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NEW DELH, MARCH 2 (AGENCIES): i:The BCCI on Wednesday slammed ICC General Manager Dave Richardson for criticising Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the latter had expressed his grouse on the UDRS system. In a hard-hitting letter to the ICC Chief Executive Ha-roon Lorgat, BCCI Sec-retary N Srinivasan said Richardson has no busi-ness to criticise Dhoni and he should be instructed not to do so in future.

"BCCI takes strong objection to David Rich-ardson criticising Dhoni. Richardson's comment that the Indian captain should know the rule is out of place. The Indian cap-tain only highlighted the inadequacy of the system and rightly so. It was there for the world to see. Mr Richardson has no right to

do so," Srinivasan said in the letter.

Dhoni had questioned "adulteration of technol-ogy with human thinking" when England batsman Ian Bell was ruled not out o� a Yuvraj Singh delivery even after TV replays showed that the ball would have hit

stumps, leading to Rich-ardson asking the Indian captain to read the rules re-lated to UDRS fi rst before criticising it. Srinivasan went on the say that Rich-ardson's comments on the issue was tantamount to pressurising Dhoni when the World Cup is going on.

BCCI slams ICC offi cial for criticising Dhoni on UDRS issu

MUMBAI, MARCH 2 (AGENCIES): Former In-dia captain Kapil Dev feels that Mahendra Singh Dho-ni's men should have won their match against England and team's bowling attack is a concern. "We can see that (bowling is weak). I don't need to say it," Kapil was forthright when asked about the performance of Indian bowlers. "If you compare the bowlers with our bats-men, then yes, the bowling is weak. But that does not mean they can't bowl at all. They are the ones who have won us matches in the last two years," the captain of the 1983 World Cup winning team added.

"I really don't want to criticise, but yes, at one lev-el if you score 338 runs and only manage a tie...I mean England played better crick-et and they won according to me...after 338 we should not have lost or tied the game. I was disappointed," he said, while talking to reporters.

"Australia lost after get-ting 420 plus also. It hap-pens in the game. Things are changing. You have to look at the positives. England played very well. We must congratu-late them. We can learn from our mistakes," Kapil added. Asked about the lack of a genuine fast quick bowler in the Indian team, Kapil said it was no use crying about it during the World Cup and steps should be taken to fi ll

the void in the future."Australia doesn't have

Sachin or Sehwag nor does South Africa. What we have they don't have. Everyone doesn't get everything...If we want to have two quick bowlers, then we should plan for the future. It is no use crying over it during the World Cup. We should work hard on it."

Kapil feels that the trend among the aspiring cricket-ers to become only batsmen needs to change. "If everyone wants to become a Sachin or Sehwag or Dhoni, then what can we do? Someone should also opt to become fast bowl-ers like us. Parents want chil-dren to become a Sachin but not Anil Kumble, who was one of India's best match-winner," Kapil said.

Kapil blames it on pres-sure on the Indian play-ers which is responsible for them not performing well at

the major ICC events. "If we talk about results, then may-be they are under pressure. But our team has reached a level and we have such play-ers unlike any other team. Maybe the pressure will be less one day and the team will start winning major events."

The legendary all-rounder refused to call any particular team favourite. "In this edition, any team is capable of beating another team on their day. No one can fully dominate." As to the omission of the min-nows from the next World Cup, Kapil said it would have a detrimental e� ect on ICC's e� orts to globalise the game.

"Do we want to take the game globally or not? If not then it would be like some tournaments in America where they play "World Se-ries" but with only Ameri-can teams participating in them," he said. "The min-nows give the big teams ideal practise before the im-portant matches... there is a tendency to question the records made against them but when weak teams play against strong teams, they only get better," Kapil said.

"According to me, an-other World Cup should be held, where the 'B' squads of top teams play against them (minnows). ...It is ICC's role to ensure that top teams play against the minnows. It will help them improve their game," he said.

Can't reach semis if bowling fails: Kapil

Kapil Dev

Harbhajan Singh, left, and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni interact during a practice session. (AP Photo)

C H A N D I G A R H , MARCH 2 (AGEN-CIES): South Africa will a� ord the Nether-lands the same level of respect they would any other team, and have put in the same level preparation, both tacti-cally and mentally that they would for any oth-er team. “It’s when you underestimate a side like the Netherlands that you can get yourself into trouble,” South Af-rican coach Corrie van Zyl Wednesday. South Africa play the Dutch in a Group B game at the Punjab Cricket As-sociation Stadium in Mohali, just outside Chandigarh, it’s a match they’re expected to win comfortably, but one they wary of approaching without the same level of in-tensity they would a match against a top side like England or India.

