It was the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. Zaheer Khan had been having a tough time but at that point, it seemed like skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was backing his best bowler to the best of his abilities.
The question put to Dhoni was simple: Does India really need a Zaheer in the team? His answer was surprising.
It's easier to go after the bowler. If you look at his performance he should be given equal respect as Sachin Tendulkar gets. He is the Sachin for us when it comes to the bowling department. He has led the attack for the past few years, Dhoni had then said.
Next thing you know. Zaheer Khan is dropped. 'Respect like Sachin,' it was all talk after all. The right words.
After performing fairly well at the World T20 in Sri Lanka, Yuvraj Singh is ready to play in North Zone's Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone starting on 14th October.
An Indian Express report says that Virat Kohli will sit out the fixture after asking the board for permission to go on a short holiday. Yuvraj is part of three changes made apart from Rahul Sharma and Mandeep Singh, who are both returning from India A's tour to New Zealand.
With India knocked out of the World T20 earlier than expected and their dismal performance in Test series in the past year, MS Dhoni's captaincy has come under some scrutiny.
And as cricket expert Ayaz Memon puts it, the team hasn't been great shakes in ODIs too.
So, does that mean there will be a leadership change in the team?
There should be a discussion and according to my BCCI sources, there will be a discussion over Dhoni's captaincy and it is now high priority. It may just be an academic discussion, but it's playing on the minds of the board and the selectors. Not to necessarily belittle him, but to see whether he needs to be skipper in all three formats.
West Indies fans cheer before the start of the ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup's semi-final match between West Indies and Australia at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo on October 5, 2012. West Indies captain Darren Sammy won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in the World Twenty20 semi-final in Colombo on Friday.
There's an eyesore at the World T20 tournament in Sri Lanka and this one's a little unexpected. The cheerleaders at the tournament haven't got the crowd's mojo going and therefore there's an immediate call for their dismissal.
The girls just aren't glamorous enough feels the crowd and so does the Sri Lanka cricket board. Wearing a rather longish top, with a pin-striped skirt, and skin tights underneath their skirts, the girls pale in comparison to the usual images that the crowd expects of cheerleaders.
They're aren't hot enough, they aren't white enough and they certainly aren't blonde enough. The rules are clear in the minds of all involved: brown women, who aren't super-skinny can't be cheerleaders. It's okay to jeer at them and call them an eyesore.
Never mind the fact that these girls are underpaid as themanager of the cheerleaders, Sudev Abeysekara tells theHindustan Times, In an event like this you need good looking girls, and to get the beautiful girls who are professional dancers, you have to pay more. The payment is not that great.
Sri Lanka's cricketers celebrates after victory in the ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup's semi-final match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo on October 4, 2012.
