Cricket

West Indies bowlers bowled their heart out and almost dominated the opening day of the first Test against India. In fact, if it was not for the valiant counter-attack worth 146 runs from Suresh Raina (84) and Harbhajan Singh (70), India would have ended the day on an extremely embarrassing note. Instead, the visitors managed to claim a wicket and keep Darren Sammy’s side 212 runs behind at close of play.

India did manage to win the toss but it was Ravi Rampaul who snared the openers early on to seize the early initiative. Murali Vijay (8) became his first victim while debutant Abhinav Mukund (11)was cleaned up soon after.  India’s top-order looked ill at ease as VVS Laxman (12) surrendered to Devendra Bishoo and Virat Kohli (4) edged one behind off Fidel Edwards. The break for lunch would not have left the Indians with much of an appetite with the score on 69 for 4.

Though Rahul Dravid did manage to add 40 runs to his Test statistics, it was ended abruptly by Bishoo with India now totering at 83 for 5. In walked skipper MS Dhoni and played all of a single delivery before he was sent back by Bishoo who now looked unforgiving.

It was now that Raina and Harbhajan got together and the duo looked edgy at first but soon settled in. Harbhajan raced to his half-century despite coming in after his partner and his eventual score of 70 came off just 74 deliveries.

Raina played the mature innings and helped himself to 82 runs off 115 deliveries but once Harbhajan departed, it was mayhem once again. India lost four of it’s remaining wickets for 16 runs as Edwards cleaned up the tail to finish with four wickets.

West Indies replied with a chase that would better be termed as painfully slow rather than watchful. Ishant Sharma  rose to the occasion with the ball and eventually got rid of a tentative Lendl Simmons (3). The other opener in Adrian Barath (26*) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (2*)  denied the Indian bowlers any further success and finished the day with the team score on 34, 212 still remaining before a lead can be mounted.

The quarterfinal clash between Australia and India, on Thursday, is not only about who stays in the hunt for the title but also about two of game’s modern day greats Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting squaring off in a World Cup game for what appears to be one last time.

The two ageing warriors would like to stamp their superiority and propel their side to the last four stage on March 24 at Motera’s Sardar Patel Stadium.

Neither of the two is expected to be around in 2015 when the next edition is scheduled to be held Down Under.

In the previous meeting between the two sides in the World Cup, that took place in the summit clash of the 2003 edition in Johannesburg, Ponting came out trumps with his unbeaten century took the game away from India even before the Men In Blue came out to bat.

Ponting’s blistering 140 not out, in only 121 balls with a staggering eight sixes and 4 fours, had propelled Australia to an imposing 359 for two.

Chasing the huge Australian total, Tendulkar could score only 4 and despite Virender Sehwag’s run-a-ball 82, India fell well short of the target and Australia walked away with cricket’s most coveted prize for the second edition running.

On Thursday, in front of a vociferous 50,000-strong crowd, the Indian master has the chance to make ample amends for what happened eight years ago and also step into the record books as the first batsman to have scored 100 centuries combined in both forms of cricket – Tests and ODIs.

Tendulkar has had a very good tournament individually, with superbly crafted tons against England and South Africa at the league stage, though both efforts could not power India to victories, with the first match tied and the second ending in a narrow defeat.

Ponting, on the other hand, has had a horrendous run with the bat. In six matches, he has mustered a miserly 102 runs with 36 being his best effort at a poor average of 20.40, less than half his 358-match career average.

Ponting’s ODI average in India against the hosts is also an impressive 44.86 from 24 games, but the second and last of his two hundreds in this country was notched eight years ago in Bangalore.

The Tasmanian has looked a pale shadow of his domineering style and is under tremendous pressure to keep his captaincy though teammate Michael Hussey felt otherwise.

Hussey brushed aside reports in Australia that Ponting’s captaincy was at stake, at a media conference here today and said the entire team was backing the struggling skipper.

“No worries at all. He has been fantastic, best man for the job and has been for a long time. He’s certainly got the full support of all team members,” Hussey said.

