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Rafiqul Alam has defended the selection of Raqibul Hasan for the World T20 and admitted the team played poorly

Cricinfo staff12-Jun-2009Rafiqul Alam, the Bangladesh chief selector, has defended the team selection for the ICC World Twenty20 where the side crashed out in the group stages. Alam’s decision to pick batsman Raqibul Hasan was reportedly questioned before the team set out for England but Alam rushed to Raqibul’s defence, saying he had the ability to stabilise the innings if the top order failed.A rusty Bangladesh, returning from an international lay-off of nearly five months, lost both their group stage matches, including one to Ireland. Their only two wins on tour came during the warm-ups, against minnows Scotland and Netherlands. Raqibul managed only 29 runs in the two official games.”Raqibul has been our best batsman internationally and he is a technically sound player,” Alam told the . “When selecting the team we had a choice between him, Mehrab Hossain jnr. and Ziaur Rahman. Zia was quite ordinary in this year’s Premier League Twenty20 and 50-over version…”It boiled down to Mehrab and Raqibul and the former’s poor fielding and unhealthy strike-rate played against him. Also our top order is not very strong so we had players like Raqibul and Mushfiqur [Rahim] who can at least take the team to a respectable total if the top four batters fail.”Alam conceded that the team performed poorly and deserved the criticism it received. “Our performance was disappointing to say the least,” he said. “We failed miserably in England this month so just as we are showered with praise and appreciation whenever we do well, the same also applies when we do badly.”Bangladesh’s next assignment is a short tour of West Indies beginning next month, which includes two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20. The squad will be announced later in the month and the 17 contracted players will train at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur from June 15.The captain, Mohammad Ashraful, will join the team in training despite having an irritation in his left eye. He reportedly picked it up while in South Africa for the IPL and doctors there recommended surgery. But doctors in England advised against it and suggested medication instead. Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, who stayed back in England because of a groin injury, will also begin training with the others.

Crystal Palace are one of three Premier League sides reportedly keen to secure the services of Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie this summer.

What’s the story?

According to Italian outlet Tuttosport (as relayed by Sport Witness), the Eagles are ‘determined’ to land the highly-rated 22-year-old in the final few days of the current window, although they’re expected to face stiff competition from a couple of Premier League rivals.

Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur are also credited with an interest in McKennie, and the report states that a swap deal with Spurs for midfielder Moussa Sissoko is an option for Juve.

The capital club are said to want the USA international, courtesy of new director of football Fabio Paratici, who took him to Turin on a permanent basis last year and remains a big fan of the box-to-box dynamo.

Juventus are thought to be open to a swap deal involving Sissoko as he would fit into Max Allegri’s side far more comfortably than the Texan, although Palace and Villa are closely monitoring the situation.

Fans would be delighted

Although McKennie is not believed to be particularly keen on a move to either Villa Park or Selhurst Park, Juventus are aware that the £22.5m-rated youngster can raise them significant funds, meaning an imminent exit could occur.

His arrival in south London is one that would surely delight the Palace supporters, given his potential and past endeavours for the Old Lady and Schalke.

During his time at the Bundesliga outfit, McKennie earned praise from several impressed onlookers following a string of mature performances despite his tender years, including forme manager David Wagner.

“He has embraced this role of taking on more responsibility on the pitch,” commented Wagner, reviewing McKennie’s endeavours in 2019/20 (as relayed by Bundesliga.com). “He is a leader.”

After arriving at the Allianz Arena in a shock move 12 months ago, the American scored six goals and provided two assists in 46 appearances for Juve as they limped to a third-place finish in Serie A.

However, new manager Allegri has reportedly deemed him surplus to requirements, and Palace could potentially be the team to benefit.

It’s not often the Eagles get the opportunity to pick up a talented prodigy from one of European football’s heavyweights, and therefore, chairman Steve Parish must swoop before one of their domestic rivals snaps McKennie up from under their noses.

