by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori (733)and Sri Lanka's Muttiah Murlitharan (717). No Indian bowler figures among top 10, even though Zaheer Khan(660) is at the 11th position, two points behind England's Andrew Flintoff (662) who is at 10th.

New Zealand's Jacob Oram (383) is at the front among the all-rounders in one-dayers followed by Flintoff (366), with West Indian Chris Gayle and Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik tied (342) at the third place.

Australia is still the best one-day team, followed by South Africa and India.

South Africa beat Australia

Melbourne, Jan 16 (IANS) SOuth Africa recovered in time from a middle-order collapse to pull off a stunning three-wicket victory in the final over in the first One-Day International cricket against Australia here Friday.

Chasing 272 to win, South Africa needed 50 from 30 balls with just three wickets in hand, but Albie Morkel blasted 40 off 18 balls to see the team through with three wickets in hand and three balls to spare.

South Africa were three for 90 in the 19th over before Jean Paul Duminy (71) and Neil Mckenzie (63) shared a 123-run stand. The fall of Duminy triggered a mini collapse as Australia strongly came back sniffing victory only to be thwarted by Morkel's blitzkrieg.

South Africa thus registered their sixth win from six ODIs against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground here.

Australia, electing to bat, rode on some luck and poor fielding by South Africa to put on a challenging target. Opener Shaun Marsh hit 79 off 97 balls with four fours and one six. Skipper Ricky Ponting scored 46 while David Hussey contributed 52.

South Africa's chase started poorly when Shaun Tait rattled Hashim Amla's stumps in the second over with only four runs on the board. Herschelle Gibbs (22) and Jacques Kallis (41) made starts but could not carry on.

Duminy, who has been the find of the tournament for South Africa, once again came for the team's rescue. He showed amazing control as he compiled 71 without a single boundary. Mckenzine hit six fours in his 80-ball 60.

Duminy finally fell to Nathan Bracken while McKenzie was dismissed by Ben Hilfenhaus, leaving the final task for the tailenders.

South Africa lost four wickets in a space of eight runs and were reduced to 221 for seven as the match looked like slipping out of their grasp. The last powerplay which South Africa took in the 45th over, however, did the trick. Morkel went after the bowling freely as Johan Botha (12) gave him company at the other end.

Morkel hit Hilfenhaus for four fours and a six as South Africa picked up 51 from the powerplay at a frenetic pace to go one-up in the five-match series.