If selectors want I will step down as captain: MS Dhoni

Following India's abysmal performance Down Under, India captain MS Dhoni has been said he is ready to stop down if a suitable replacement is found.

"Captaincy is an additional responsibility that I enjoy. If the selectors feel the need to replace me then I will be happy to step aside," Dhoni was quoted saying by NDTV ahead of India T20 game against Australia.

Under his captaincy, India lost seven consecutive Tests on foreign soil, four of them by an innings and the rest by margins of 196, 319 and 122 runs.

"The need is to find a new captain from beneath the wreckage. Dhoni is no longer the answer in Test cricket," former Australian skipper Ian Chappell had written in one of his columns for a national daily a week ago.

"He has failed dismally to rally the troops in two disastrous overseas campaigns and his own form, not just with the gloves but also with the bat, no longer warrants a guaranteed place in the Test side."

Dhoni made 220 runs in four Tests in England last year at an average of 31.40 and managed just 102 runs in three matches in Australia at 20.40.

Sunil Gavaskar supported Dhoni's retention as Test captain -- but only because there is no suitable replacement.

"At the moment, I can't think of anyone who is good enough to take over from Dhoni,"

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Pakistan vs. England: Jonathan Agnew feature

There are three important values to batting in Test cricket: you require regulation, endurance and method. Unluckily, England's peak order did not relate any of them in the heavy first Test beat against Pakistan.

They just botched to study from their mistakes in the first innings and batted very much the similar way second time round and when your top six batsmen achieve 143 runs between them in a match, the odds are you are leaving to misplace unless the conditions are really hard.

Andrew Strauss's notice for a leg fleeting look to the wicketkeeper may have been contentious, given that replays did not demonstrate obvious contact between bat and ball, but whether he was out or not, it just does not clarify the unfortunate blast assortment that followed.

Kevin Pietersen's caress was terrible and was indicative of England's move toward throughout. It was just a short ball, intentionally bowled, with a man out at bottomless square leg and he hit it directly down his throat.

Alastair Cook's blast was not any better, Ian Bell hasn't got a sign how to play Saeed Ajmal, and though Jonathan Trott played healthy for 49, he then played a very poor stroke to get out.The only three batsmen who played well in this match - Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq and Matt Prior - did it the similar way, by knuckling down, playing directly, playing tolerantly and picking off the runs as and when they could.

You don't play champagne cricket on these pitches, they need a small piece of work to get in, but this has not been a hard pitch.

That would at least allow them to field a second spinner and transport in the option of receiving more lbw decisions through the Decision Review System.

BCCI unlikely to move against senior players

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), though disturbed by the back-to-back setbacks in England and Australia, will refrain from taking a call on the careers of under-performing senior players.

"Whether the seniors should retire or be dropped is something to be decided by the selectors or the players themselves. The board can’t interfere in this matter,” said BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale.

Asked if the Indian Premier League (IPL) was the reason for India not finding youngsters good enough for Test cricket, he said everything can’t be blamed on the IPL. “It has its positives and negatives.”

Admitting that India’s overseas showing has been horrendous of late, he said every team going through a transitional phase has endured such setbacks, including the mighty Australia and England.

“It’s impossible to produce cricketers of the calibre of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. So, these things will happen,” he said, implying that Indians fans should prepare themselves for more agony.

He said some plans to resurrect the plunging fortunes of Indian cricket were on the anvil.

“First and foremost, we are focussing on restructuring domestic cricket  - infrastructure, playing conditions and especially wickets. You can’t expect youngsters who have grown up on Indian wickets to perform on bouncy and seaming wickets all at once. It’s important to prepare good wickets, and the knockouts in the Ranji Trophy this year were played on difficult wickets,” said Jagdale.

“We are waiting for Sourav Ganguly, chairman of the BCCI’s technical committee. We will sit down with him and discuss how to refurbish our domestic cricket,” he said.

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Sports Minister Aluthgamage: Sri Lanka cricket squad is in a disaster

Sri Lanka's sports education minister annoying the nationwide cricket team's current performances, saying the side was riven by politics and in "disaster".Mahindananda Aluthgamage vowed to bring a severe speech to the players when they go back later on this month from their tour of South Africa, where they last week misplaced the Test series 2-1.

"The Sri Lanka cricket team is in a disaster condition. It is very unlucky," Aluthgamage told journalists in Colombo. "The players are not clicking together off-field and it has shown in the consequences on the meadow."

“Once the players return, I plan to convene them," Aluthgamage said. "I sense there is a set of interior politics within the players that is spilling over to the cricket field."

Since the departure of bowling star Muttiah Muralitharan in July 2010, Sri Lanka has won only one Test match, although they did arrive at the last of the one-day World Cup previous year.

Sri Lanka will at present play five one-day internationals in South Africa preliminary on Wednesday, before heading to a tri-series contest in Australia which also includes India.

The government has frequently been accused of interfering in the game and new unconcealed elections for the cricket slat were caught up in allegations of interference.Aluthgamage's commentary came after Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan answerable his side's conflicting outcome on the island's feeble domestic prospect.

It is very hard to discover good cricketers. We have to accurate our domestic structure. Coming from our club cricket to global cricket is a enormous dissimilarity," he said after behind the Test series.

Sydney Cricket land to get USD 191 million alteration

The iconic Sydney Cricket land is all find to get a major facelift in front of the 2014 Ashes sequence for an enormous USD 191 million. As per the renewal plan, three viewer stands will be demolished for an enormous state-of-the-art impress. 

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and NSW (New South Wales) Prime Minister Barry O'Farrell have announced USD 191 million for the upgradation of the Bradman, Noble and courier stands on the time of SCG's 100th Test match on Tuesday.

The rebuilding work at SCG will start in March and is expected to be complete in occasion for the Ashes sequence next to England in near the beginning 2014.The SCG renowned its 100th Test match today when India and Australia squared off in the second Test of the four-match series and Prime Minister Gillard chose the time to admiration the significant land by announcing the overhaul tactics.

"This is a thrilling project, not only for Sydneysiders but for all Australians, who have full-grown up surveillance the New Year's Test and relishing in the history and custom of the land," Gillard said in a declaration.

The refurbished SCG will have a rooftop patio with views of the city skyline, 700-person dining space and protected player influx area.The upgradation will also improve the ability of the land, which also hosts Australian system football and National Rugby League games, from 45,000 to approximately 48,000.

The SCG, commonly known as the "grand lady", in progress as an armed cricket land in the 1850s and hosted its first Test match in 1882 between Australia and England.