Abhimanyu Mithun is the replacement of Praveen Kumar for Australia tour; Irfan Pathan get selected for last 2 ODIs vs West Indies

Abhimanyu Mithun, the Karnataka fast bowler, has been named as Praveen Kumar's replacement in India's Test squad for their tour of Australia. After Praveen was ruled out of the Tests with a fractured rib, the selectors had to add another seamer to the 17-man squad and the place was expected to go to either one of Mithun, Vinay Kumar or Irfan Pathan. Vinay Kumar and Irfan have been left out and Mithun, who has played four Tests for India, the last in Barbados in May, has been called up.

Mithun took six wickets in three Tests in his debut series - the tour of Sri Lanka in July 2010 - and impressed the team management with his strength and spirited bowling on flat tracks. He, however, had to make way for the returning Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth after that series, and waited till May 2011 for his next opportunity in a Test. He took three wickets in the Test against West Indies in Barbados and was subsequently left out of India's tour of England. He has also been out of India's one-day squads, only being called up as a replacement for other players.

He replaced Praveen for the home ODIs against West Indies. He and Vinay both played the third ODI, at Motera; Vinay took 2 for 39 in eight overs while Mithun took just one wicket and conceded 47 runs in his seven overs. Vinay has been a more regular part of India one-day team - he has 13 wickets from his last eight ODIs - but has never been part of an Indian Test squad.

Irfan, meanwhile, has not played for India since 2009, but drew attention because of his performance in this season's Ranji Trophy, in which he is the leading wicket-taker in the Elite division with 21 scalps.

Mithun joins Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron and Ishant Sharma in India's pace department for the Australia tour, with Zaheer Khan selected provisionally, subject to him proving his fitness before the squad's departure.

Finally West indies won their match against India

t took Darren Sammy and Andre Russell 5.4 overs of mayhem to undo an afternoon of impressive work from India, and plot their first defeat in 12 home games. The pair came together after Ravindra Jadeja pulled off an outfield catch for the ages to remove Kieron Pollard, West Indies' most dangerous batsman on paper. Sammy and Russell proceeded to test that assumption with an unbroken partnership of delightful ferocity that yielded 79, propelling West Indies to a defendable 260. The bowlers, led by the irrepressible Ravi Rampaul, sliced through India's top order and set up West Indies' first win on tour.

Two things have been constant in this series - Rohit Sharma's pristine form, and the game-changing capabilities of the last wicket pair. Under lights, West Indies did enough to overcome both and finish on top. Rohit stoked a sublime 95 after India's top order funked, but ran himself out in a desperate effort to manipulate the strike to be the ninth man dismissed. Abhimanyu Mithun and Umesh Yadav then lashed out 28 for the final wicket in 19 balls to keep West Indies sweating, before Rampaul yorked Mithun to close the game.

Full report to follow ...

25 overs India 116 for 6 (Rohit 33*, Ashwin 7*, Rampaul 3-36) need 145 runs to beat West Indies 260 for 5 (Samuels 58, Sammy 41*, Russell 40*)

	Ravi Rampaul's three wickets derailed India's chase

West Indies bowlers' needed all of 21 overs to slice through India's top six, and leave their side poised for their first win of the tour. Rohit Sharma survived through the shambles, but despite his efforts India's unbeaten home run of 11 games looked set to end at Motera. More worryingly, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir bagged first-ball ducks to extend their runs of poor form, leaving India concerned ahead of the Australia tour. To make matters worse, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina perished to umpiring errors that could have been reversed by the DRS - not in place for this series thanks to BCCI's opposition to the system.

India's batting blues continued the remarkable turnaround in fortunes from the 45th over of the West Indies innings, when Darren Sammy and Andre Russell came together to pummel 79 runs in no time. The hosts seemed hung-over from the onslaught when they began their chase. Sehwag is yet to make a significant score since the World Cup, but that didn't stop him from chasing a short and wide first delivery without moving his feet. Gambhir followed the very next ball, shouldering arms after misreading an inswinger that straightened to catch him plumb on the crease.

Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli responded with a slew of boundaries as the new balls flew into, and off, the middle of the bat. Parthiv in particular was in prime touch in front of his home crowd, whipping, on-driving and steering Kemar Roach for fours. Kohli then carved Rampaul through the covers, before drilling him straight and pulling for fours as the chase looked up. It was about to go pear-shaped in a hurry, though.

The debutant offspinner Sunil Narine started off with a mix of offbreaks and knuckle-flicked top spinners, before striking with his stock ball. Kohli was well forward looking to work him with the turn to the leg side, and was struck in front of middle and leg, with the ball sliding further down. The umpire Sudhir Asnani was convinced, though, and Kohli left the pitch spewing a litany of invective in his wake, which should earn him a visit to the match referee's chambers. Marlon Samuels then produced a ripping offspinner that whizzed past Parthiv's forward prod to disturb his stumps.

The arrival of Raina brought about an automatic shortening of length, though he wasn't dismissed by the bouncer this time. A short ball from Rampaul was heading down the leg side as Raina looked to hop across and glance, and it went straight off his thigh pad into the keeper's gloves. Umpire Tony Hill raised the finger, and Raina was as agonised as Kohli, but far more graceful in accepting the decision. Ravindra Jadeja survived after being dismissed off a no-ball, and top-edged the free-hit for a boundary, but his stay ended when Rohit summoned him for an impossible single.

Pitch report: India Vs West Indies 3rd ODI, Ahemadabad

India would look to seal the series against the West Indies when they they clash in the third One-dayer at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Motera here Monday.
For the visitors, it will be their last chance to keep the five-match series alive. The Carribbean team has given a good account of themselves in the two ODIs but inconsistency has brought their downfall.

After losing the second match, despite bouncing back in a stellar fashion, West Indies captain Darren Sammy's blank expression said it all. 'We just can't get over the line though. Sooner rather than later we can get that final push.'

'We'll keep our head up and come strongly at the Indians again,' Sammy said.

For that, West Indies will have to sort out their batting problem that has troubled them througout the Test and ODI series. Another inexplicable collpase at Visakhapatnam left them tottering at 5-163. Lendl Simmons and Ravi Rampaul bailed the team out with gritty knocks. Rampaul smashed an unbeaten 86, hitting the Indian bowlers all over the park.

India had a shaky start with stand-in captain Virender Sehwag, Parthiv Patel and Gautam Gambhir leaving early. But Virat Kohli and Rohit sharma played with maturity to see the team home. Kohli hit his eighth ODI century while Sharma again showed that he has learnt his lessons after being dropped.

Another high point for India was the bowling of the pacers. Youngsters Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar and Varun Aaron bowled with pace and swing, exploiting the conditions, and pinning down the West Indies batsmen.

Sehwag may not be scoring runs, but his captaincy has come as a whip of fresh air. Quite like his batting, he has been aggressive with his captaincy. He always had fielders in catching positions that put pressure on the West Indies batsmen. There were no easy runs on offer.

Teams:
India: Virender Sehwag (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Abhimanyu Mithun, R.Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma

West Indies: Lendl Simmons, Adrian Barath, Marlon Samuels, Darren Bravo, Danza Hyatt, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy (captain), Andre Russell, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Anthony Martin, Sunil Narine, Kieran Powell, Jason Mohammed.

Pattinson helped Aussies to win over NZ

Debutant paceman James Pattinson spearheaded Australia to a crushing nine-wicket victory in the first Test against New Zealand inside four days at the Gabba on Sunday.
Pattinson snared five for 27 including three wickets in four balls to help rout the Black Caps for 150 off 49.4 overs and leave Michael Clarke's Australians needing just 19 runs for victory.