And, in other news…Parish must sanction Crystal Palace move for £10.8m-rated gem, Vieira needs him 

Being the defending champions will help as well as add pressure in equal measure for Rajasthan Royals

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Apr-2009Being the defending champions will help as well as add pressure in equal measure for Rajasthan Royals. The first batch of nine players, which included Mohammed Kaif, Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja expressed that sentiment before departing for South Africa for the second edition of the IPL. Both Kaif and Yusuf agreed that the pressure would obviously be there because of their fairy-tale like victory in the inaugural season last year.Kaif said Rajasthan would treat the tournament as a “new” beginning, without forgetting the various components that helped in the build-up to their title victory last season. “It will be a fresh start because last year we played in India, the conditions suited our bowlers and the batsmen and fielders supported them well,” Kaif said. “But this is a new start.”Adapting to the conditions as quickly as possible will be another key factor. “We need to adjust quickly even if we are going there ten days before the tournament starts,” Kaif said. “Of course we have a couple of practice games, so the bowlers need to understand the pace and bounce quickly.”Last year, Kaif had provided valuable inputs to Shane Warne and Darren Berry, Rajasthan’s captain-team director combination. Asked if Graeme Smith could feed the team management with similar inputs, Kaif was positive the South African captain would be the key.Despite having a healthy home presence in Smith and Tyron Henderson – originally a South African, who now plays for the English county Middlesex – Kaif felt Rajasthan would sorely miss the Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Tanvir. The Pakistan players’ contracts were terminated by the IPL after the Pakistan government asked them not to travel to India after the relations between the two countries became strained in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Mumbai last November.”We are going to miss some key players: Tanvir did really well last season and his four overs were something special every game,” Kaif said. “Kamran Akmal did his job well whenever given the chance, both behind the stumps and with the bat. We have some new players this season so I’m looking forward to meeting the entire squad.”Yusuf said Tanvir was just one of the building blocks of Rajasthan’s success and this year the team would need to move ahead in his absence. “Having won the championship will help us,” Kaif said. “That and the youngsters having done well last season will also help. That was the secret to our success. In this format the opposition will look for the new players they don’t know about and that helped last year for us.”Jadeja, who hit headlines with his power cameos last year, said the responsibility is now on players like him to remain consistent. “The key player will be that one who will start well, remain consistent and then perform well in the main games as the tournament progresses.”Meanwhile the Rajasthan officials have made it clear that they had no option but to go ahead with the 25 players without any player hailing from the state. “The IPL has put a restriction on the number of players in the squad (25), so we had to rationalise our strategy,” Utkarsh Sen, the business head at Emerging Media Group, the owners of Rajasthan, said. Last year Rajasthan had two players in the squad – Pankaj Singh and Sumit Khatri – with Pankaj playing a few games. Sen said this year, too, left-arm spinner Gajendra Singh and left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Arif, recognised as upcoming talents, were part of the development squad but since the event was moved outside India the management decided to release them.The management has managed to sign up cement maker Ultratech as the new title sponsor, replacing Bajaj Allianz.

Wolverhampton Wanderers are finally up and running under Bruno Lage as the Old Gold scored their first goals and points of the season last weekend.

It has been a long and arduous few weeks for Wolves but they finally have something to savour.

What’s the word?

The transfer window has only just ended but already we’re seeing rumours resurface about Adama Traore’s future at Molineux.

He was linked with a move away from the Midlands on a regular basis this summer but Lage eventually managed to keep him at Wolves.

Traore had attracted the interest of Spurs who lodged a loan bid before submitting an offer in the region of £30m.

That was ultimately knocked back by his club who wanted to keep their best players unless a seismic offer came in.

That said, reporter Dean Jones has delivered a potentially crushing blow in an interview with GIVEMESPORT.

Speaking about events behind the scenes, he said: “I think Traore himself certainly has certain expectations bigger than Wolves in his career.”

Crushing blow

It is natural for a player of Traore’s calibre to see himself at a large club; he did come through Barcelona’s famous La Masia after all.

The Premier League’s big six have already registered their appeal in the dazzling winger with Liverpool having an interest in the past and Jurgen Klopp calling him “unplayable.”

That quote explains in a nutshell why he’d be such a huge loss to the Wolves squad.

The Spain international struggles for goals – he netted just twice last term – but on his day he is an electric ball of fun, capable of tearing apart the sternest of defences.

