Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan have been included in India’s 20-man probables list for next month’s Asia Cup. The list also includes Amit Bhandari and Parthiv Patel.Harbhajan, 23, has not played since the first Test against Australia in December due to an injury to his bowling hand. He has since had surgery to repair the ligament tear, which was on his spinning finger. Zaheer has been troubled by a recurrent hamstring injury for some time. He was first sidelined in Australia, returned for India’s historic tour to Pakistan, but was sent home half-way through that series after breaking down again.Announcing the line-up, SK Nair, the board secretary, stated that the players would participate in a training camp in Chennai from July 3-8. The final squad for the Asia Cup would be announced on July 7.Nair also stated that an India A team would tour Zimbabwe and Kenya over the next two months. The team is scheduled to play three four-day games against Zimbabwe, before participating in a three-nation tournament in Nairobi, also involving Kenya and Pakistan A.The probables list
Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Ramesh Powar, Hemang Badani, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Amit Bhandari, Rohan Gavaskar.

On going past Murali as Test cricket’s highest wicket-taker
I’m obviously proud of that achievement. It’s been a few years since I made my debut against India in Sydney, and back then I was happy to get one wicket, forget 500. It’s something to tell the grandchildren.On the day’s play
We toiled hard, created a lot of chances, even took a wicket off a no-ball. I think it’s the best I’ve ever bowled in India. I troubled all their batsmen, and there were a few chances that didn’t go to hand. If I continue to bowl like that, hopefully I can play a big part in this series.On the dropped catches, and whether the conditions might have contributed
None were really easy. We’re usually renowned for turning games by taking such chances, but not one stuck today. To mention heat and humidity would be an excuse. Hopefully, this won’t happen again during the rest of the series.On Australia’s chances of winning the match
If we can make what India make in their first innings when we bat, I think it’ll be a great game. We’re going to fight back. On the prospect of Murali taking back the record
Let me just bathe in it for a while, OK [laughs]? Look, Murali will probably end up with 1000 wickets. But whether I hold the record for two weeks or a month, it can’t be taken away from me. It’s something to hang your hat on.On when he plans to call it quits
I don’t want to stop yet. The key thing is enjoyment. I’ve retired from one-day cricket, but I think I can play Tests for a while yet. You have guys like Anil Kumble, Harbhajan [Singh], Murali and Saqlain [Mushtaq] who have shown that spinner can play both forms of the game. They’ve proved that the guys who reckoned that there wasn’t even a place for spinners in first-class cricket didn’t have any idea what they were on about.On the response from his opponents and team-mates
Rahul Dravid came in and shook my hand even before he’d faced a ball. I thought that was a great moment, and it said a lot about the spirit in which this series is being played. Sehwag shook my hand too, and Kumble and Yuvraj (Singh) came in to the room later. Also John Wright. I’d like to thank all those guys.My team-mates? Well, you could see that they were really happy for me.On the extra aggression when he bowled to Sehwag
I wanted his wicket [smiles]. He was the man to get today the way he was smacking us across the park. He has an eye like a dead fish (laughs). If you bowl anything half-loose, he’ll smack it. It’s great entertainment.He got away with a few as well. But he was just too good for us today. Hopefully in the second innings, we’ll be too good for him.On how he’s soldiered on despite several rough patches
Oh look, I’ve had some great times too. Been really lucky to do something I really enjoy – not many people get that chance. I’ve made a few bad choices, and I’ve learnt my lessons. I’m 35 years old now, got three kids. It’s great that my wife is here to see me go past the record. But if we lose this game, the world record itself will be a bit of a downer.On how he accounts for his comparatively poor record against India, given his outstanding figures against other subcontinental teams
I’ve been inconsistent against India, mainly when I’ve been over here. The first two times I came here, I was carrying injuries – the shoulder the first time and trouble with my spinning finger on the last tour. But I also think they play me really well. I just hope I can carry on like I bowled today and cause them a few more hassles.

Ehsan Mani, the president of the ICC, has said that suspending England from international cricket was never really considered. On Wednesday, Mani watched the second one-day international at Harare Sports Club, when England beat Zimabwe by 161 runs."Talk of suspension was never on the radar," he told reporters. "The threat of suspension was a possibility, even if it was only a 1 per cent or 5 per cent or 10 per cent possibility. It could have been a terrible penalty, which would have hurt badly.”I felt terribly disappointed because the tour was hugely important for the development of cricket in Zimbabwe. The country has enough problems without adding another. The game would have gone backwards and that was my concern, not punishing England.”Mani is a resident of St. John’s Wood in London, close to Lord’s, and is aware of the antipathy in England towards the tour taking place. But at the same time, he supported the way David Morgan, the ECB chairman, has handled the entire affair. "He has gained a lot of respect in the ICC for the way he handled this issue. I could see that England were caught between a rock and a hard place, but he has been absolutely superb, honest and totally upfront with people. He has had to deal with a lot of domestic pressures, which is understandable because of the unique situation between England and Zimbabwe. The issue was not going to die down."Mani wants to meet with England’s players within the next few day to talk about all aspects of their experience of Zimbabwe. “It is very important to hear their views," he said. "I want to know what they think about the level of cricket in Zimbabwe and their experiences in the country so far.” England are due to play back-to-back one-day matches at Bulawayo over the weekend.

