Jacques Kallis rested against England Series

JOHANNESBURG - Jacques Kallis has been omitted from South Africa's ODI squad for the series against England so he can rest before the World Twenty20, C S a said on Wednesday.

The 36-year-old Kallis, a experienced person of 321 ODIs, was replaced in the 15-man squad by new cap Dean Elgar.

The Proteas play 5 matches against England Series and September, and the World Twenty20 begin in Sri Lanka Coming September 18.Elgar, the 25-year-old batting all-rounder, has played in 85 List A matches scored 2,593 runs at an average of 39.28, and has taken 29 wickets with his left-arm spin.

Leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who played the last of his 5 ODIs during the 2011 World Cup, has also been called up to the squad, and there was a recall for all-rounder Ryan McLaren. Dean has been in plans for some time and might well have made his first appearance last year but for injury, Andrew Hudson, CSA's selection convener, said in a declaration on the governing body's website

Imran is a genuine wicket-taking bowler and his selection enables us to learn our options in this area. Ryan has just come off some excellent form for the South Africa A side and the added depth he provide in the seam bowling department will allow us to rotate players if we feel the need arise.

The 1st match of the England-South Africa limited-overs series is at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on August 24, with the series final at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Sept 5.South Africa will then play 3 T20 internationals against England.
South Africa ODI squad
AB de Villiers (cap) Hashim Amla
JP Duminy Francois du Plessis
Dean Elgar Imran Tahir
Ryan McLaren Albie Morkel
Morne Morkel Justin Ontong
Wayne Parnell Robin Peterson
Graeme Smith Dale Steyn
Lonwabo Tsotsobe

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First place. Indian team a chance

India have had a horror run in international cricket lately, but the world champion have the chance to end Australia’s control as the No. 1 team in ODI.

MS Dhoni’s boys are currently placed 4th, but can leapfrog straight to the 1st space if it sweeps Sri Lanka 5-0 in the upcoming series in the island nation.

India was briefly No. 1 in ODIs in 2009, a position they lost swiftly and have not been able to regain despite their World Cup win in 2011. Australia has held the place since then despite being a shadow of the champion side they were once.

Australia, led by Michael Clarke, had a disastrous ODI tour of England where they lost 4-0. This has tightened the ranking table. The top 4 teams are within 2 points of each other: Australia at 119, South Africa and England at 118 and India at 117.

Again after 5 years in India, Pakistan Cricket Series

Indian cricket chiefs on Monday said they had invited Pakistan for a series later this year, their 1st in 5 years, in a further sign of improving ties between the neighbours.

If approved by the two governments, the series would comprise 3 ODI and 2 Twenty20 games in December-January, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said.
It was decided to resume cricketing ties with Pakistan by inviting the Pakistan cricket team for a short series in December 2012-January 2013, the BCCI said in a statement. The modalities will be worked out soon. The rivals have not played a two-sided series since Pakistan's tour of India in 2007 after cricket ties were snap following the 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai, which were approved out by militants from Pakistan.

The ODI matches will be played in Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi and the Twenty20 games in Bangalore and Ahmadabad, BCCI spokes Rajiv Shukla told reporters in New Delhi. The series will be held when England, who are due to tour India later this year, return home for a short time for Christmas and New Year. The Pakistan Cricket Board swiftly welcomes the proposed series, which will now need approval from the Indian foreign relationships and home ministries.

PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf told local television channels that Pakistan was still waiting for a formal invitation, but said it seems it will certainly be held later this year. But previous India captain Sunil Gavaskar slam the decision to play cricket against Pakistan, saying Pakistan was still not cooperate in the Mumbai attacks probe.
Being a Mumbaikar, I feel what the importance is when there is no cooperation from the other side, the Press Trust of India news group quoted Gavaskar as saying. However, fellow former captain Bishan Bedi welcomed the revival. It is a step in the right direction, he told Tithe total of interest and goodwill it will make will be huge.

Cricket ties have been the subject of deliberations between the governments of both nuclear-armed countries, who have been holding regular meeting in a bid to improve ties and in time thrash out a peace agreement.

The countries have fought three wars since independence in 1947.

The Indian and Pakistani cricket teams have only met in multi-nation tournament since 2007.They clashed in the World Cup semi-final in the north Indian town of Mohali last year, a high-profile match that was attend by the prime ministers of the 2 countries. They also played during the Asia Cup in Bangladesh in March. Together matches were won by India.
An Indian government source told AFP the decision to resume cricket ties was made by the own boards and not the government. The issue of resuming cricketing ties came up in recent two-sided talks and it was left for the boards to resolve it, the source said. Once they have resolute, and then there would be the issue of internal security, which will be reviewed and decided by various agencies.

The BCCI in May had invited a Pakistani team to take part in the inter-club Champions League Twenty20 match, which the Indian board owns with the boards of Australia and South Africa.

Pakistan's champion Twenty20 side, Sialkot Stallions, will contribute in the tournament to be held in South Africa in October.

Irfan Pathan in Sri Lanka series

New Delhi-Indian Team All-rounder Irfan Pathan has replaced injured fast bowler Vinay Kumar in India's squads for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour.

Vinay Kumar suffered a right hamstring injury while training Thursday. He will hence not be available for the 4th coming tour of Sri Lanka, confirmed a release from Board of Control for Cricket in India Friday. 

The All-India Senior Selection board has named Pathan as Vinay Kumar's replacement in the Indian squad.The BCCI statement added that Vinay Kumar is expected to regain match-fitness in 3 weeks.

Pathan was overlooked for the 5 One-Day Internationals and a T20 International in Sri Lanka when the team was picked last week. 

India plays their first ODI in Hambantota July 21.

SLPL names Afridi, Gayle international icons

Islamabad: West Indies opener Chris Gayle and Pakistan Player Shahid Afridi have been named as the 2 international icon players for the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League that begins on August 10.

The presence of the duo will join 5 other Sri Lanka players as icons of their own teams, lend the fledgling league some star power and have the possible to boost viewership.Reports propose that Gayle will represent Uva province, while Afridi will play for Nagenahira.

Last week, Sri Lanka Cricket auctioned the 7 Sri Lanka Premier League teams for an average price of 4.3 million dollars, The Daily Times reports.

A number of Indian companies are believed to have successfully bid for teams in the SLPL, highlighting the lure of the permit model in cricket's biggest market despite the BCCI's reluctance to allow Indian players to participate.

The players will be drafted in 2 groups - the first consisting of players from Sri Lanka and the second, the foreign players.

The draft is being seen as the best way to ensure that players are evenly dispersed among the teams, creation it a level playing field.

The SLPL will run for 3 weeks, with the final to be held on August 31. There will be 24 games in total, split between Colombo and Pallekele.