Ponting has also been lambasted in the media for losing temper on the field of play and off it too, as well as for not walking after clearly edging behind the stumps while Tendulkar did the exact opposite a day later and was hailed for his sportsmanship.

“He’s been criticized over minor things. They have been blown out of proportions. He’s been playing well and just like a champion rises to the occasion at the right time, on Thursday we will see the best of Ricky Ponting,” Hussey said in his skipper’s defence.

In five duels against Australia in World Cups, Tendulkar’s best effort thus far has been a splendid innings of 90 in a league game at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium in 1996, and his average against them is a modest 28.20 spread over four World Cups.

Thursday’s match provides both these stalwarts, among the all-time great batsmen in the game, a last chance to impose their stature in head-to-head battles in the premier ODI tournament.

Cricket

A rampaging Pakistan go into the cricket World Cup quarterfinals against a struggling West Indies on Wednesday, hoping to continue their winning run and take a step closer to the coveted title.

Pakistan had a tumultuous build up to the World Cup with the team battling spot-fixing allegations but Shahid Afridi and his men have not allowed themselves to be distracted by the scandal as they topped group-A with five wins in six outings.

Hugely talented but highly unpredictable, Pakistan started off with a bang before running into New Zealand’s Ross Taylor who blew them away with a breath-taking century but Afridi’s men quickly regrouped and finished the league stage with a comfortable four-wicket win over Australia.

Pakistan’s clinical display in their last match not only earned them a victory but also broke four-time champions Australia’s unbeaten streak of 34 World Cup matches and Afridi will hope for an encore.

For Pakistan, former captain Younis Khan has been the cog of their wheel, while Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal also chipped in nicely, scoring 192 and 211 runs at an average of 48 and 52.75.

Youngster Asad Shafiq also has shone in the two games he played in the World Cup averaging 124. But Pakistan’s opening partnership has been a worry.

Both Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad have failed to give Pakistan a start, which has put undue pressure on the middle-order.

Afridi too has failed with the bat scoring just 65 runs in six games and the captain will hope to strike form in Wednesday’s match.

The skipper, however, has been very effective with his leg-breaks and currently is the leading bowler in the tournament with 17 wickets. Swing bowler Umar Gul also has been among wickets taking 13 scalps.

The predicament for the 1992 champions would be Gul’s pace partner. While Shoaib Aktar has not been at his best, Wahab Riaz have been expensive against Australia giving away 39 runs in six overs taking a wicket.

Afridi said beating Australia has boosted their confidence and they are now focused on their quarterfinal match against West Indies.

“We knew that beating Australia would be very important for us and this win has enhanced our image, sending a good signal to the cricket world that we can win despite our difficult situation,” Afridi said.

“West Indies have qualified for the quarter-finals after some good play, so we have to do well in all three departments. Our focus is on the quarterfinals, we have a must-win match against a dangerous opponent,” Afridi added.

The West Indies, on the other hand, have been grappling with injuries. Key players – pacer Kemar Roach and former skipper Chris Gayle – didn’t play the crucial match against India because of illness and abdominal strain respectively.

The Caribbean team also have struggled with their form in both batting and bowling and have been inconsistent as after three consecutive wins they lost their last two games against England and India from being comfortably placed at 222-6 and 154-2 respectively at one stage.

However, the defeats didn’t spoil their quarterfinal dreams as they managed to make it to the knockout stage finishing fourth in Group B with better run-rate than Bangladesh, who also won three matches.

The two-time champions West Indies were ranked behind Bangladesh at 10th place in the ICC ranking in February and have lost 18 successive matches against the leading nations but Darren Sammy’s men would hope to raise their game in time.

“We reached our first objective of reaching the knockout stage and we have to tighten our games quickly and produce our A game to beat Pakistan in the quarterfinals,” Sammy said.

“Once we put our heads down and play each ball on its merit, we will come up with good shot. We will have good time to beat them. We have to beat Pakistan and then it will be sweet revenge to beat India at home,” he added.

The West Indies have good memories of Sher-e-Bangla stadium where they bundled out Bangladesh for their lowest one-day total of 58 in the league match and romped home by nine wickets.