David Warner hit three fours off four balls to get the winning runs for the loss of Phil Hughes' wicket to take a 1-0 series lead to Hobart next Friday.
Pattinson narrowly missed a hat-trick in his debut Test as he ripped through the New Zealand top order to put Australia on the path to victory.
The 21-year-old fast bowler took 5-7 in seven overs as he skittled the Kiwis.
Spinner Nathan Lyon chipped in with three for 19 to finish with seven wickets for the match as the Australians were set just 19 runs to win.
Pattinson, bowling a full length at searing pace, removed Martin Guptill (12), Kane Williamson (0) and skipper Ross Taylor (0) in the space of four balls in his opening over of the day.
Guptill could not keep down a lifter and popped an easy catch to Usman Khawaja at bat-pad to start the rot.
Williamson was out two balls later, edging to Ricky Ponting at second slip and Taylor was out next ball snicking to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin to leave Pattinson on a hat-trick in his debut Test match.
Jesse Ryder barely survived Pattinson's hat-trick ball, a 150 km/h yorker to finish his fifth over with figures of 4-1 and leave New Zealand clinging on at 17 for four.
Damien Fleming is the only Australian to have taken a hat-trick on his Test debut, against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 1994.
England's Maurice Allom and New Zealander Peter Petherick also captured hat-tricks on Test debut.
Nightwatchman Doug Bracewell became Pattinson's fifth victim, falling to a full delivery on offstump and was caught behind by Haddin for two, leaving the Black Caps at 28 for five in the 13th over.
Pattinson, who was selected for the first Test after just nine first-class matches, surpassed his previous best first-class figures of 4-52 for his state Victoria.
Captain Michael Clarke introduced the offspin of Lyon in the 22nd over and Ryder was lured into a false shot to Mike Hussey at mid-off.
Ryder hit six fours in his 36 in 63 minutes but the Kiwis badly needed someone to occupy the crease.
Warner's first ball in Test cricket almost claimed a wicket when Brownlie on 34 was put down by a diving Pattinson on the deep mid-wicket boundary minutes before lunch.
But Vettori fell when he attempted to cut part-timer Hussey to Clarke at slip for 17 with two balls left to lunch.
After lunch Lyon grabbed the wickets of Tim Southee and Chris Martin while Peter Siddle removed Dean Brownlie for 42.
Hughes was dropped before he was caught next ball at third slip off Chris Martin as Australia took just 14 balls to hit the winning runs.
Warner smashed Bracewell for successive boundaries to seal the win.

Philip Hughes to miss India tour

With the Cricket CA selection panel under pressure to strike the right balance in the batting order, it is being said that opening batsman Phillip Hughes needs a big score in the second Test against New Zealand or must be discarded for the four-match series against India.
Hughes had a wondrous start to his Test career, scoring 415 runs at an average of 69.17 in his maiden series against South Africa, but his numbers since leave him vulnerable to the axe, Fox Sports reports.

Since that series, the 23-year-old has scored 626 runs from his past 13 Tests at an average of 28.45.
Hughes also has only two scores above 36 in his past 16 Test digs.
With scores of 10 and 7, he has also failed in the opening Test against New Zealand in Brisbane. (ANI)

New Zealand should improve themselves: Ross Taylor

Skipper Ross Taylor said Sunday well-beaten New Zealand had to work harder to be competitive against Australia to save the two-Test series in Hobart later this week.
The abject Black Caps were routed for 150 in their second innings and trounced by nine wickets in the first Gabba Test inside four days with debutant James Pattinson giving a man-of-the-match performance with five for 27.
It was a poor showing by the eighth-ranked Kiwis, spilling crucial catches to allow Australia to score 427 in the first innings and then capitulating before the pace onslaught of 21-year-old Pattinson.

