Sports India

Brian Lara Cricket is set to return in 2007 and will feature content and players from the ICC World Cup. The game’s release is expected to coincide with the World Cup, which will get underway in March 2007.

The game will be available for PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and the PC platforms. The new title follows the 2005 revival of the series, which became the first cricket title to ever make Number 1 in the Chart Track’s All Formats UK best-seller list. Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 is expected to expand the series’ trademark gameplay mechanics. The game will feature licenced players, including world cricket stars – Andrew Flintoff, Ricky Ponting, Mahendra Dhoni, Muttiah Muralitharan and of course, Brian Lara himself.

In addition to players, the game will feature a dedicated ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 mode featuring all the official teams, stadia, kits and equipment of the tournament. Further modes include a fully licenced ICC Champions’ Trophy competition and exhibition matches, including one-day games, test matches and exciting 20-over slog fests. The game will also have an online mode for PC (LAN and online) and Xbox Live.

As usual, the game is promising to deliver photo-realistic visuals, based on hundreds of real player likenesses modelled in high detail, complete with animated facial expressions to capture the intensity and emotion of international cricket. Stadia, including all eight official World Cup venues, are also being created with a new level of textured detail and will make use of proprietary shader technology for realistic, subtle and changing lighting effects, such as time of day and weather.

Hailing the decision to launch the twenty-20 format in India, Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said the issue of rotation policy will once again crop up since the amount of cricket being played in the country will go up.

“Hopefully when many Test matches, one-dayers and twenty-20 matches will be played, the amount of cricket will increase in the country,” Dhoni said.

“The issue of rotation policy will rise once again because there will be so much cricket and players will be rotated. Everyone will get a chance,” he said on the sidelines of a promotional event at Noida, near here.

Dhoni, known for his swashbuckling batting, said the 20-20 format was so far played for entertainment but now it would be more competitive, demanding hard work, and he was looking forward to it.

“There would be more entertainment for spectators, that is the thing. They would enjoy it more because you get results in two hours, two and a half hours’ time.

“It is really entertaining, you’re there for sixes, fours and good music and lovely crowd, so I think it is a good step and I am looking forward to it.”

About the recent 20-20 charity match between an International XI and Pakistan XI, he said “It was very different. All the international players and former international players were also playing. Though we were hoping to play 20-20 that match was played for 10-10 overs. It was good for the jam packed stands,” he said.

Youth or experience? Which will be the match winner for India in the forthcoming tri series in Sri Lanka? On one hand, the team boasts of 30- plus class acts like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, while on the other youngsters like Dhoni, Yuvraj and Irfan create excitement each time they get on the pitch.

In a BT spot poll, 60 per cent voters felt it would be the youngsters who would fire, while just 20 per cent expressed their confidence in Sachin and Co. While 20 per cent felt a mix of youth and experience would be best.

“The chances of older players firing in their skill areas are much better,” says sports commentator Charu Sharma, “But with cricket becoming very physically demanding, youngsters with their better fitness levels turn out to be match winners.

We have no choice but to stuff the team with athleticism,” he adds, “The older players, while extremely gifted in their own skill areas, tend to leak runs when it comes to fielding. The opposition knows that.”

This can end up being the decisive factor when matches are won or lost by 10-20 runs, he adds. “It’s a difficult toss up. You can’t have seniors on standby as 12th man.”

Ad professional Chandramouli feels balance is a must. “The youngsters have achieved a lot and deserve their place, but a player like Sachin must stay, too. His presence alone gives a psychological edge to the team.”

Still, with the World Cup just months away, “No one should take anything for granted.”

Says a former cricketer who didn’t want to be named, “Rahul, Sachin and Anil are the nucleus around which the team performs. So a blend of both youth and experience is right.” While youngsters are good players, they add little in terms of character or communication, he adds.

“Dravid keeps the team balance. He’s shrewd, low profile and complements Chappell. As for Sachin — he’s a genius. No one is really qualified to talk about him.”

But brand consultant Harish Bijoor unequivocally roots for the youngsters. “The team consists of the tested and untested. The tested seem to have had lows the last two seasons, while youngsters have delivered. While seniors are needed for leadership, an ideal line up would consist of 70:30 combo favouring youngsters. That would take us to the next World Cup.”

An additional advantage newbies have is the surprise element, as their form isn’t familiar to the opposition — a key factor.

“Sachin’s place has been kept for too long. He is now at the bottom end of his performance curve. We sometimes need to decimate the old brand to create a younger brand. And the time for that is now.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Andrew Flintoff are just two of the players expected to feature in Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 , the next edition of the Brian Lara Cricket expected to be released in March 2007.

Brian Lara Cricket is set to return in 2007 and will feature content and players from the ICC World Cup. The game’s release is expected to coincide with the World Cup, which will get underway in March 2007.