“We did well against Bangladesh at Dhaka and hopefully we will have the same confidence going in there on Wednesday,” he said.

Teams (from):

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (c), Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Ahmed Shahzad.

West Indies: Darren Sammy (c), Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Darren Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieron Pollard, Devon Thomas, Sulieman Benn, Nikita Miller, Kemar Roach, Kirk Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Devendra Bishoo.

Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Steve Davis (AUS) TV umpire: Daryl Harper (AUS) Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG) Match start: 2 pm (IST).

Cricket

One of the favourites for the trophy, Sri Lanka kickstart their World Cup campaign against minnows Canada, well aware that any slip-up could cause embarrassment at the hands of a side which would be eager to prove its worth at the biggest stage of cricket here on Sunday.

The two sides will face off at the new Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota, located in the south of the island nation.

There were serious concerns whether the construction at the venue would be ready on time but after missing the ICC deadline by more than two months, the organizers managed to complete the venue just ahead of the match.

Sri Lanka will miss the services of middle-order batsman Chamara Silva, who had to remain in Colombo to attend to a death in the family. Silva will rejoin the squad on Monday in Colombo.

Sri Lanka are one of the favourites to win the World Cup, but captain Kumar Sangakkara said he’s not looking too far ahead. Sangakkara said he prefers to take one game at a time.

“More than the last match (final), we need to do well in the first match which is tomorrow. That’s the most important thing. Our job is to try and win the first game more than try and win the tournament,” Sangakkara said.

“You can’t take Canada lightly. If you take the warm up game they played against England, they lost only by 16 runs. Every team raises the game when the World Cup comes and we need to raise our game and if we do that we can do well,” Sangakkara reminded.

The Sri Lankans will go into the game without knowing what the conditions will offer. None of their players have played at the venue, which has hosted two domestic games and another between Sri Lanka ‘A’ and Pakistan ‘A’.

“This is the second time we are coming here and when we see the ground, it looks nice. When I got down, I was surprised to see the progress they have made. We trained at the ground and there doesn’t seem to be any issues. We need to play well whatever the conditions that we get,” Sangakkara said.

The Sri Lankan captain who has played in two World Cup tournaments will be leading the side for the first time. “It’s a great privilege and an honour, not just to captain a World Cup team, but to captain this particular team. They are a wonderful bunch of guys and the best we have in Sri Lanka,” he said.

The hosts are likely to play two spinners with Ajantha Mendis partnering Muttiah Murlaitharan. Nuwan Kulasekara is likely to share the new ball with Lasith Malinga.

Canada, on the other hand, have played in three World Cups including the last two, but haven’t won a game since beating Bangladesh in the 2003 edition.

Their only previous World Cup game against Sri Lanka was in the same tournament in South Africa and it lasted just 140 deliveries as Canada were bowled out for 36 runs, the second lowest total in ODI cricket.

There’s a lot of Sri Lankan influence in the Canadian side as the team is coached by former Lankan wicketkeeper Pubudu Dassanayake.

Former opener Chandika Haturusinghe is the assistant coach of the side and he would have a fair knowledge about the opposition as he was an assistant coach of the Sri Lankan team until last year.

Ruvindu Gunasekara, who is a 19-year-old left-handed batsman, was born in Sri Lanka and played school cricket for St. Peter’s College in Colombo before migrating to Canada. “I think losing Haturusinghe is a big loss to Sri Lankan cricket. He’s one of the best coaches that I have worked with. Canada will benefit hugely by having him,” Sangakkara said.

The Teams (from):

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (Captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath.

Canada: Ashish Bagai (Captain), Rizwan Cheema, Harvir Baidwan, Nitish Kumar, Hiral Patel, Tyson Gordon, Henry Osinde, John Davison, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Parth Desai, Karl Whatham, Khurram Chohan, Jimmy Hansra, Zubin Surkari and Balaji Rao.

Even though low on confidence after a losing spree in the run-up to the World Cup, New Zealand are unlikely to face any real threat from minnows Kenya when the two teams clash in their opening Group ‘A’ league match here tomorrow.

