Category Uncategorized

Pakistan allrounder Yasir Arafat has been ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies later this month due to a calf injury, the captain Shahid Afridi has confirmed

Cricinfo staff14-Apr-2010

Pakistan allrounder Yasir Arafat has been ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies later this month due to a calf injury, the captain Shahid Afridi has confirmed. Arafat, the world’s most successful Twenty20 bowler with 90 wickets, was anyway in doubt when the training camp began in Lahore last week.”Yasir Arafat is out because of the calf injury,” Afridi told the . “He told us that he was not fit, after which we had to take a decision.”Though a replacement hasn’t been named yet, Afridi suggested that they may draft in a batsman, Shahzaib Hasan. The 20-year-old right-hander appeared in last year’s World Twenty20 in England and provided the team with good starts.”Shahzaib is very much in the picture for us,” Afridi said. “He is a good pinch-hitter and could be useful for us in the West Indies.”Pakistan are also waiting on the fitness of their strike bowler Umar Gul, who hurt his shoulder last week during a fielding drill. He resumed bowling in the nets and he said his shoulder was showing signs of improvement.”We don’t have that much time which is why there is going to be a fitness test for him on the 18th,” Afridi said. “Gul himself is very keen and confident which is why I’m hoping that he would get fully fit.”Pakistan play their first match against Bangladesh on May 1 in St Lucia.

Speaking on De Telegraaf’s podcast (as shared by Sport Witness), journalist Mike Verweij claims that Ajax will make one final attempt to sign Steven Bergwijn, as they have received ‘signals from Spurs that he is still nominated to leave’.

The Lowdown: Bergwijn’s future uncertain

Bergwijn threw his Spurs future into the air as he fired in two stoppage time goals in 80 seconds to snatch Antonio Conte’s side three points in a thrilling 3-2 win over Leicester City.

Before this, Bergwijn looked like he was heading for the exit door, as Spurs were willing to listen to offers for the Dutchman.

The club had rejected a £15 million bid from Ajax, but only because they were hoping to recoup as much of the £27 million fee that they paid for him two years ago.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-news-2/” title=”Tottenham latest news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Spurs still willing to sell

According to Verweij (translated by Sport Witness), Ajax have not admitted defeat in their pursuit of the winger, and Tottenham still seem keen on finding a deal for Bergwijn’s departure.

Speaking on De Telegraaf’s podcast, Verweij said: “I think they will make a final attempt for Bergwijn.

“They have received signals from Spurs that he is still nominated to leave. The offer must then exceed twenty million (£16.7m).”

The Verdict: Silly to let him go?

With the 24-year-old having turned Spurs’ fortune around against Leicester and with Alasdair Gold hailing him as a ‘rare bright spot’ in the defeat at Chelsea, it throws in the question whether Conte and Fabio Paratici would be silly to let the Netherlands international leave the club.

The potential arrival of Adama Traore from Wolves may be what is leading Spurs to look to offload the player to Ajax in order to recoup some funds, but reports have suggested Conte wants Traore to play the right-wing-back role, so it’s not exactly like-for-like.

Therefore, Bergwijn’s future at Tottenham remains uncertain, and it certainly feels like a risk to cash in for around €20m (£16.7m) given the lack of other firepower in the squad.

In other news: Franck Kessie snubs Spurs

There’s a reason these two teams are at the top of the Test rankings. The best teams don’t just win games. They’re also capable of fighting back from reverses that would crush lesser sides. Moments of genius can illuminate Tests, but they’re usually won or saved with grit. Even in the days when they thrashed all before them, you could count plenty of occasions when Steve Waugh’s side was dug out of a hole by Adam Gilchrist and the tail.Like a groggy boxer tangled in the ropes, India were thought to be there for the taking after the four-day defeat in Nagpur. Instead, they have stunned South Africa at Eden Gardens with the ferocity of the riposte. Now, it’s the visitors who need to box clever and survive, in order to seal the series win they so crave.In this era of placid pitches, survival is far from impossible. Less than a year ago, India batted 180 overs after being asked to follow on in Napier. Gautam Gambhir batted nearly 11 hours and VVS Laxman made a century as they lost just four wickets in two days.Kepler Wessels, South Africa’s batting consultant, was quietly confident that South Africa could hold on for the draw. “It’s a pretty good pitch,” he said. “I think you can still bat on it for extended periods of time. Clearly, we’re going to be under more pressure than India were, so it’ll be more difficult. It should spin a little as the game goes on.”In his view, the approach was going to be crucial. “We’re in a position where we have to save the game to win the series,” he said. “There’s two days of tough Test cricket ahead and we’ll fight as hard as we can. We can’t just play the survival game. We’ve still got to look to score runs and play a normal game – form partnerships and bat for long periods.”South Africa find themselves in this predicament largely because of a dismal final session on the opening day, when they surrendered the huge advantage that came with winning the toss. “In the first Test match, we concentrated really well,” Wessels said. “We were very tight. We didn’t play loosely at any stage. In the first innings here, we were very loose. I think that was the problem.”In Hashim’s case, you can understand it because he batted for such a long time and so well in Nagpur. He was always going to go through phases where it was tough to concentrate for as long again. For Alviro [Petersen] in his first Test, reaching a milestone was quite an emotional thing. I think the guys all accept that there were a few too many loose shots and that got us into trouble.”The sloppiness with the bat was compounded by dropped catches aplenty, with Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith among the culprits on day three. “If you don’t take your opportunities against a good side, you’re going to pay the price,” Wessels said. “You can’t drop good players and expect to get away with it, particularly on good surfaces like this.”South Africa weren’t helped by the back spasms that ruled out Mark Boucher and the fractured finger that prevented Smith from fielding at first slip. JP Duminy, who took his place, dropped Virender Sehwag on 47 and Laxman on 48, and AB de Villiers, donning the webbed gloves, missed a stumping when Sehwag had 129.”It’s always difficult when you have to reinvent your slip cordon,” Wessels said. “We’ve got an experienced keeper who wasn’t there and the most experienced first slip wasn’t either. It’s challenging but you have to adapt and take the opportunities that come your way. We didn’t.”By afternoon, the jauntiness of Nagpur had given way to grim faces. “We expected India to come back strongly,” he said. “They’re a very good team under their own conditions. We certainly expected them to put up this sort of fight. The body language is inevitable when you’re under the cosh and after missing a few opportunities.”The key moments came right at the start of the day, with nine coming from each of the opening two overs, as Amit Mishra made it clear that he wasn’t out there to block up one end. In between being dropped twice and the ball darting past the outside edge umpteen times, he played a couple of punishing strokes, adding 48 with Laxman.”We wanted to bowl well this morning, get some wickets and finish India off,” Wessels said. “Perhaps even if they had a lead of a 100 or so, we’d have been happy with that. But they played well, and we just couldn’t get the breakthroughs. I thought Dale Steyn bowled well with the second new ball. Morne Morkel came in with one good spell as well. But consistency is an issue for us.”Given that the light has caused play to be called on all three days so far, South Africa have to bat close to 140 overs to make sure they don’t lose this game. Like India at Napier, they too have such an effort to summon inspiration from. At Lord’s in 2008, they followed on 346 behind. Smith, Neil McKenzie and Amla all made centuries as they played out 167 overs for the draw. Wins in the next two Tests gave them the series.”South African batsmen have had many similar challenges over the last two years and come through those quite well,” said Wessels. “This will be a difficult one, but that’s what experienced top international batsmen are for. They’ve coped with it well in the past and will hopefully do so again tomorrow.”If they do, not a soul, not even at this venue where the home crowd can be a 12th man, will grudge them that No.1 ranking.

