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Cricinfo previews the Ranji Trophy semi-final between Karanataka and Uttar Pradesh

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran02-Jan-2010Match factsJanuary 3-6
Start time 09.30 (04.00 GMT)It has been 20 months since RP Singh played a Test•Getty ImagesBig pictureAfter dominating the late nineties, with three Ranji championships in four years, the next decade wasn’t one to savour for Karnataka: they failed to reach the finals for ten straight years. In that time, Uttar Pradesh transformed themselves into perennial title contenders, contesting the finals thrice in the previous four years.This season, though, a revamped Karnataka have had a hiccup-free ride into the semi-finals on the back of a promising bunch of young batsmen and a bowling attack with bite. They opened the campaign with a thumping 185-run victory over UP in Meerut, strolled to big wins in three of the remaining five league games, and are yet to even concede the first-innings lead in the tournament.However, they can’t take a tenacious UP lightly, particularly as they are up against a bowling line-up that includes three players (Praveen Kumar, RP Singh and Piyush Chawla) with international exposure. Also, UP are packed with players well-versed in dealing with the pressures of playing quality teams in knock-out Ranji encounters, which will be a novel experience for many of Karnataka’s new boys.UP have also shown tremendous appetite for a scrap this season, bouncing back to prevail from dire situations like when they were rolled over for 62 by Bengal in Kanpur. It’s their bowling which will be their main strength, but their batsmen have put up timely, if not massive, runs to keep the season on track. “We are fighters, we don’t give up,” their captain Mohammad Kaif said on Saturday. “We don’t have any player scoring 1400 runs in a season, players averaging around 30, maximum 40-45, but we have eleven players contributing all the time.”Form guide (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Karnataka – DWWWD
Uttar Pradesh – DWDWDPlayers to watchA blistering century in the IPL sprung Manish Pandey from anonymity into national limelight. Making runs in the hit-and-giggle world of Twenty20s is all very well, but can he cut it in the first-class arena, the critics asked? This season, he has shown he can. First, there was the aggressive 194 against UP to rescue Karnataka from 27 for 3, then a century against Irfan Pathan and Co. but the most important innings was the assured 115 in the quarter-finals, when he shepherded the Karnataka tail past Punjab’s first-innings score.RP Singh has followed the well-worn path of Indian fast bowlers in recent times: start off mopping up plenty of wickets before gradually losing effectiveness over a few international seasons. It’s nearly two years now since RP played a Test, and his state fast-bowling mates, Praveen and Sudeep Tyagi, are ahead of him in the limited-overs pecking order. It’s been a lacklustre season so far – 20 wickets at 37.55 with no five-wicket hauls – and he doesn’t have too many more first-class games to impress the selectors.Team newsRahul Dravid said the final eleven won’t be chosen until he has had a look at the pitch on Sunday morning, but it will not be surprising if they retain the side that took on Punjab in the quarter-finals.Karnataka (likely) 1 Robin Uthappa, 2 KB Pawan, 3 G Satish, 4 Rahul Dravid (capt), 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Amit Verma, 7 CM Gautam (wk), 8 Sunil Joshi, 9 Vinay Kumar, 10 A Mithun, 11 S Aravind.With Praveen being available for the semi-finals, left-arm medium-pacer Shalabh Srivastava is likely to be sidelined. Chawla and Praveen Gupta will continue to share the spinning responsibilities.Uttar Pradesh (likely) 1 Tanmay Srivastava, 2 Shivkant Shukla, 3 Mohammad Kaif (capt), 4 Rohit Srivastava, 5 Parvinder Singh, 6 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 7 Piyush Chawla, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Amir Khan (wk), 10 Praveen Gupta, 11 RP SinghPitch and conditionsThe track at the Chinnaswamy Stadium is expected to be a flat one, with both captains saying they would like to bat first on winning the toss. “It will not be like Delhi,” joked the curator, Narayan Raju, referring to the abandoned one-dayer against Sri Lanka last week. He said there will be some bounce on the first day after which it will get a little slower. With both teams having plenty of batting depth, we might be in for a game similar to the one the last time these two teams faced each other at the Chinnaswamy Stadium; Karnataka piled on 511 after being sent in, only to see UP counter with 567 to take away three points from a drawn match.Quotes”I think they have the experience in the semi-final and final knock-out level but on current form and in this season we have the momentum and are playing a little bit better than they are.”