Under their newly-appointed coach John Wright, the Black Caps would be keen to regain confidence, having lost 14 of their last 17 One-day International matches, including 10 in the sub-continent that has exposed their inability to play on the turning wickets in this part of the world.

Since the Kiwis’ arrival here on February 10, they have been candid in admitting their weakness in coping with the sub-continent conditions, particularly against spin, which was evident in their collapse after a good start in a warm-up game against India that they lost by 117 runs.

On the eve of their opening match against Kenya, they seemed to be in a doubtful frame of mind, considering the remarks made by wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum yesterday that a confidence crisis is dogging the team after their meek surrender to Indian spin bowling.

And even though his teammate Martin Guptill expressed hope of the team bouncing back ahead of their first World Cup game, but there is little doubt that confidence in the Kiwi camp is at its lowest.

But all said and done, the New Zealanders, who have had mixed luck in practice games — winning against Ireland in the first game, only to be comprehensively beaten by the co-hosts India in the next — still start as favourites against the Kenyans tomorrow.

The tide is expected to turn in the Black Caps favour sooner than later with Wright, who was the coach of the Indian cricket team, having loads of experience in sub-continent conditions, working hard with team, besides bowling coach Alan Donald making significant contributions.

But the Kiwis have to be wary of the Kenyan side, which has caused a few upsets in the show-piece event in the past. The African nation shocked West Indies on their debut in the 1996 World Cup at Pune and then ran over Sri Lanka in 2003 on way to their lone semi-final appearance, thanks to the walk-over awarded after New Zealand refused to play in Nairobi, citing security concerns.

Since then, however, Kenyan cricket has been on a down slide, besieged by problems in domestic set-up. The present team, boosted by the return of veteran Steve Tikolo, won against Afghanistan and Ireland in Dubai, but lost to the Netherlands and West Indies in Colombo in both their warm-up ties.

Going by their strengths, Kenya’s realistic chance of registering a victory appears to be only against Canada in group stage but anything beyond that would be a bonus for them, considering defending champions Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe being the other teams in the group.

Ahead of tomorrow’s game, the Kiwis can take heart from the fact that their attacking batsmen — McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor and Guptill, whose 130 helped the team win the warm-up tie against Ireland in Nagpur — are all in form. But they would certainly have to work on their bowling if they want to go beyond the quarterfinals.

Their pace attack led by Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram and Tim Southee is a suspect against strokemakers on the sub-continent pitches, bringing to fore the void caused by the retirement of speedster Shane Bond.

The spin department also lacks the teeth, although it will be spearheaded by captain Daniel Vettori, who opted out of the warm-up match against India.

Newcomer Luke Woodcok and Nathan McCullum, whose availability for tomorrow’s match depends on his fitness, following his discharge from hospital after being under observation for two days with high temperature, also do not add much variety.

Kenya would be banking on the experience of 39-year-old all-rounder Tikolo and medium-pacer Thomas Odoyo, both of whom are playing in their fifth World Cup.

An exciting middle-order bat, Tikolo, who had scored 96 against Sri Lanka in 1996 and 93 against Australia, can also contribute to the team’s success as an effective slow bowler. The side has several youngsters, including opener Seren Waters, who sparkled with an unbeaten 126 against the Netherlands in the warm-up match, which they lost despite piling up 263.

As far as bowling department is concerned, the team has come well prepared for the sub-continent conditions, packing it with four spinners. Besides Tikolo, newly appointed captain James Kamande and Shem Ngoche would be their main strike bowlers.

Teams:

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (capt), Hamish Bennett, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Brendon McCullum (wk), Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson and Luke Woodcock.

Kenya: Jimmy Kamande (capt), Seren Waters, Alex Obanda, David Obuya, Collins Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Tamnay Mishra, Rakep Patel, Maurice Ouma, Thomas Odoyo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Peter Ongondo, Shem Ngoche, James Ngoche. Umpires: Rod Tucker and Marais Erasmus; Aleem Dar (third), Roshan Mahanama (Match Referee).

As a player who wears his heart on his sleeve, Harbhajan Singh brings with him that extra zing which often works superbly for his team but riles the opposition.

