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| Tuesday , August 12 , 2008 |

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CRICKET BRIEFS

Sri Lanka close in on India

Calcutta: Sri Lanka was breathing down India’s neck after a 2-1 series win over its Asian neighbours while South Africa retained its second place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship after defeating England by an identical margin on Monday, says A Staff Reporter.

Sri Lanka leapfrogged England into fourth place and is now just one ratings point behind third-placed India as the series result earned Mahela Jayawardena’s side five points but cost Anil Kumble’s men four ratings points, according to a release.
Sri Lanka now sit on 108 ratings points after starting on 103 while India have slipped to 109 after entering the series on 113.

As Sri Lanka will not play any more Tests until May next year, it will pin its hopes on Australia to put it ahead of India. Ricky Ponting’s side will travel to India in October for a four-Test series and if it wins the series 3-0, Kumble’s men will drop behind Jayawarden’s side by one ratings point.

However, if India beat Australia by a similar margin, it will leapfrog South Africa into second place on 118 ratings points and will trail Ricky Ponting’s side by just nine ratings points.

India can further reduce that gap to seven points if they win the two-Test series against England in December.

THE RANKINGS
Teams — 1. Australia (138 points); 2. South Africa (116); 3. India (109); 4. Sri Lanka (108); 5. England (104); 6. Pakistan (100); 7. New Zealand (83); 8. West Indies (81); 9. Bangladesh (0).

ICC decision

Karachi: An ICC task force, led by chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, has arrived in Islamabad with reports that the ICC has decided to hold the Champions Trophy in Pakistan next month at two venues —Karachi and Lahore.
The delegation, during it’s flying visit is due to meet top ranking security officials in Islamabad before flying to Lahore and finally touring Karachi on Tuesday before returning to Dubai.

Shoaib issue

Karachi: The national selection committee has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to make it clear whether controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar could be considered for the final squad for Champions Trophy next month.
The selectors are due to consult with the team captain Shoaib Malik and coach Geoff Lawson over the final make up of the squad for the eight nation tournament before submitting their final 15 players to the board on Tuesday.

Training camp

Bangalore: One-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and four other cricketers underwent a fitness and training schedule here today in the two-day camp ahead of the five-match one-day series in Sri Lanka. Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Praveen Kumar joined them in the exercise.