“One advantage we have is that we have seen their young players, like Pandey, who are coming in, playing their first season, that will help us have better plans when they come in to bat than in the first match [in Meerut].”

Steven Gerrard took charge of his first Premier League game yesterday with Aston Villa and put in a fantastic attacking performance to beat Graham Potter’s Brighton in a 2-0 win.

Villa broke down Brighton’s well-regimented system in the final ten minutes of the game, with forward Ollie Watkins scoring in the 84th minute and captain Tyrone Mings killing the game in the 89th minute to take the first win in five for the side.

One player that put in a fantastic performance for his team was 20 year old, Jacob Ramsey.

The 15k-per-week midfielder started in the lineup for Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon and was praised for his performance by Ian Wright, who claimed to be ‘excited’ about the youngster on Match Of The Day.

“I’m quite excited about [Jacob] Ramsey, with Gerrard and Gary McAllister there, what he’s going to become, I really am excited by that,” Wright said.

Former legendary Liverpool midfielder, Steven Gerrard has obviously seen a spark in Ramsey by adding him into his starting lineup in his first game managing the side.

Gerrard will be looking for players he can develop and establish when creating a new era at Aston Villa, and for a midfielder like Ramsey, working under a legend and pro in his position is the ideal scenario to help him become the next big thing for the club.

Former Villa manager, Dean Smith, famously developed and nurtured the talents of £100m Manchester City player, Jack Grealish, taking him from a teenager in the Championship to an England international who has become a household name.

There is no reason why Gerrard wouldn’t be inspired by the successful development and influence his predecessor had on players like Grealish. With his current crop of players and the right coaching and development of Ramsey, he could become the new manager’s very own Grealish.

Villa are currently in a battle to climb the league table after a shaky start in their Premier League season so far, that saw Dean Smith sacked just before the international break after five consecutive losses.

Gerrard was appointed to steady the ship and secure points for the side to stop them from falling too far into a relegation battle, and with a three-pointer on Saturday, he’s on the right path.

In other news: Gerrard could target Curtis Jones in January

Given Newcastle’s very poor start to the season, it’s safe to say that they could do with something to help them get their campaign on track and lift them out of the relegation zone.

However, it seems as though the new owners at the Tyneside club may have identified someone who could help to get the team out of their current predicament.

What’s the news?

It has recently been reported by Goal in Brazil (via Sport Witness) that Newcastle have entered the race to sign FC Basel striker Arthur Cabral and are preparing an offer to be sent in the coming days.

Cabral originally joined Basel back in the 2019 summer transfer window on loan from Brazilian club Palmeiras before signing on a permanent basis a year later.

Overall, the 23-year-old – who is currently valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt – has netted an impressive 63 goals in 101 appearances across all competitions, with 25 of those coming this season in just 26 appearances, which is probably why Newcastle apparently have their eye on him.

Having described himself as a “fighting” player on the pitch, Cabral could be just what Newcastle need to keep them away from the relegation zone with his clear attacking talents in front of goal.

In addition to his goals, Cabral has averaged 4.1 shots and 1.3 key passes per game in the Swiss league so far this season, which is much higher than Callum Wilson’s average of 2.3 shots per game in the Premier League prior to their match against Burnley on Saturday.

Looking ahead to the January transfer window and the teams that Newcastle face in the league before the window opens, it should be the club’s main priority to sign Cabral in January to see if he can form a deadly strike partnership with the prolific Wilson and score enough goals between them to transform Howe’s side.

Also, given his fairly young age, he could well be a long-term replacement for Wilson further down the line, with the Englishman six years older than Cabral.

In other news: PIF must seal dream NUFC move for “exceptional” 114-goal magician who Howe would love…

The New Zealand captain has described rookie left-arm fast bowler Andy McKay as one of the quickest bowlers in the country and even put him on par with Shane Bond