The gutsy bowler has worked his way up to stardom after starting as a nervous, fidgeting 18-year-old, and having to endure doubts over his talent and abilities.

He may lack the loop and flight of a traditional slow bowler, but it is no mean feat that Harbhajan has managed to become India’s most successful off-spinner in all three formats of the game.

With 246 wickets from 217 one-day internationals, the ‘Turbanator’ is a key cog in India’s wheel in the 50-over game.

His worth, though, should not be measured in terms of wickets or runs — because it is his fierce competitiveness that makes him the dangerous opponent that he is.

It also makes him the perfect team man to have when the chips are down, despite a string of unsavoury controversies, including the ‘Monkeygate’ and ‘Slapgate’ episodes.

His confrontation with Australian Andrew Symonds in 2008 led to one of the ugliest controversies in cricket — he was initially charged with a racial insult which was reduced to abuse on appeal.

Later that year, he was banned for 11 matches during the inaugural Indian Premier League season for slapping his India team-mate Shanthakumaran Sreesanth before the full glare of TV cameras.

He has since made up with Sreesanth and is set to share the dressing room with Symonds in the fourth season of the IPL, that comes close of the heels of the World Cup.

Harbhajan showed little pretension when asked what goals he had set for himself in this World Cup, given the huge role spinners are expected to play on low and slow wickets in the sub-continent.

“This is my third World Cup and I am more experienced now,” Harbhajan, 30, said.

“My target is to take wickets and bowl as the situation demands. There is no new ball that I will experiment with nor am I going to bowl any magic ball.

“The wickets will get slower as the tournament progresses. You have to have variation in your attack. You just need to be sure of what you are doing.”

Cricket

Title aspirants India will have revenge on their minds when they launch their 2011 Cricket World Cup campaign against co-hosts Bangladesh in the tournament-opener here on Saturday, fully aware that any slip-up could prove costly.

Minnows Bangladesh had ensured India’s early exit in the first round of the 2007 edition at the Caribbeans and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men will be eagar to settle the score and kick start their campaign on a positive note at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium.

Tipped as one of the favourites, the current world number two side, boasts off an exceptionally balanced team, but such a pool of talented players will also pose a few selection questions for skipper Dhoni.

Dhoni though seems to have sorted out his problem of plenty in the batting department when he tipped Virat Kohli ahead of Suresh Raina after their second warm up match against New Zealand.

“The number four slot is very important for us. Right now it is a slot war. It is the number four slot where Kohli needs to bat with Gautam Gambhir at number three,” Dhoni said.

“Kohli is sort of a player who likes to spend little bit of time early and then go after the bowlers. Still, there is a bit of chance where Virat may get an edge over (Suresh) Raina seeing the current form he is in,” he added.

Dhoni also hinted that he would stand by Yuvraj Singh as his ability to spin the ball away makes him an asset to the team even though currently he is a bit short of runs.

“We are playing with four bowlers. A part-time spinner is really important especially if it is a left-arm away going spinner. That’s the one big advantage he (Yuvraj) has got over others,” Dhoni said.

The explosive batting line-up will be marshalled by Sachin Tendulkar, who would be participating in his sixth World Cup this time around and the senior batsmen will look to give India a flying start with Virender Sehwag.

Gautam Gambhir will be next, while the middle-order also looks rock solid with Kohli, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan – all capable of playing big-shots and also rotating the strike.

In their second and last warm up game, India scored a mammoth 360 against New Zealand and it will give a lot of confidence to the batsmen, especially skipper Dhoni and Gambhir, who hit an unbeaten 108 and 89 respectively.

Kohli and Raina also cracked half-centuries against New Zealand and Dhoni would be hoping his boys continue the good work.

In the bowling department, Dhoni will have to pick his options carefully since India is going with a four-pronged attack.

Indian spinners Harbhajan Singh and surprise inclusion Piyush Chawla have taken five and six wickets in the last two warm up games. Even R Ashwin and part-time spinner Yuvraj scalped two and three wickets respectively.

