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CRICKET

India-Pakistan joint bid for 2011 World Cup

JAN 13 - India and Pakistan will jointly bid for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. The two countries have in the past hosted the event in 1987 and in 1996.

The head of India's Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) Sharad Pawar was quoted in reports saying that the two countries would bid together.

Pawar met President Pervez Musharraf. Pawar is in Lahore to watch the first day of the India-Pakistan Test.

Last month it had been reported that Australia was undecided over whether to make a formal bid to stage the 2011 World Cup. Australia and New Zealand had co-hosted the event in 1992 which was won by Pakistan.

The decision on who gets to host the World Cup is expected from the International Cricket Council (ICC) later this year.

Under the current rotation policy Australia is first in line to host the 2007 event but the ICC is believed to be looking at changing this policy.

CRICKET

Bookies predict India win in Lahore

JAN 13 - Bookies here are predicting a win for India in the first of the three India-Pakistan Tests beginning in Lahore on Friday but disappointment for Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

The bookies have collected bets worth a whopping Rs 560 million ($12.72 million) for the clash between the subcontinent's long-standing rivals.

"We have collected Rs 560 million for the Lahore match. The amount is likely to cross Rs 700 million by the time the match starts," said Raja, a top punter from Raipur's Sadar Bazaar betting market.

"The betting money has come from 22 centres of Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Chhattisgarh," Raja said.

Raja along with 12 other associates is believed to be controlling central India's cricket betting market.

He said the satta or betting market has billed India as favourites for the first Test despite the visiting team having a poor track record at Lahore.

Among Indian batsmen, punters predict success for Indian captain Rahul Dravid and wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni but are shying away from Tendulkar and Ganguly.

Raja's associate Asim Bhai said: "We have promised to offer four times higher amount on actual bet for Rahul and Sachin, three times higher amount for Dhoni and double amount for Virendra Sehwag and VVS Laxman in both innings.

"Market has shown good response for Dravid and Dhoni but people are reluctant about Sachin."

He added that betters are not keen on Ganguly and opener Gautam Gambhir, for whose success only a 60 per cent higher amount is promised.

Raja and Asim said that bookies would lose 80 percent of their amounts if Dravid and Dhoni failed to hit half-centuries in any of the innings or if Sachin or Ganguly hit a ton.

The market is also betting on half-centuries from Yunus Khan, Mohammad Yusuf and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq among Pakistani players but predicts failure for speedster Shoaib Akhtar, popularly known as the 'Rawalpindi Express'.

Raja said Raipur had emerged as a leading betting centre in the past two years, and Mumbai-based "big bulls" (punters) controlled central India's betting market through Dubai-based gamblers.

The police busted a global betting racket in Raipur with the arrest of three punters ahead of the India-Pakistan Test at Mohali in 2005.

The market, however, is back in business - and with a bang.

(Courtesy: Hindustan Times)

CRICKET

Team India battles selection woes

JAN 12 - Sourav Ganguly batted first on the nets alongside Virender Sehwag on Thursday as India prepared for the first Test against Pakistan at Lahore.

This fuelled speculation that Ganguly will open the innings, and the formula ensures that Yuvraj Singh gets to play as well.

One problem that the Indian team management always faces prior to a Test match either in India or outside of India is team selection.

Dilemma over Sourav

But Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell will face a different kind of dilemma � whether to include Sourav Ganguly in the playing XI or not.

Current form says that Yuvraj Singh should get the nod, sentiment says that it should be the Prince of Kolkata.

The statistics since March 1, 2004 don't seem to draw too much of a difference between the pair.

Yuvraj has played nine Tests while Sourav has played 14. Both have got a 100, although Ganguly's came against an under-strength Zimababwe side while Yuvraj's came in 2004 vs Pakistan in Lahore.

However cricket isn't always about the statistics, it's also about the substance.

Yuvraj in form

Yuvraj

Yuvraj has been self-assured and confident in the limited opportunities that he has had in test matches, even conquering his demons against the spinners.

Ganguly's fitness and fielding and age go against him, while Yuvraj is billed as player for the future.

However, in keeping with the horses for courses theory, Sourav's only chance of getting the nod for at least the Lahore test is that he brings in the option of an extra seamer.

His wicket taking abilities in domestic cricket certainly prove that he's not quite an all rounder but at least a handy option. (Source: NDTV)

HOWZZAT! HUM HAIN DONO BHAI BHAI...Look-alike fans of India's Sachin Tendulkar, left, and Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar display the victory signs during the third day of the third cricket test match between India and Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad, Dec. 20. (AP Photo)

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