He has registered a whopping 9.5 dribbles per game from his four top-flight outings this campaign, a number that no other player across Europe’s top five leagues can usurp.

Wolves have had issues in attack this term and it took Lage’s side until the fourth game in the league to finally find the back of the net.

Traore hasn’t beaten the goalkeeper himself but he’s played a crucial part in some vibrant performances in the early days of the new manager’s tenure and he can change a match instantly.

They do have Pedro Neto to return from injury in the coming months but it’s evident that for the time being, their human roadrunner is one of the first names on the team sheet.

Based on that, Wolves can’t afford to lose him in January or beyond. It is a huge blow if Traore really does see his future away from the Old Gold and Lage will have every right to feel gutted.

He is undeniably the Portuguese coach’s main man right now.

AND in other news, Lage could unearth Wolves’ next Joao Moutinho in “intelligent” rarely-seen 19 y/o…

Sky Sports journalist Michael Bridge has raised the prospect that full-back Borna Barisic may have a move away from Rangers lined up ahead of the transfer deadline on Tuesday.

The left-back has been heavily linked with a potential move to Italian club Roma in this transfer window.

Barisic has been heavily involved at the start of the season for the Scottish club and has played five times in all competitions.

He was also involved versus Celtic in the Old Firm derby at the weekend and provided an assist in the 1-0 win.

Bridge has pointed out the Croatia international lingered on the pitch after the final whistle and wonders if he may have been saying goodbye ahead of a potential exit from the club prior to Monday’s deadline.

Barisic has been with Rangers since 2018 and has a contract until 2024, making a total of 117 appearances and scoring seven goals, while providing 33 assists during his time in Scotland.

Bridge said: “There is one interesting one. The Sky cameras picked it up, the very last shot, he was the last player to leave the pitch, Croatian left-back, excellent left-back, called Borna Barisic.

“He kissed the ground and looked sort of quite tearful, so I don’t know if he’s lined up a move anywhere. He’s quite injury prone but when fit, he’s a really, really good left-back.

“I’d say he’s a Premier League top 10 left-back. I don’t know if anyone’s come in for him. Nothing’s come out today but it was a very interesting reaction for a player.

“I know they’d just beaten Celtic but even so, it was a bit of a strange reaction, kissing the ground.”

Ireland will play West Indies as part of their preparations for the ICC World Twenty20 in England next June

Cricinfo staff06-Mar-2009Ireland will play West Indies as part of their preparations for the ICC World Twenty20 in England next June. They will meet at The Oval on June 2 at 1.30pm.Ireland’s other warm-up game sees them face fellow Associates the Netherlands. That game will take place at Lord’s on Monday June 1 at 1.30pm.The two matches are followed by higher-profile clashes. At The Oval, India take on New Zealand at 5.30pm while the day before at Lord’s, New Zealand meet Australia.

When Michael Keane started the season in torrid form for Everton, many supporters may have been lusting after the return of a certain Ben Godfrey.

The former had been handed an early chance by Rafa Benitez to impress, but after being rolled too easily by Patrick Bamford against Leeds and then letting his marker go for Huddersfield’s goal in the Carabao Cup, it didn’t bode well.

Keane did impress as the Toffees beat Brighton and then he scored last weekend against Burnley, yet there was still a feeling that in order for this Everton defence to reach its maximum potential, Godfrey needed to be part of it.

The centre-back started for the first time under Benitez in the win over Burnley, but against Aston Villa on Saturday evening, he was quite mediocre.

Godfrey played at right-back ahead of Seamus Coleman, who was suffering from a hamstring problem during the week.

Sadly, the 23-year-old didn’t play particularly well in that position. Arguably, he was even worse than Lucas Digne, the scorer of an own goal during their dismal 3-0 defeat.

The Frenchman at least provided a big opportunity for one of his teammates to score, while he also managed three tackles, but Godfrey couldn’t usurp that. He supplied an early chance for Salomon Rondon to score at the near post but that was about as good as his evening got.

His defensive efforts were particularly poor as Leon Bailey ran him ragged after he was substituted on late in the game by Dean Smith. The Everton defender was caught wildly out of position for the third and final goal, scored by Villa’s rampant Jamaican.