In contrast, the pacers have struggled with Ashish Nehra claiming two and Praveen Kumar’s replacement S Sreesanth taking one wicket, while Munaf Patel remaining wicketless in the warm up matches.

But with pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who didn’t feature in the two warm up ties because of a minor niggle, returning to action on Saturday, a much better performance can be expected from the seamers.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, have so far been content with an odd upset and have been generally looked upon as underachievers but the tigers would look to shrug off that tag when they lock horns with India at home.

Though they have just five victories from 20 World Cup matches to show, Bangladesh has the distinction of beating Pakistan on debut during the 1999 edition and ousting India and defeating South Africa four years ago.

Skippered by Shakib-Al-Hasan, Bangladesh have a few good batsmen in talented Mohammad Ashraful, the pint-sized dynamic opener Tamim Iqbal and wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim. Besides, captain Shakib-Al-Hasan, himself, ranks number one in the ICC’s all-rounders list and knows how to wield the willow.

Bangladesh won their first warm up match against Canada but lost to Pakistan in the second tie. However, their openers Tamim and Imrul Kayes have got runs under their belt in the two matches.

Though their pace attack will lack the fire-power of speedster Mashrafe Mortaza, 21-year-old pacer Rubel Hossain had claimed five wickets in the warm up matches.

Besides, Bangladesh also have some good tweakers in left-arm slow bowlers Shakib and Abdur Razzaq, who can get handy support from many other part-timers.

Bangladesh can also take heart from the fact that they came into the tournament after having made a clean sweep against New Zealand, a full-fledged test playing country and defeating Zimbabwe 3-1 at home, where they will play all their six league games.

TEAMS

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain/wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, S Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin, Ashish Nehra.

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (Captain), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Shahriar Nafees, Raqibul Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Naeem Islam, Mahmudullah, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Suhrawadi Shuvo.

Match starts at 1430 hrs (IST).

The International Cricket Council and Yahoo!India on Thursday announced the launch of the official website of the ICC World Cup 2011 – iccevents.yahoo.com, the online destination to follow the happenings of the sporting extravaganza, starting from February 19.

The website would have live match updates, detailed match analysis, exclusive video content, engaging games and rewarding contests, an ICC release said.

Fans can also purchase ICC merchandise through the website, the release informed.

ICC General Manager (Commercial) Campbell Jamieson said he and other members of the world governing body of the game were “thrilled to be working with Yahoo! to launch an online destination that offers the exclusive ICC Cricket World Cup content in an innovative and engaging way.”

Among the content will be “Commentweeter” to get a consolidated view of Twitter updates directly from cricket fans and the top cricketers of the world in one single view, the release added.

Cricket-loving India suffered a sporting humiliation on Thursday when its most famous ground, Eden Gardens in Kolkata, was declared unfit to host its first fixture of next month’s World Cup.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said another stadium would have to be found to hold the India-England clash on February 27 after a renovation programme at Eden Gardens fell months behind schedule.

“Regrettably, Eden Gardens has not made sufficient progress to justify the level of confidence required to confirm that the venue would be ready in good time,” ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

The ICC did not say where the game would be played and said it would face a “challenge” to relocate the game because of last-minute ticketing and travel requirements.

Three other World Cup fixtures, which runs from February 19 to April 2 in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, are also scheduled to take place at the ground.

The decision was a major blow for India’s image and the estimated 64,000 spectators who were expected to pack the legendary stadium, which has been undergoing a major renovation.

The ruling echoed the chaotic run-up to New Delhi’s 2010 Commonwealth Games, which instead of marking the arrival of a new, modern India on the world stage became a national embarrassment of delays, shoddy workmanship and alleged corruption.

“All venues had ample time in which to prepare for World Cup matches,” said Lorgat.

“We had been understanding and had provided extensions to the deadline dates but unfortunately we are now at a point where we must carefully manage our risks.”

The ICC said concerns were mainly over “cricket operations, media, broadcast and sponsorship facilities” that were not finalised or confirmed by the venue.

In recent weeks, fears had grown over Edens Gardens as it remained a chaotic scene of cranes, rubble, dust and bare concrete.