The Kiwis have to quickly regroup ahead of Friday's second and final Test of the trans-Tasman series at Hobart's Bellerive Oval, if they are to return home with any positives ahead of their next series against Zimbabwe next month.
"You've got to give credit to James Pattinson, he put the ball in the right areas enough times for us to nick it," Taylor said.
"But we've still got to be harder on ourselves as a batting unit. Not only this morning but on the first day there were some soft dismissals and Australia didn't have to work that hard for their wickets."
Taylor, who had a poor match with scores of 14 and a first-ball duck, said before the start of Sunday's play his team still felt they were in the contest at 10 for one.
"We've just got to be harder on ourselves. We know Australia are going to come at us hard again in Tasmania. We need to play a lot better than we played today," he said.
Of his own form, Taylor said: "It's a lot easier as captain. When you're a player you can probably go a little bit insular, but as a captain you've got to lead from the front.
"This is not going to be the last Test match that I don't score any runs in.
"I've been in this situation before, you still need to back yourself. There's another Test match and we're not out of this series, we can still draw it."
After the loss, the Black Caps said they had added seamer Brent Arnel to their squad.
"We feel it's important to add a bit of bowling depth," coach John Wright said. "Brent has been bowling well at home and offers us another seam option.
"The conditions in Hobart are likely to be slower so he comes into the frame."

Zaheer should play more in Domestic: Ganguly

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels pace bowler Zaheer Khan needs to play more matches before the first Test against Australia, beginning in Melbourne on Boxing Day.
"Zaheer is a great bowler...we have seen some memorable performances from him over the years," said Sourav on Friday. "But playing just one Ranji Trophy tie would not be enough to judge his fitness."

"I feel Zaheer is still not hundred per cent fit and we can't afford to have a 50 per cent fit Zaheer Khan in Australia. He still needs to play a lot more matches to regain full fitness. One Ranji Trophy game is not enough," Sourav said on the sidelines of the launch of Wisden India in association with Fidelis World.
"There are 24 days still left before the first Test and I believe Zaheer will play another Ranji game as well as two practice matches in Australia. The BCCI has planned the schedule well unlike 10 years back when I had to appear for a fitness test only 10 days prior to an important tour," he said.
Sourav, who was leading Bengal in the Ranji Trophy game against Haryana at Rohtak till Friday evening, drove down to Delhi for the function. Sourav said the tour of Australia would also be a "great challenge" for off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
"Things in Australia would be totally different," he said. "Ashwin is a gifted cricketer. But bowling in India with SG balls against an inconsistent West Indies batting line-up is completely different from bowling with the Kookaburra balls. Also, the quality of batsmen will certainly be better in Australia."
Sourav, however, was not ready to comment on who should come in as a replacement for the injured Praveen Kumar. Asked if Irfan Pathan or Ashish Nehra could be considered, Sourav said: "We should have a good young pacer...whoever it is."
"About Irfan, I have heard that he is bowling well but my question would be whether he is good enough to get into the team on the merit of his bowling alone."
"As far as Nehra is concerned, it is nice to see him playing the four-day game. Also, he is getting wickets, which is a good sign. I don't think that not being in the central contracts is an issue. He is only 32 and still can play for India for some time."
Asked what he thought about former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns' comment that former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has become "an elephant in the dressing room", Sourav said it was a "ridiculous and reckless" jibe.
"He (Cairns) said that yesterday and today I guess Ponting is batting close to 70 (67 batting). I have always said this and I maintain, please don't judge batsmen like Ponting, (Sachin) Tendulkar or (Rahul) Dravid by their age. To do so would be a huge mistake."
As the chairman of the technical committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the former captain feels some changes could be brought into the present format of the Ranji Trophy.
"At times, the second innings becomes immaterial. It happened only today in our match against Haryana. We need to look at possibilities whether Ranji matches can be made five-day affairs," he said.

