Indian news round-up

Indian batsman VVS Laxman said on Monday ``I think I'm not fit for the role of an opening batsman. I'm more relaxed when I play in the middle-order.''

Laxman who is now the record holder for maximum runs in a Ranji season, said in a newspaper interview ``when the national selectors gave me the job, I took it up as a challenge and tried my best. I did succeed in some matches, but overall, it was not satisfactory. May be, I was not fit enough for that job. I would be more useful coming down the order for the Indian team. I will have a talk with the National selectors and tell them I am happy as a middle-order batsman.''

Speaking about the good run with the bat this season, Laxman said ``I knew that Hyderabad depended a lot on me and I was very happy to lead the challenge. The runs too came and we were all delighted to reach the final. If we had won the Ranji Trophy it would have been all the more sweet. On being labelled a monarch on dead pitches, he said ``I don't bother about these comments. My mission was to help Hyderabad win the Ranji Trophy and I nearly succeeded in my efforts. Anyway, if you want to make a comeback into the Indian team, you have to perform well in domestic cricket.''

The first batch of 24 trainees of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) have been asked to be present at the venue in Bangalore by April 28, three days before the formal inauguration on May 1.

Speaking to an Indian news agency on Monday, the executive secretary of the BCCI Sharad Diwadkar, said that the change was made necessary in view of the advancement of the arrival of the NCA advisor Rodney Marsh. The former Australian wicketkeeper was expected to reach Bangalore on April 30, but is now scheduled to be in the city a day earlier.

Diwadkar said ``we want the boys to utilise every minute of Marsh's stay. Hence, we have informed the concerned associations to this effect.''

The secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), JY Lele on Monday said that he does not agree with the views expressed by the team coach Kapil Dev that India should stop playing international cricket for the next few months pending the outcome of the probe into the match-fixing allegations.

Lele said ``please don't ask me to say anything in connection with what Kapil said. I have had enough of it. I don't want to give much importance to his views. If all the players as well as the coach request the Board president to freeze India's international matches for the time being, then the working committee will deliberate on it. But, at the moment, the question of not playing does not arise.'' He added ``It may be his personal opinion but there is no change in our decision to take part in the Asia Cup in Dhaka that gets under way on May 27.''

Meanwhile, the Asia Cup camp, originally scheduled to be held in Calcutta, has now been shifted to Pune. The two week long camp will begin on May 14 with 20 probables. The selectors will announce the final squad in the last week of May. The captain is to be named on May 1 in Bangalore where all the selectors will be present in view of the inauguration of the National Cricket Academy.

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly's poor form with the bat continued even as Lancashire clinched a one-wicket win over Leicestershire in a Benson and Hedges Cup limited-overs game at Old Trafford on Monday. Lancashire thus earned themselves a quarter-final berth.

Chasing a total of 173, Lancashire reached the target in 46.3 overs in a match reduced to 48 overs a side. Ganguly, who came in at one drop, scored 16 runs off 36 balls, adding 47 runs for the second wicket with former England captain Mike Atherton before he was caught by BF Smith off DeFreitas. Lancashire then suffered a mini-collapse, the chief damage being done by Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who captured four wickets for 28 runs in his ten overs.

Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid, playing for Kent, scored 27 runs off 49 balls with the help of five boundaries against Middlesex at Canterbury. Kent piled up 204 for nine in the 50 overs and then dismissed their opponents for 127 in 36.2 overs thus completing a 77-run win. Mark Ealham (4/32) and JM Golding (3/20) were the wreckers-in-chief.

Quarterfinal line-up (all matches on May 9): Glamorgan vs Hampshire, Lancashire vs Durham, Yorkshire vs Surrey, Sussex vs Gloucestershire.