Hundreds of labourers wearing virtually no safety equipment have been toiling day and night to finish off two new blocks of stands which are still covered in scaffolding.

When an agency reporter visited in early January, seats had yet to be fitted in many tiers at the ground, which is celebrated as one of the great pilgrimage sites of international cricket.

Until Thursday’s ICC ruling, Indian organisers had been dismissing reports about problems at Eden Gardens as scare-mongering by the media.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) which runs Eden Gardens, said on Tuesday that the ground would host the match without difficulty.

“It appears that ICC team is happy after the inspection of the venue. The match is on 27th, we have to finish the work before the match,” he said.

In Thursday’s statement from the ICC, tournament director Ratnakar Shetty said: “We will work with the new venue, the tour operators and the ticket distributors to manage the logistical challenges that will surely arise.”

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which oversees the multi-billion-dollar sport in India and is seen as dominating the game worldwide, distanced it from the failure to rebuild Eden Gardens on time.

“I don’t think the BCCI should be blamed for this,” BCCI spokesman Rajiv Shukla said.

“These things happen. I am sure the organising committee will choose a suitable venue soon for that game. But there is no doubt the remaining matches in Kolkata will be held on schedule.”

Cricket

They said he couldn’t perform in international cricket. They said he was good only for IPL and domestic cricket. He proved them wrong tonight. Yusuf Pathan engineered an improbable win for India with a violent hundred, his first in ODIs, and perhaps sealed a World Cup berth for himself. It looked grim for India when they were tottering at 188 for 5 in the 34th over, after the fall of Rohit Sharma, but Pathan pulled off a heist. One game doesn’t guarantee a successful future of course but Pathan left his past behind with a potentially career-changing innings on a drizzly Bangalore night.  His century overshadowed a superbly-crafted 98 from James Franklin that had allowed New Zealand to reach a daunting total.

Pathan declared his intent with two brutal shots. The first came in the 37th over, when play resumed after a one-hour rain break that didn’t reduce any overs and left India needing 113 runs from 14. Yusuf launched a Daniel Vettori delivery into screaming fans beyond long-on and clubbed a length delivery from Kyle Mills over the roof at cow corner. A couple of quiet overs followed but Pathan roused himself in a violent 43rd over: he smashed Mills for three fours – a lofted hit overs cover and two flicks past short fine-leg – before crashing a length delivery for six over midwicket. And when he brought up his maiden hundred with a pulled six, off Andy McKay in the next over, the game was all but over. He found support in Saurabh Tiwary, who intelligently rotated the strike, and the pair gave India a 4-0 lead in the series.

It was an incredible effort considering India had lagged behind for a major part of the chase. McKay’s twin strikes to remove Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli in the 10th over and Nathan McCullum’s double-strike to dismiss Yuvraj Singh and Parthiv Patel, who hit his maiden fifty, had pushed India on the back foot. And when Tim Southee had Rohit Sharma hitting straight to mid-off, New Zealand would have been thinking about the win, but Yusuf crushed their hopes with a blinder.

As good as their batting was in the end overs, their death bowling nearly lost India the game. Franklin’s knock provided the perfect climax to New Zealand’s spirited approach; the openers attacked to take them to 91 for 2 in the 14th over and the middle-order adapted to the fall of wickets – rebuilding at a slower pace before Franklin’s final flourish.

Franklin looted 22 runs in the final over, bowled by Nehra, with some wickedly entertaining big hits: he smashed the second delivery to the straight boundary, the third over long-off, the fourth to midwicket, and the fifth to the wide long-off boundary. It was not, however, a knock of such fury and adrenalin from the start. He had built his innings with conventional shots, such as the one in 47th over, when he was batting with the tail and was under some pressure. He sashayed down the track to Yusuf Pathan, who had just picked up two wickets, and nonchalantly flicked him wide of the deep midwicket fielder. No manic rush or desperation, he simply carried on with his style, sweeping the spinners and flicking and square-driving the seamers to get to his fifty. Only in the final two overs did he explode. It seemed he had done enough to win the game for his team, especially after India’s top-order had collapsed, but Yusuf seized the day.