Graham Smith backs SL players

South African cricketers have added their voices to the call to Sri Lanka Cricket(SLC) to settle the outstanding amounts due to the Sri Lankan players.
"We want to show our support for Tillakaratne Dilshan and our fellow professional cricketers from Sri Lanka on this issue," Sport24 quoted South African captain Graeme Smith, as saying.
"It is far from ideal that the Sri Lankan team is about to start a tough Test series and ODI series here in South Africa without having been paid any of their remuneration for the last eight months," he added.

According to reports, SLC has not paid the country's cricketers since March 2011 and a total amount of approximately six million pounds is owed to the players.

Pakistan's Handsome win over Bangladesh

Ruthless Pakistan drubbed Bangladesh by 76 runs in the second one-day international in Dhaka on Saturday to take a decisive 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Umar Akmal scored 59 and Shahid Afridi hit 42 off 27 balls as Pakistan piled up 262-7 after they won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night match at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.
The total proved beyond Bangladesh's reach after they were reduced to 19-4 in the 10th over, and managed only 186-7 despite a maiden international century from Nasir Hossain.

Nasir cracked 100 and Shakib Al Hasan made 34, the pair sharing a fifth-wicket stand of 106 runs, but Bangladesh were never in the hunt against the tight Pakistani bowling. The 20-year-old Nasir, playing only his ninth one-dayer, plundered 11 boundaries and a six before he was dismissed in the final over.
Seamer Umar Gul finished with four for 36, while off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez conceded just 15 runs in his 10 overs with two wickets.
Pakistan's 27th win over the Tigers in 28 one-dayers has left only academic interest in the third and final match to be played in the port city of Chittagong on Tuesday. The one-dayers will be followed by two Test matches.
Pakistan had won the Twenty20 international by 50 runs and the first one-dayer by five wickets at the same venue. Hafeez, who opened Pakistan's attack, removed Imrul Kayes and Shahriar Nafees in successive overs after Gul had dismissed the aggressive Tamim Iqbal in his second over.
Gul also had Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim caught at gully, before Nasir and Shakib delayed the inevitable with their century partnership. Pakistan's innings revolved around a fourth-wicket stand of 83 between Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq (37), before Afridi smashed two sixes and three boundaries towards the end to boost the total.
Hafeez (32) and Younis Khan (37) put on 57 for the second wicket after opener Imran Farhat had fallen in the third over. Akmal lifted the tempo by reaching his 11th one-day half-century off 49 balls, steering seamer Rubel Hossain to the third-man fence.
The 21-year-old fell in the next over, the 39th of the innings, when he holed out in the deep off Shakib to make Pakistan 176-4. It soon became 193-5 as one-day debutant Elias Sunny picked up his first wicket when he had Misbah caught in the deep in the 42nd over.

Rahul Dravid is the next captain for Rajsthan Royals

Indian batting great Rahul Dravid was Saturday named the captain of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals. He replaces Australia's Shane Warne, who led the team for four seasons before announcing his retirement from the cash-rich event earlier this year.
The 38-year-old former India captain has had a great 2011. He has piled on 1067 runs in 11 Tests that includes five centuries. 'The Wall' was bought by the Rajasthan franchise for $500,000 in the IPL auctions held in Bangalore in January. Dravid was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the first three editions.

'I am honoured to lead the Rajasthan Royals. I hope to live up to the confidence shown in me by the franchise and give our fans an exciting season of cricket,' said Dravid in a statement released by Rajasthan Royals.

'I look forward to the valuable inputs from my teammates who are already leading their national sides and clubs. My aim will be to get the best out of a very talented squad and invoke the same team spirit that won the franchise the first IPL and has been a hallmark of the Rajasthan Royals ever since.'

Warne had no hesitation in saying that his successor will take the team to more success.

'He is not only one of the world's best batsmen, but a leader par excellence. The Royals squad is a bunch of extremely energetic and talented players who know their roles perfectly well and I am sure they will thrive under Dravid's inspiring leadership. I will be keenly following the Royals and Dravid and would like to wish them the best,' said Warne, who led the team to victory in the inaugural season.