“We’ll be going into it with our strongest combination,” Van Zyl added. “We’ve been here three weeks, and only played the one competitive match, so it’s important for guys to stay in rhythm, we want them to play tomorrow.”

Van Zyl revealed no plans as far as team selection is concerned, though it is widely felt that Lonwabo Tsotsobe will return to the starting XI on a pitch that has a fair covering of grass, and which according to locals has plenty of pace and bounce. “We’ll make our fi nal deci-sion tomorrow as to whether we want to go totally di� erent to the previous game. Obviously the conditions are im-portant and we have to take into consid-eration the history.

Rain has been forecast for Thursday as well, which Van Zyl explained would also impact on team selection. The in-jured trio of Dale Steyn Imran Tahir and

Jp Duminy were going to be assessed at a training session the South Africans held at the Stadium on Wednesday af-ternoon. Steyn got injured playing foot-ball – a customary warm-up for the side – when he crashed into Graeme Smith. “I’m fighting out of weight category over there, I came o� second best,” he chirped Tuesday. Tahir had some minor respiratory problems, which team man-ager Mohammed Moosajee blamed on the change in weather here – it’s head-ing winter into spring – while Duminy picked up some stiffness in his lower back after the West Indies game. All are expected to be fi t for Thursday.

Van Zyl highlighted the Dutch team’s disciplined bowling, and the bat-ting of Ryan ten Doeschate as the main threats to South Africa. “They bowl wicket to wicket and they got a really good left-arm spinner in Pieter Seelaar.

“They’ve got some really good bat-ters. Ten Doeschate played really well against England and is an experienced campaigner. They’re an all roundgood side. If we underestimate them we will run into trouble. But we are certainly not doing that.”

2011 W

OR

L C

UP

TODAY'S MATCHES

SA vs NEDThu | 3 Mar | 9:30 AMPCA Stadium, Mohali

PAK vs CANThu | 3 Mar | 2:30 PM

R.P Stadium, Colombo

Proteas wary of Netherlands

O’Brien guides Irish to shock win over England

Kevin O’Brien smashed the fastest ever World Cup century to propel Ireland to a stunning three-wicket win over England in a Group B match on Wednesday

BANGALORE, MARCH 2 (AGENCIES): Ireland chased down a World Cup record winning target of 328 for the loss of 7 wickets in a Group B ICC Cricket World Cup match at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. Kevin O'Brien hit the fastest World Cup century, o� 50 balls, with 13 fours and 6 sixes as he put up 161 for the sixt wicket with Alex Cusack (47), to put Ireland on course for an unlikely looking up-set. Before becoming the seventh wicket to fall via a run out, the burly all-rounder had assured Ire-land of a win with 113 o� 63 balls. leaving 12 runs to be scored o� the last 12 balls. The Irish finished off the task with 5 balls to spare. John Mooney, who had taken 4 for 63 in the Eng-land innings, finished off the match o� the fi rst ball of the last over, bowled by James Anderson. Mooney scored an unbeaten 34 o� 30 balls and had veteran Trent Johnston, unbeaten of 7 o� 4 balls, for company as they ran out winners by 3 wickets,

Earlier, the England

top order fi red in unison to score a mammoth 327 for eight, electing to bat, cap-tain Andrew Strauss (34) and Kevin Pietersen (59) gave a good start with a 91-run opening stand in 13.3 . Jonathan Trott (92) and Ian Bell (81) then stamped their authority, setting up the big total. For Ireland, medium pacer John Mooney took four wickets for 63 runs.

England, after their gripping last-ball tie against India, played with confi-dence. Strauss, who struck 158 against India Sunday, stroked two fours and a six in his 37-ball knock while Piet-ersen smashed seven fours and two sixes in his 50-ball innings. Strauss and Peiters-en scored at a quick pace be-fore left arm spinner George Dockrell bowled Strauss. Pietersen fell to o� spinner Paul Stirling. Trott and Bell added 167 runs for the third wicket and both were poised to make centuries. But Bell, who hit six fours and a six, be-came Mooney's fi rst victim. Trott went for a big heave against Mooney only to lose his stumps. Paul Colling-wood (16) and Matt Prior (6) took the score past 300.Ireland's Kevin O'Brien celebrates his record breaking century during the Cricket World Cup match between England and Ireland in Bangalore, Wednesday, March 2. (AP Photo)