Cricinfo staff09-Feb-2010New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has described rookie left-arm fast bowler Andy McKay as one of the quickest bowlers in the country and even put him on par with Shane Bond. McKay has taken two wickets in each of his two ODIs so far, and was particularly impressive in the second game against Bangladesh in Dunedin, conceding just 17 runs off his ten overs.”He was definitely the quickest guy I faced in the HRV (Twenty20) Cup,” Vettori told the . “We took a chance on him because of that pace. I think he does have it. I think he can be on a par with Shane Bond when he gets it right, and that makes a real difference when you step up to international level.”McKay made a late entry into the national side, at 29, after entering the first-class scene in 2002-03. He played five seasons for Auckland before shifting to Wellington in 2009-10. He was the joint leading wicket-taker in the one-day competition when the national selectors came calling.McKay bowled to Vettori during a HRV Cup match between Wellington and Northern Districts in Mt Maunganui last month. He played them again at Basin Reserve, where he took three wickets. “I was looking to use my bouncer and hit the pitch and bat hard,” McKay said.McKay clocked 147 kph in the first ODI in Napier and he’s targeting speeds of 150 and above. “I’d never been radared before,” McKay said.” I didn’t see the radar so I wasn’t sure how fast I was bowling. I had bowled quicker spells for Wellington than [the one] at Napier.”Meanwhile, New Zealand announced one change for the third ODI against Bangladesh in Christchurch on Thursday, bringing in the spin allrounder Nathan McCullum for seamer Daryl Tuffey, who is nursing a hamstring strain.

Mahmudullah’s ecstatic on-field celebrations were followed by a chirpy press conference after stumps

Andrew Fernando in Hamilton17-Feb-2010Mahmudullah had cut a disappointed figure at missing out on a maiden Test century by four runs against India recently, but he only had to wait one more match to get to the coveted landmark. After his 115 helped Bangladesh avert the follow-on on day three at Seddon Park, Mahmudullah’s ecstatic on-field celebrations were followed by a chirpy press conference after stumps.”I was happy that this time I got the century after missing out against India … this one might have been my best innings so far because I came into a difficult situation with us six down for around 200, and we batted well,” he said.Mahmudullah also commented on his record-breaking partnership with his captain Shakib Al Hasan. “We had fun, it was a good partnership. We just tried to keep positive and go for the bad balls and were happy to make the runs. If you look at the scorecard, everyone in the top order made a start but didn’t capitalise. So it was good, the way that Shakib and I batted well.”Shakib’s controversial dismissal was played down by Mahmudullah, who believed the ball had carried to the keeper initially. “I thought it was a fair catch the way the New Zealanders were coming [into the huddle], but I was unhappy that Shakib couldn’t also make a century. All the boys were a bit disappointed, but that’s just a part of life.”New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori also weighed in on the issue saying, “I haven’t seen the replays, but Brendon was unsure about it so I went to the umpires and talked to them and they were confident about the decision,” pointing out that Bangladesh “still had a review up their sleeve” but opted not to use it.Vettori also praised the 145-run stand between Mahmudullah and Shakib. “It was a very good partnership. They were busy at the crease and put away every bad ball and put the pressure back on us.”Vettori revealed some of New Zealand’s plan of attack for the rest of the match. “We’ll try to bat out the first two sessions tomorrow and see where we are from there,” he said. “We got a few to turn today, but there is still a large role for the seamers to play. They need to execute better in the fourth innings when we are trying to bowl them out.”

According to Japanese news agency Kyodo, as translated and shared by the Glasgow Times, Celtic are also set to sign Gamba Osaka midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi alongside known targets Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate.

The Lowdown: Celtic eye Maeda and Hatate moves…

Ange Postecoglou, coming after the summer signing of Japan international Kyogo Furuhashi, has been heavily tipped to add more talent from the Asian continent to his Hoops roster.

The former Australia national team manager knows these players well with Celtic’s boss having also apparently set his sights on both Maeda and Hatate over these last few months.

Maeda, a striker for Ange’s ex-club Yokohama F Marinos, has been on their radar with the 24-year-old bagging an incredible 23 goals and five assists in 36 J-League starts over 2021 (Transfermarkt).

Hatate, meanwhile, a versatile left-back for Kawasaki Frontale, has also been at the centre of reports that his move to Parkhead is also a matter of time.

The Latest: Celtic also set to sign Ideguchi…

As per Kyodo, shared and translated by The Glasgow Times, Celtic are now also set ‘to win’ Ideguchi alongside the heavily linked duo.

The 25-year-old, a former Leeds United midfield player, comes as part of a stunning Japanese triple swoop with the transfers apparently on the verge of completion.

The Verdict: Right man?

