Two Indians among top 10 in Ceat ratings

Two Indians - current skipper Sourav Ganguly and former captain Sachin Tendulkar - are in the top ten list in the Ceat International Cricketer of the Year 2000-2001 ratings. In a press release, the top spot goes to the Sri Lankan off spinner Muthiah Muralitharan with 94 points. The Indian duo of Ganguly and Tendulkar have 59 and 57 points respectively.

In the top Test teams, India is placed in the seventh position with 39 points. South Africa are currently leading the team ratings with 76 points followed by Australia who have 59 points. The Ceat International cricket year begins on May 1 and ends on April 30.

The top ten in the Ceat cricket ratings as on February 12 are: 1. M Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 94 points. 2. Andy Flower (Zimbabwe) 75 points. 3. Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka) 69 points. 4. Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) 68 points. 5. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 65 points. 6. Sourav Ganguly (India) and Alistair Campbell (Zimbabwe) 59 points. 8. Sachin Tendulkar (India) 57 points. 9. Yousuf Youhanna (Pakistan) and Shaun Pollock (South Africa) 56 points.

India's fast bowling resources will improve, feels Lillee

The legendary Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee feels that India's fast bowling resources would certainly improve in the years to come and also prove to be a force to reckon with in the art of fast bowling.

Lillee, who was in Chennai recently for scouting pace bowling talent for the MRF Pace Foundation, has also short listed eleven boys in the age group of 16 to 19 out of 40 during a one-week 'selection trial' from January 29 to February 6. These eleven boys will join the pace foundation in April when the pre-season training is scheduled to begin, said Lillee in a press release.

The shortlisted bowlers are: Abhishek Choudhury, Jaikush Hoon (both Delhi), Haresh Puri (Punjab CA), U Karkera (Mumbai CA), Tej Govind (Punjab CA), Shivshankar Rao (Jharkhand), Sidharth Trivedi, Irfan Patan (Vadodara CA), Baburao Yadav (Maharashtra CA), C Atram (Nagpur) and KS Veerannan (Chennai).

Delhi crushes East Zone to lift I&B tourney

Delhi headquarters scored a emphatic 140-run win over East Zone to clinch the eighth All India Information and Broadcasting Ministry cricket tournament in Kolkata on Wednesday. Batting first Delhi put up a fighting 269 for four in their allotted 40 overs. The mainstay of the innings was Rajen Bhasin who scored an unbeaten 118. Bhasin was ably supported by Kuldip Bhan with a fine 51. Amit Ghosh (3/40) was the most successful bowler for the hosts.

In response East were bundled out for just 129 in 28.5 overs. The East batsmen could not tackle JS Viredi (3 for 2) and R Wasim (2 for 19). Prasenjit Chakraborty (28) and Sushanta Pal (28) were the top scorers for East Zone.

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