The game will be available for PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and the PC platforms. The new title follows the 2005 revival of the series, which became the first cricket title to ever make Number 1 in the Chart Track’s All Formats UK best-seller list. Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 is expected to expand the series’ trademark gameplay mechanics. The game will feature licenced players, including world cricket stars – Andrew Flintoff, Ricky Ponting, Mahendra Dhoni, Muttiah Muralitharan and of course, Brian Lara himself.

In addition to players, the game will feature a dedicated ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 mode featuring all the official teams, stadia, kits and equipment of the tournament. Further modes include a fully licenced ICC Champions’ Trophy competition and exhibition matches, including one-day games, test matches and exciting 20-over slog fests. The game will also have an online mode for PC (LAN and online) and Xbox Live.

As usual, the game is promising to deliver photo-realistic visuals, based on hundreds of real player likenesses modelled in high detail, complete with animated facial expressions to capture the intensity and emotion of international cricket. Stadia, including all eight official World Cup venues, are also being created with a new level of textured detail and will make use of proprietary shader technology for realistic, subtle and changing lighting effects, such as time of day and weather.

aggregate of 1161 one-day runs in the last one year and three Man of the Series awards - Yuvraj Singh has finally arrived after his initial years of promise.

However, he is not exactly happy at the moment since his Test form was not as expected in the West Indies.

As a new season begins with the tri-series in Sri Lanka next month, ‘Yuvi’ wants to set the record straight so that he can continue to be a potent force in both form of the games. Excerpts from the interview:

GULF NEWS: Another tour to Sri Lanka is on the cards. It was from there last season that your purple patch begun. How does it feel after a great year?

Yuvraj: I am happy with what I have done in the one-dayers, but I believe I should have done better in Tests. I tried my best, but there are still a few more things to be done in Tests to make my mark.

What are your expectations from the tour of Sri Lanka?

We really played well in one-dayers in the last one year. We had done well despite the slower wickets of the West Indies and in Sri Lanka too, the wickets should be of similar nature.

We shall be having two conditioning camps before the tri-series and hope to carry on the good work.

While you had a reasonably successful one-day series against the Windies with 183 runs, India had lost the series 1-4.

That is why in a team game, the most important thing is the team’s win. You may perform individually, but the whole team’s showing is far more important. However, I feel we were really unlucky to lose the four close matches on trot.

In the second match, you were out when the team needed just one run to tie the match.

I just could not sleep that night. Dwayne Bravo had chosen the right moment to deliver that killing blow at the right place and time. What a slower it was!

I was batting on 93 and could not believe I could be out without winning the game.

Indians were expected to do better in the Test series, but you could only win the last Test for a narrow series win.

I feel we should have won at least one, if not two more Tests. We were sitting pretty from where we should have won the Test, but we could not capitalise on it. We will have to convert the near-things on more occasions in future.

Your team did not chase a feasible target in the second Test, closing the shutters as soon as Dhoni departed.

Rahul told me to go easy since I was not hitting the ball well and we did not want to risk it. To lose a Test is not worth it, especially when you have the option of drawing it.

If I were hitting the ball as sweetly as I am used to, we would have gone for it. Our intentions were clear: we tried by promoting Dhoni who wanted to go after the bowling.

If he had succeeded, the story would have been different.

Hailing the decision to launch the twenty-20 format in India, Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said the issue of rotation policy will once again crop up since the amount of cricket being played in the country will go up.

“Hopefully when many Test matches, one-dayers and twenty-20 matches will be played, the amount of cricket will increase in the country,” Dhoni said.

“The issue of rotation policy will rise once again because there will be so much cricket and players will be rotated. Everyone will get a chance,” he said on the sidelines of a promotional event at Noida, near here.

Dhoni, known for his swashbuckling batting, said the 20-20 format was so far played for entertainment but now it would be more competitive, demanding hard work, and he was looking forward to it.

“There would be more entertainment for spectators, that is the thing. They would enjoy it more because you get results in two hours, two and a half hours’ time.

“It is really entertaining, you’re there for sixes, fours and good music and lovely crowd, so I think it is a good step and I am looking forward to it.”

About the recent 20-20 charity match between an International XI and Pakistan XI, he said “It was very different. All the international players and former international players were also playing. Though we were hoping to play 20-20 that match was played for 10-10 overs. It was good for the jam packed stands,” he said.

Having a Ball
His recent tour of the West Indies won him accolades. Now back in the country, cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is busy chasing his other passion — endorsing brands. First he was spotted at the Shipra Mall in Ghaziabad, where the batsman arrived with friends to watch Neeraj Vora’s Phir Hera Pheri. Later, he inaugurated the new Reebok store in Noida’s Sector 18. ‘‘I really enjoyed the tour and it’s memorable because we won the match after three decades,’’ quips the hard hitter. As for films, he says, ‘‘I prefer comedy and action films.’’ Hopefully, we’ll get a load of some action from the man during the tri-series in Sri Lanka, which is around the corner.