Ideguchi’s inclusion in this raid should raise some eyebrows, not least because Celtic’s fresh interest has attracted some raised eyebrows from experts on Twitter.

Respected journalist Dan Orlowitz of The Japan Times, for instance, at first glance thought Ange’s interest in the ex-Whites man was ‘kind of insane’ – citing the fact he ‘threw his international career away’ during his spell at Elland Road (Twitter).

However, looking at the positives, other Asian football experts have actually praised Ideguchi for turning his form around in recent seasons.

Speaking to HITC, Alan Gibson, the editor of JSoccer magazine, explained how the midfield ace is ‘prepared to be hard’ and possesses a ‘touch of malice’ – perhaps leaving little wonder why Ange wants him in Glasgow.

Celtic’s boss is certainly familiar with Ideguchi actually haunting Ange during his time as the Socceroos head coach.

Ending Japan’s once seven-game run without a win against Australia in 2017, Ideguchi grabbed a goal against Ange’s side to help secure his country a place in the 2018 World Cup with a 2-0 triumph (Taipei Times).

That result briefly came as a ‘major blow’ to the Aussies in their quest for Russian qualification, though they eventually made it with a 3-1 win over Honduras.

Clearly, Ideguchi’s reportedly imminent arrival comes as a mixed bag but Celtic supporters will be hoping Ange can get the very best out of him.

In other news, Celtic are eyeing this Bundesliga star…

Raqibul Hasan, the Bangladesh batsman who retired on the eve of the Test series against England before subsequently overturning the decision a week later, has had his contract terminated by the Bangladesh Cricket Board

Cricinfo staff19-Mar-2010Raqibul Hasan, the Bangladesh batsman who retired on the eve of the Test series against England before subsequently overturning the decision a week later, has had his contract terminated by the Bangladesh Cricket Board and won’t be considered for selection for three months.Raqibul threw Bangladesh’s plans into disarray the day before the opening Test in Chittagong when he announced his retirement plans on the team bus. However, on March 17 he sent another letter to the board reversing his decision.”The board considers Raqibul’s conduct in the whole affair as disruptive to the preparation of the Bangladesh team ahead of a highly important Test match,” a statement said. “It was a serious breach of discipline on part of a contracted player and unbecoming of an international cricketer.”As such the board has terminated his contract with immediate effect and he will not be considered for selection in the national team for three months effective from 19 March to 19 June 2010. However he will be allowed to participate in domestic cricket competitions.”That decision rules him out the World Twenty20, although he hadn’t been named in the preliminary squad for that event, and more significantly Bangladesh’s tour of England which starts at the end of May. However, he will be eligible for selection by the time the one-day series in England takes place in July.Raqibul’s move was in response to being omitted from the one-day series against England and also the preliminary World Twenty20 squad, although there were also reports of disagreement between board and selectors over his place in the Test squad. He had been earmarked for a Test recall after an impressive warm-up match for Bangladesh A against England where he made 107 and 51.”The board believes that timely punitive measures would discourage other players from taking similar path in future and has decided that very strict actions will be taken against cricketers who break discipline and BCB’s code of conduct,” the statement added.Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, had earlier indicated that he hoped to have Raqibul available for the Tests in England. “We’ve spoken to him, but it is still up to a board decision to release him back to play,” he said.”That’s not happening yet so he’s left his run a little bit late. I would have had him back no problem but there’s a few little delays happening. Hopefully we’ll have him back for the England tour and the Asia Cup.”

According to reports by Voetbal24 (via SportWitness), West Ham are a ‘serious candidate’ for Club Brugge star Hans Vanaken, who is expected to make a Premier League move if he wins the Belgian Golden Shoe.

The Lowdown: Vanaken having a fantastic season

Attacking-midfielder Vanaken signed for Brugge in 2015, having already spent five seasons playing in Belgium – first at Lommel United, then at KSC Lokeren.

The Belgium international is currently having a fantastic campaign in the Jupiler Pro League, having scored five goals and producing two assists.

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He has also performed on the European stage, scoring three times and assisting once in six Champions League games this season – drawing international attention.

The Latest: Vanaken linked with the Hammers

The Hammers have long been linked with the midfielder, having previously been rejected by the player following a £15 million bid. Vanaken cited that if he were to move to the Premier League, he would want only want to do so to win trophies.