Scorecard
Garnett Kruger destroyed Western Province Boland as the Lions romped into the semi-finals with an eight-wicket win at Newlands in Cape Town. Both teams came into the game with an outside chance of claiming the last semi-final spot. Province needed to win to stay in the running while the Lions needed to win with a bonus point to nudge the Warriors out of the fourth spot.The important toss was won by the Lions who put WPBOL in to bat first. Asteady start saw the home team reach 70 for 2 after 17 overs. Whatfollowed left the Newlands faithful stunned as some poor shot selection sent a steady stream of batsmen back to the change-rooms. In the space of 16 balls Kruger (5-21) destroyed the middle order leaving WPBOL reeling at 76 for 7. A slight revival between Con de Lange (30) and William Hantam (35), putting on 65 for the eighth wicket, helped Province struggle to 142.The Lions, having to chase 143 in 36 overs to make it into the semi-finals, set off at a good pace with Stephen Cook and Adam Bacher bringing up the 50 in the 11th and the 100 in the 22nd. Cook was first to go for 27 (110-1) but Bacher’s rich vain of form continued as he remained unbeaten on 77. He also became the the first batsman to pass the 500-runs mark for this season. HD Ackerman was the only other batsman to fall as the Lions reached the target in 30.2 overs.In Western Province’s defence one has to question the South African board’s fixtures committee. For a side to complete four fixtures in eight days, two of them back-to-back and 1,000 miles apart, when some teams have already completed their commitments was surely loading the dice.

Danish Kaneria has admitted he fears for his one-day international career following the disappointment of being left out of Pakistan’s squad for the triangular VB series in Australia.The leg spinner Kaneria believes he could come to be thought of as a Test bowler only after he was dropped for the tournament, which starts on January 14 and also features West Indies. He took 15 wickets as Pakistan were whitewashed 3-0 by Australia in the recent Test series, and believes he could have used the experience of bowling to top batsmen to great effect in the forthcoming one-dayers.”It is disappointing not to be retained for the one-dayers because I think I can be effective in limited overs cricket as well,” Kaneria, 24, told the Reuters news agency on Sunday. “Having bowled to the world’s best batsmen I have gained a lot in confidence and ideas. But the team management told me I needed to rest before the tour to India in February.”But Kaneria, who has played ten one-day internationals, remained upbeat about his chances of making a return to the limited overs arena, and vowed to try hard to gain a place in the forthcoming tour of India in February, which includes five one-day internationals.”Leg spinners have played an effective role in one-dayers in the past,” he argued. “Shane Warne, Anil Kumble… they all won matches for their country. I will just have to work harder to convince everyone they can rely upon me in limited overs cricket.”

Sourav Ganguly is all set to start a cricket academy in Kolkata. Press Trust of India reports that Ganguly has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect with Videocon International Limited, who will sponsor the Rs 1 crore venture.The Academy is to be called “Sourav Ganguly and Videocon School of Cricket”, and will be located on a five-acre plot in Salt Lake City provided by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. While Videocon will provide the infrastructure, Ganguly will lead the team of experts who will run the show.”We shall spare no effort to ensure that a truly world-class cricket school comes up here,” said Ganguly. He indicated that while former Bengal players like Sanjay Das and his brother Snehashish Ganguly would be available in a teaching capacity, the chief coach would be someone with a good record in international cricket. “He may be a foreigner,” Ganguly said, “or a famous Indian cricketer.”Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, was present to mark the signing of the MoU. “We are happy,” he said, “at the spontaneity shown by the corporate house in supporting the project. Such an academy is needed to further improve the standard of cricket in Bengal.”

India Under-19 472 for 4 dec (Pujara 211, Tewari 109) beat England Under-19 258 and 77 (Nadeem 6-23) by an innings and 137 runs
ScorecardAndy Pick, England Under-19’s coach, had no excuses after watching his side lose 16 wickets on the final day of their Test series against India. The debacle wrapped up a 3-0 series whitewash, as the left-arm spinner, Shanbaz Nadeem, bamboozled the young batsmen with figures of 10 for 131, including 6 for 23 as the second innings folded for 77."It was a flat wicket and their boys batted well,” Pick told ecb.co.uk. “We didn’t bowl particularly badly but we just never looked like getting anybody out. Having encouraged the boys to be cautious and selective when they batted in the first two Tests and bat some time, this time we told them to play some shots and express themselves. We had nothing to lose so we told the boys to go out there and show what we can do.”England had begun the final day on a decent 189 for 4 in their first innings, with Ben Harmison, the younger brother of Steve, unbeaten on 40. He went on to make 65, once we was the fifth man out, the tail collapsed without him. “We followed on and it was a debacle,” added Pick. “There was no application. We were a team that looked as if we had had the stuffing knocked out of us and batted accordingly."We’ve been second-best in all departments really,” said Pick. “We’ve had no bowlers who have been in a position to put any pressure on them or look like getting people out. We’ve bowled like we were just trying to contain and just hoping something would happen rather than force something to happen.”"As a group we’ve failed to apply ourselves time and time again. I’ve sat down with John Abrahams [the tour manager] and we asked ourselves `are we really this bad?’ We don’t think we are. We’ve seen the players that we’ve brought with us play well in the past and know that they are capable of better than they have shown on this trip.”A five-match one-day series begins in Agartala on Tuesday. England’s young cricketers will need to lift their performances considerably if they are to avoid further humiliation.