Instead of marshalling the right-hand side, Godfrey had been dragged to the left of the centre circle, which allowed Bailey to exploit what felt like several acres of space on Everton’s right flank.

The England international couldn’t react quickly enough and consequently Villa sealed the victory.

His numbers didn’t amount to much joy, either. He won a measly 14.2% of the defensive duels that he competed, considerably lower than Digne’s 70%.

Furthermore, he surrendered possession on 15 occasions and completed just 71% of his passes on what was a disastrous night for the club.

On this evidence, Benitez is better off playing Godfrey at centre-back.

AND in other news, 38% pass success: Everton dud who lost the ball every 1.6 touches let Rafa down v AVFC…

After a year when the words “wall”, “falling” and “crumbling” were never far from the headlines, Rahul Dravid could have been forgiven for thinking he had become Humpty Dumpty

S Aga20-Dec-2008
A 26th Test century, to break a poor run of form, was greeted with only a subdued reaction from Rahul Dravid © Getty Images
After a year when the words “wall”, “falling” and “crumbling” were never far from the headlines, Rahul Dravid could have been forgiven for thinking he had become Humpty Dumpty, instead of the most prolific No.3 batsman the world has ever seen. It really had been a wretched 2008, with 669 runs from 14 Tests before he arrived in Mohali. This, remember, was the man who made more than 600 runs in series in Australia and England when he was in his prime.There were no clenched fists or frenzied waves of the bat when he reached his century on Saturday, but the man who sat behind the microphones later in the day looked like someone who had finally seen the light after weeks of confinement in an underground cave. “There was no statement,” he said when asked about the muted celebrations for his 26th century. “I was just happy. I’m older and wiser now. I don’t jump around and get excited.”I’m relieved. It’s nice to be contributing again. It’s been a tough year, and it’s good to make an important contribution, especially with the conditions that we’ve had in this game.”The partnership with Gautam Gambhir was worth 314 runs in 107.5 overs, its significance evident when the next highest stand was 40 runs. “Hopefully, it will be a match-winning partnership,” Dravid said. “Gautam batted beautifully and took the pressure off me. He rotated the strike and was positive against both the pace bowlers and spinners. He’s having a phenomenal year.”England fought back spiritedly after breaking that partnership, but they should also be worried at how subsequent batsmen failed to make much headway on a pitch that’s sure to play a few tricks over the next three days. “At 300 for 1, we were looking around, wondering where we were going to get a wicket from,” said Graeme Swann, who along with the indefatigable Andrew Flintoff was the pick of the bowlers. “The way Dravid played, he hardly gave us any chance. He was exceptional.”Dravid himself couldn’t really pinpoint a reason for the turnaround. “This year, I’ve tried everything,” he said with a laugh, when asked if he’d gone back to videos or books to get out of the slump. “I watched a few old videos of me batting well to recreate some of those emotions and feelings.”But the last two series, I’ve just enjoyed each net session, trusted my instincts and watched the ball.”The way I judge if I’m batting well is by how I bat in the nets. Against Australia and even in this series, I felt like I was batting well, but there weren’t the runs to show for it.”The way I judge if I’m batting well is by how I bat in the nets. Against Australia and even in this series, I felt like I was batting well, but there weren’t the runs to show for itHe batted beautifully on day two, clipping the ball off the pads with his old fluency and also easing it through the off-side gaps when chances presented themselves. After taking 205 balls for 65 on the opening day, the next 71 runs took just 123 deliveries. “You grow comfortable, the more time you spend in the middle,” he said. “Your feet move better. You pick up the length better. They bowled a good testing spell with the new ball and we were lucky to get through.”He called it one of his “most significant innings”, and admitted it might not have been possible without the reservoir of goodwill from fans and experts alike. “There’s been lots of scrutiny and speculation because I haven’t played very well,” he said. “I haven’t got enough runs. It’s been tough personally.”So many people have been wishing me to do well. It’s at times like these that you realise how many want you to do well. They didn’t need to be, but they were so supportive – former players, and even those in the media. That’s all you can ask for.”What Mahendra Singh Dhoni will ask for from here is a repeat of the bowling excellence that humiliated Australia here two months ago. “They tested us right through,” said Dravid of the English bowling. “But we’ll aim to pitch the ball further up and get more swing, make them drive a bit more.”If the skies overhead continue to be overcast, that could well do the trick. As for Dravid, the overwhelming sense of grey has given way to a patch of blue sky. For some, like his three-year-old son Samit, though, life’s about far more than centuries and revivals. “He just wants me to come back home.”A match-winning century to go with so many others wouldn’t be a bad thing to take back.