For Laughs
He’s in the habit of having you in splits, be it as the hero’s bete noir in Munnabhai MBBS or with his trademark Parsi bawa jokes. But what has been a forte so far is turning into a trap for Boman Irani. So the actor is now trying to change tracks and do something besides comedy. He will be seen as an Interpol officer and then a Rajput king in his forthcoming films, Farhan Akhtar’s Don and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Eklavya. The 44-year-old, who was in town recently for a promotional event, has dabbled in pretty much everything from films and theatre to photography and ad films. ‘‘I do what turns me on at the moment. Now I belong to Bollywood, photography has turned into a hobby, and maybe tomorrow I’ll be a cricket commentator,’’ says Irani. Maybe he should just stick to the gags.

The Cricket Regulatory Board has decided to introduce 20:20 cricket in India, reports CNBC-TV18.

But how different is this format of the game? After months of resistance the BCCI has finally given in to pressure from the ICC and agreed on playing 20:20 cricket in the country .

Fans will get to see the first domestic 20-20 match in April next year. While some believe this shortest version of the game will add speed and excitement, for some it’s just not cricket.

A 20:20 match lasts for just three hours. The duration of each innings is 75 minutes where fielding restrictions apply for the first 6 overs. Each bowler can bowl a maximum of four overs.

Each side must face five overs for the match to be counted. The Duckworth-Lewis method shall be applied in interrupted matches. A no-ball will be penalized by a free-hit next ball and a batsman cannot be out from a free-hit delivery unless he is run out.

With big hitters like Dhoni and Sehwag, 20:20 might just turn out to be the blockbuster that brings in fans to watch domestic matches in India. Most test playing nations that have already taken to this format have seen it gain popularity. So can 20:20 get the Indian cricket fan back to the deserted stadiums?

The five-match ODI series loss against West Indies left India with dented pride, admitted wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. But he was quick to add that the invaluable experience would come in handy when the team returns to the Caribbean for the World Cup next year.

“Of course it was very disappointing to lose the one-day series. Actually we heard so much about the wickets there — that it’s very fast and bouncy with lot of help for the pacers. But once we landed there, it turned out to be a complete different story. The pitches were slow, ball didn’t come on to the bat and the batsmen could not play their shot. It was in fact slower than some of the pitches in India. However, I still feel that it was a great experience, especially considering that we will be playing World Cup there next year. I think the series would help us then and we are hoping for the best,’’ he told reporters on Monday. Asked if he would like to open the innings in the one dayers, the stumper said that he would go by whatever the think-tank decides.

“Well, the batting order is something the management decides. Now you have Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag as openers. I mean, I think this is something for the captain and the entire management to decide. And if you ask about me, I’m comfortable everywhere,” he said.

Equally flamboyant behind and in front of the wickets, Dhoni also seemed quite at ease with his commercials. “I think it’s quite good and not very hectic. The shooting is generally for about two or three hours and you can relax. It’s a small group as you shoot for one-and-a-half or two minutes and you have time for yourself,’’ he added.

Dhoni Dho Dalta Hai has been directed and written by Makrand Deshpande, if the term ‘written’ can apply to a play which keeps evolving with actor improvisations to such an extent that no two shows are the same. The play is performed in the GRIPS style of children’s theatre, where adults play children and recreate their world on stage.

The plot is simple – a washerman’s son idolises Dhoni and dreams of making it big as a cricketer. However he lacks the means and time, having to work to support his family. His father does not encourage his fancy and rich kids from the block mock him. But the guy is talented and soon wins hearts, acclaim and approval.

Makrand borrows characters from everyday life and exaggerates, even caricatures them to create a laugh riot for kids. There is plenty of action and comedy to keep the kids hooked. Adults who accompany them can have a great time too, provided they are not looking for intellectual stimulation and are willing to suspend disbelief. What Makrand builds on stage is a modern urban child’s perspective of the realities around him – footloose, fancy-free and imaginative.

Vijay Maurya, as the protagonist, is the highpoint of the play. His comic timing is impeccable and his characterisation as a child subtle but real. Teddy Maurya, playing his father, complements Vijay with an equally hilarious performance. Unfortunately, couple of actors confuse playing children with mimicking children, concentrating more on the walk and the talk rather than on what lies beneath, but overall the huge cast delivers with high energy performances.

The downside of improvisation is that the play wanders off the script a bit too often, in addition with becoming lengthy, but the cast have so much fun on stage, it’s hard not to overlook the slapstick and join in their fun. Kavi Bhansali’s lights and Shailendra Barve’s music make a celebratory spectacle.

This play goes a long way in proving Makrand’s versatility as a director. It lacks his usual surrealism, layering and abstraction of meaning and exploration of serious realities, but not his characteristic madness. That is not to say that the pandemonium is meaningless. While many children will leave the theatre euphorically inspired to follow their dreams, some might also heed the play’s compassionate message against social inequality which is subtly pervasive but never driven home.