However, according to a report by Voetbal24 (via SportWitness), if Vanaken is able to bring home the Belgian Golden Shoe, it is expected that he will move to the Premier League, with West Ham now once again considered a serious candidate.

This arises after a previous report Voetbal24 (via SportWitness) claimed that the move was no longer out of the question despite the previous rejection.

The Verdict: A fine addition for David Moyes

The attacking-midfielder could prove to be a fantastic addition to David Moyes’ side, who have struggled for goals recently, with Michail Antonio failing to score in his last seven Premier League games.

Former teammate Onur Kaya has said that Vanaken has the technique of a much smaller player – he is 6 foot 5 – and believes that his friend ‘has his place at 16 of the 20 Premier League clubs’.

Current teammate and former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has even claimed that Vanaken is a better finisher ‘than Roberto Firmino’ and that he is of a ‘comparable level to Mo [Salah]’.

It seems that the Belgian beast could be the perfect fit for West Ham as an alternative goalscoring option playing off Antonio, so fans will surely hope to see this deal cross the line.

Left-arm spinner Bipul Shah and opener Shikhar Dhawan combined to take North Zone into the final of the Deodhar Trophy, as they beat East Zone comprehensively by eight wickets in Vadodara

Cricinfo staff07-Mar-2010
Scorecard
Left-arm spinner Bipul Shah and opener Shikhar Dhawan combined to take North Zone into the final of the Deodhar Trophy, as they beat East Zone comprehensively by eight wickets in Vadodara.After asking East to bat, North struck at regular intervals to cut through the line-up despite a half-century from Paresh Patel. Persistent strikes by Bipul, who grabbed a five-for, Joginder Sharma and Jaskaran Singh had limited East to 133 for 8 at one stage, but wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha (58) and captain Debasis Mohanty (16) staged a fightback with a 57-run stand for the ninth wicket to help take their side to 210.However, the effort proved woefully inadequate in the wake of a dominating response from the North batsmen. They lost opener Rahul Dewan with the score on 34, but Virat Kohli (66) supported Dhawan in a stand of 112 for the second wicket. Kohli was the more aggressive of the two, striking 11 fours in his 54-ball knock. Mandeep Singh then joined Dhawan to complete the formalities, remaining unbeaten on 32 while his partner went on to make 85, as the victory was sealed in the 38th over.Central Zone take on West Zone in the second semi-final in Vadodara on March 8.

Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur side head into Sunday afternoon’s Premier League clash against Crystal Palace in an excellent run of league form, with Spurs remaining undefeated under the 52-year-old Italian in the top flight – winning three and drawing two of their five fixtures in the competition.

The north London side also secured their place in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening, defeating West Ham United 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – with Steven Bergwijn, despite being heavily linked with a move away from the club this winter, highly impressing in the quarter-final.

Indeed, over his 61 minutes on the pitch against the Hammers, Bergwijn turned in a performance of the highest quality, bagging his side’s opener after a smart one-two with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, before playing a key role in the restoration of Spurs’ lead by bursting into the West Ham box and squaring the ball for Lucas Moura to tap home – shortly after Jarrod Bowen had drawn the visitors level.

However, it was not only the £16.2m-rated winger’s contributions in the final third that made him stand out on Wednesday evening, but also his efforts in helping his side out defensively, as the Netherlands international made two tackles, one interception and won four of his seven attempted duels against David Moyes side.

Indeed, these returns would appear to back up Alasdair Gold’s suggestion that the 24-year-old is not afraid to do the “dirty work” for his team – something that is an extremely important trait for Conte’s attackers to possess – as well as the journalist’s claim that Bergwijn still puts in an “incredible” amount of effort for his side.

Furthermore, the £73k-per-week forward’s returns against West Ham saw him earn an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.5 – with only Hojbjerg receiving a higher score – while 90min awarded the Dutchman an eight in their own player ratings, as well as describing his display as “one of the brighter performances of his Tottenham career.”

As such, while Conte may well decide to start Heung-Min Son ahead of Bergwijn on Sunday afternoon, it would appear to be a wise move for the Italian to instead stick with the 24-year-old, as, with it looking as if he is very much playing for his future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the forward could once again inspire his side to victory against Crystal Palace.

In other news: Tottenham handed huge injury boost ahead of Palace clash that’ll have Conte buzzing