Indian news round-up

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday refrained from commenting on India's reiteration of the ban on bilateral cricket series and announced the list of probables for the forthcoming Asian Test championship. "This is not the time to for us to join issues. But at the same time, we are very confident that Indian team will arrive here to play in the Asian Test championship (ATC) match scheduled to take place between September 13 and 17," a PCB official told PTI from Lahore.

Minister of State for Sports Pon Radhakrishnan had on Monday reiterated the Government's stand disallowing its cricket team to play in bilateral series with Pakistan. India is scheduled to play Pakistan in Karachi in the Asian Test championship which is a multi-lateral tournament involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh too. The Government has allowed the Indian team to play Pakistan in multi-lateral tournaments.

The ATC schedule: Sept 1-5: Pakistan vs Bangladesh in Pakistan, Sept 13-17: Pakistan vs India in Pakistan, Sept 21-25: India vs Bangladesh in India. Oct 2-6: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh in Sri Lanka. Jan 31-Feb 4: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan in Sri Lanka. Feb 7-11: India vs Sri Lanka in India. Feb 15-19: Final (venue to be decided later).

Indian spin ace Anil Kumble, who returned to full-fledged competitive cricket on Wednesday after a nine-month injury layoff, expressed confidence of being 100 per cent fit before India's tour to South Africa in October.

"I am 80 per cent fit now and confident of being totally fit in two months," Kumble, who is leading the Karnataka State Cricket Association XI in the ongoing KSCA Diamond Jubilee All India tournament in Bangalore, told reporters.

Kumble, who is returning to competitive cricket for the first time after withdrawing midway through a one-day series in Sharjah in October and undergoing shoulder surgery in Johannesburg in January, said he has been bowling 20 to 30 overs a day now and hoped that he would regain his form.

Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar is rated as the world's best Test and one-day batsman in the international ratings released on Wednesday. In arguably the most scientific system of ratings, PriceWaterhouseCoopers puts Australian captain Steve Waugh behind Tendulkar at number two in Tests and many numbers below him in the one-dayers.

Rahul Dravid is placed number four in Tests and skipper Sourav Ganguly number five in one-dayers. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is rated as the 7th best bowler in Test cricket. With 892 and 742 points in the Test and one-dayers respectively, Tendulkar leads his rivals in both versions of the game by comfortable margins. Waugh has 861 points while his teammate Michael Bevan is placed second in the one-day list with 775 points.

Harbhajan is the only Indian in the top ten of the Test bowling list with 733 points. Glenn McGrath is rated number one with 913 points.

Dravid, who tallied 807 points, was placed behind Waugh and Andy Flower of Zimbabwe (830). Ganguly, placed a lowly 45th in the Tests with 534 points, has 742 points in the one-dayers. The highest rated Indian bowler in one-dayers was Ajit Agarkar, placed 27th with 613 points. He was immediately followed by Venkatesh Prasad, Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble.

Former Indian all rounder Karsan Ghavri said on Wednesday that it will be a big challenge to coach Bengal cricketers and hoped he would be able to bring about the desired results.

The 50-year-old former left hander, who took over as the coach of the Bengal Ranji team, said that the boys will have to work hard if they were keen to improve their performance. "I have just taken over the job today, so I am not in a position to talk much about the team. Give me some time to know the players," he told reporters. "It is a challenge for me. I know Bengal's performance has not been too good in the last few years. I hope I can change that," he said.

The former Test cricketer expressed satisfaction with the coaching facilities available at the Eden Gardens. "The facilities are very good. I am impressed with the indoor coaching centre here".