CLT20 opens with a glittering ceremony

Captains of the ten participating teams of Champions League Twenty20 signing the 'Spirit of Cricket' wall during the opening ceremony in Bangalore on September 22, 2011.

India Pakistan semifinal fixed says the rumor mills

The mother of all matches in this world cup, India Pakistan semifinal is fixed says the buzz. Rumormongers are having a field day about Ind vs Pak match, saying that India would lose this match to Pakistan as large stakes are running on Indian team.

India is the favorite in this semifinal vs Pakistan for various reasons. Ind has beaten Pak in all the world cup matches to date. Also Indian batting lineup is huge when compared to that of Pakistan. Hence, people are heavily betting on India. So if Pakistan wins. People who bet on it would earn big.

Thousands of rupees are at stake so this India Pakistan semifinal was fixed claims few media reports. This news is spreading like a wildfire leaving Indian fans in frustration and confusion. If Dhoni boys lose this match, then people would start believing in these rumors. Hope that doesn’t happen.

Need the fiery Harbhajan back, and soon!

New Delhi: Throw him a dare and he will latch onto it! That's Harbhajan Singh - the wily Indian off-spinner who spits nothing but fire when on song. But looking at his two uninspiring outings so far in the World Cup, the flame seems to be dousing.

A red-hot Harbhajan provides the spark when the team needs it the most, with his pranks in the dressing room even splitting a reserved Yusuf Pathan into half. But like his doosra, Harbhajan too is dwindling into an oblivion that Team India can ill-afford.

The player - who is a skipper's delight - is slowly slipping into a hole, relying on his batting to help him climb back up and say, "I'm still there." And that's the most worrying sign for the fans who want to see Bhajji off-spinning and limit batting to just a handy slog.

If body language is an indicator, Harbhajan certainly is not emitting the signals Dhoni expects from his premier spin option. But 'one big wicket and you have the real Bhajji back' is a lure that will keep the Indian skipper from looking for R Ashwin over his shoulder.

Dhoni has to be very hard pressed to do that. Unless Bhajji breaks down or the skipper wants to risk the luxury of playing two offies, Ashwin's World Cup debut will stay on the shelf.

With his team giving away runs at a canter, Bhajji has to wake up from his slumber and lend Zaheer a hand in holding the Indian flag. Without that happening, placing a bet on India winning the World Cup looks too big a call to take at this stage.

What Harbhajan needs is a spark, and India's campaign will light up!

BCCI hits back at Richardson's comment

New Delhi: 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 Haroon Lorgat, BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said Richardson has no business to criticise Dhoni and he should be instructed not to do so in future.

"BCCI takes strong objection to David Richardson criticising Dhoni. Richardson's comment that the Indian captain should know the rule is out of place. The Indian captain 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.

India stare at defeat after Sachin's 50th

Centurion: Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday created history by becoming the first cricketer to score 50 Test centuries but India found themselves staring at defeat on the fourth day of the opening cricket Test against South Africa here.

Tendulkar (107 not out) played a sublime chance-less innings and shared a 172-run stand for the seventh wicket with his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (90) to lead a spirited fightback by India before the visitors slumped to 454 for eight when stumps were drawn early due to rain on a historic day at SuperSport Park.

With an entire final day remaining, India's chances of saving the match depends on Tendulkar and how the elements play a role in the high-profile series opener. But it appears almost impossible for India to save the game with just two wickets remaining.

Tendulkar and Dhoni, who joined forces when an innings defeat was staring on India at 277 for six just before lunch, were never in discomfort while facing the South African bowlers throughout their innings. They denied any success to the South African bowlers for more than three hours while adding runs at a brisk pace.

Tendulkar reached the historic moment with a single off Steyn, a perfectly placed drive that pierced through cover and extra cover midway into the final session.

But, the joy of the iconic batsman reaching the milestone did not last long as just four overs later, Dhoni perished to a rising delivery from Steyn. The Indian captain was caught in an awkward position and fended it to Boucher, who took a neat catch, diving to his right.

Once the big partnership between Tendulkar and Dhoni was broken with the latter falling victim to Steyn, India lost Harbhajan Singh who could score just one run from two balls just before rain interruption.

Earlier, Tendulkar and Dhoni denied the South Africans any success in the post-lunch session as India reached 394 for six at the tea break.

The duo, who added 117 runs from 28.1 overs, were in no trouble facing the South African bowlers as they scored at a brisked pace and reducing the deficit to 90 runs.

Tendulkar, who came in at the fall of nightwatchman Ishant Sharma at 214 for three in the morning session stood rock solid while Dhoni was even more aggressive than his senior partner at one stage.

Dhoni gave Dale Steyn some special treatment by hitting the South African strike bowler for a flurry of fours, that too after the home side had taken the new ball.

South Africa took the new ball after 2.1 overs in the post-lunch session but Tendulkar and Dhoni were undeterred as they punished Morne Morkel with three fours in the same over -- two of them coming from the Indian captain's blade.

Tendulkar raised his fifty, his 60th in Test cricket, with a cracking four off Steyn, a slap through extra cover. He had faced 94 balls for his fifty.

Dhoni also punished Steyn for a four in the same over and then hit three boundaries off Jacques Kallis as he raced to his 20th Test fifty in quick time, from just 41 balls with the help of nine fours.

Surprisingly, the Indian duo did not take much chance against left-arm spinner Paul Harris who was hit for just a four -- by Dhoni.

Earlier, India lost the wickets Rahul Dravid (43), VVS Laxman (8) and Suresh Raina (5) and nightwatchman Ishant Sharma (23) in the morning session and trailed by 207 runs as they reached 277 for six at lunch.

Resuming at 190 for two, the visitors added just 87 runs from the 33.4 overs they faced in the morning session which started half an hour before scheduled time to compensate for loss of time on the first day.

The SuperSport Park has eased out considerably with fast bowlers not posing too much of a problem as they had done on the first day but Dravid and Ishant started cautiously and runs came in trickles initially.

Dravid dug deep, playing the balls on merit while Ishant showed intent to play shots and hit three fours -- two off Lonwabo Tsotsobe and one of Dale Steyn. He added 16 runs to his overnight seven before getting out.

South Africa had to work hard for the breakthrough which eventually came in the form of Ishant's wicket with the Indian offering a simple catch to Hashim Amla while trying to work a Steyn delivery to the square region nearly an hour into the morning session.

Tendulkar did not waste time as he opened his account with a two off the second ball he faced, of Steyn, and then hit a four in the next over of the same bowler and then off Kallis to increase the tempo.

Just when the most experience Indian duo of Tendulkar and Dravid were settling in to raise hopes of saving the match, the latter got out to a Morne Morkel delivery which had a hint of movement besides being quick.

Dravid got a faint edge straight through to Boucher to leave India at 242 for four, still trailing by 242 runs.

Dravid's 43 came from 109 balls and was studded with six fours.

After the fall of Dravid, much was expected of Laxman but he departed without much contribution to give Tsotsobe his first wicket of the match. He got a thick edge of a full delivery outside off to land straight to gully fielder Ashwell Prince.

Raina did not last long as he edged a good length ball of Kallis to Paul Harris at first slip while trying to play it behind point.