Peter Moores has turned down the opportunity to deny the scale of the rift that has formed between him and England’s captain, Kevin Pietersen

Cricinfo staff03-Jan-2009Peter Moores has turned down the opportunity to deny the scale of the rift that has formed between him and England’s captain, Kevin Pietersen, following the exclusion of Pietersen’s predecessor, Michael Vaughan, from next month’s tour of the Caribbean.Moores, whose methods have been criticised by Pietersen since the day he took over the captaincy in August, could be forced out of his job before the teams depart for the West Indies, as the ECB’s director of cricket, Hugh Morris, steps in to arbitrate in the escalating row.Speaking briefly to The Sun, Moores was given the opportunity to play down the seriousness of the row, but instead stated: “I hope you understand that I can’t really comment at this stage. I think I’ll take a rain-check on that.”Pietersen has reportedly said he will resign the captaincy if he is not allowed to have his own way, and when Moores was asked if he could continue to work alongside the captain, he responded: “No comment”.

Yuvraj Singh and Pragyan Ojha have been included in a 15-man squad for the two-Test series against England.

Cricinfo staff04-Dec-2008
Sourav Ganguly’s retirement opens up a place for Yuvraj Singh in India’s Test XI © Getty Images
Yuvraj Singh has been given one more chance to resurrect his stop-start Test career, after being selected in India’s 15-man squad for the two-Test series against England starting December 11. Yuvraj, who muscled his way back into contention with two successive one-day hundreds against England last month, is expected to take Sourav Ganguly’s place at No. 6.The selectors have also recalled Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, and have retained M Vijay and S Badrinath as reserve batsmen. Ojha, yet to make his Test debut, toured Sri Lanka earlier this year, but lost his place to Amit Mishra, who made a strong debut against Australia in New Delhi. Vijay, an opener, was handed a debut in Nagpur against Australia after Gautam Gambhir was banned for one Test.Yuvraj, a mainstay in India’s one-day line-up, has had an inconsistent run in Tests, with 1050 runs in 23 games since his debut five years ago, However, his recent form against England prompted the chairman of selectors, Kris Srikkanth, to state that he’s the frontrunner to take Ganguly’s slot in the Test XI. Besides his two match-winning hundreds (138 not out and 118) in the first two ODIs, Yuvraj also picked up four wickets in the second match in Indore.”I have got the opportunity,” Yuvraj told news channel CNN-IBN. “I’m not thinking that I am filling in after someone’s retirement. I always felt this is my place, and if I do well, I’ll surely be there for a long time.”Badrinath and Vijay, who both play for Tamil Nadu, have had contrasting fortunes in their last Ranji Trophy game, against Andhra: Badrinath scored 121 and M Vijay lasted just eight balls before getting out for a duck. Vijay’s splendid form this season, though, had earned him a last-minute call-up to the squad for the Nagpur Test against Australia.Badrinath, who scored a hundred in Tamil Nadu’s previous match against Uttar Pradesh, will be eager for a place in the starting XI for the first Test on his home ground in Chennai. He made his ODI debut during India’s tour of Sri Lanka in August and was part of the Test squad against Australia, but was surprisingly dropped for the subsequent one-day series against England.Left-arm fast bowler RP Singh, who had an indifferent ODI series against England, has been dropped. Ojha takes his place; he is expected to be the back-up spinner in the squad behind Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra – a tactic employed by India for the first three Tests in the previous series against Australia when they had the spin trio of Anil Kumble (now retired), Harbhajan and Mishra to choose from.India squad: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, M Vijay, S Badrinath, Pragyan Ojha.