Close England 103 for 1 (Trott 17*, Cook 31*) trail South Africa 343 (Kallis 75, Smith 75) by 240 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDale Steyn climbed into England’s bowlers, but Andrew Strauss hit back in style•Getty Images

Andrew Strauss took a leaf out of Dale Steyn’s batting textbook, and launched England’s innings with a 49-ball half-century – his fastest in Tests – as the second Test at Durban produced yet more dramatic momentum shifts on an eventful second day. By the time bad light brought another early end to proceedings, England had recovered from the indignity of watching South Africa’s last pair, Steyn and Makhaya Ntini, add 58 carefree runs to their eventual total of 343, and reached the close in a promising position on 103 for 1.Strauss, however, was that one England wicket to fall, bowled for 54 in the fifth over after tea by the one man to have troubled him consistently throughout this tour, Morne Morkel. Strauss had already enjoyed one massive slice of good fortune when the third umpire, Steve Davis, overturned an lbw appeal in Morkel’s first over of the same session, despite inconclusive evidence of an inside-edge onto the pads, but second time around no replays were needed. Morkel’s height, pace and off-stump accuracy combined to blast through Strauss’s defences, and bring to an end the brightest of a series of cameos that lit up an otherwise piecemeal day’s cricket.Strauss has been in the form of his life in the past 12 months, and such was his dominance in the early part of his innings that his opening partner, Alastair Cook, was feeding on scraps at the other end, with 8 from 36 balls at the interval. Strauss crashed nine fours in his innings, including four in eight balls against a toiling Ntini, whose medium-paced offerings fed all three of Strauss’s strengths – the pull, the cut and the drive. Steyn, bubbly after his 58-ball 47, provided some hairy moments with late swing from a tight new-ball line, and Morkel also found Strauss’s edge with a lifter on off stump, but Jacques Kallis’s rusty swingers were no match for a man in Strauss’s mood, as he was drilled for two fours in consecutive balls.Strauss’s surge of intent eventually rubbed off on Cook, whose confidence began to grow before the close as he produced a succession of cathartic pulls and slog-sweeps to move to 31 not out, his best start of the series, while Jonathan Trott overcame a hostile welcome from crowd and opponents alike to reach stumps unbeaten on 17. The combined effect was to leave England handily placed after a tough day in the field, in which they were made to toil for their breakthroughs in conditions that ought to have favoured their seam attack.South Africa had resumed their innings on 175 for 5, still shaken following the loss of three wickets in the space of five overs in a dramatic mini-session on the first evening, and when James Anderson launched an extended two-and-a-half hour session with a series of sharp inswingers in muggy conditions, England were hopeful of a swift denouement.Instead they were thwarted by a succession of counterattacks, starting with Mark Boucher who was South Africa’s principal source of momentum for the first hour of the day. Resuming on 1 not out, he clipped the first ball of the day, from Anderson, through midwicket for four, and the leg-side remained his principal scoring area throughout an aggressive 50-ball stay.In total, Boucher scored 38 of South Africa’s first fifty runs of the day, including a premeditated slog-sweep to knock Graeme Swann off his length as he entered the attack midway through the first hour. But it was eventually Swann who ended his cameo via a referred lbw, as England finally extracted some good news from the review system, after squandering all four of their attempts during last week’s Centurion Test.Boucher’s departure, however, was the cue for de Villiers to step out of the shadows and take up the cudgels for his team. With sweet timing, especially off the back foot, he rode his luck to the occasional delivery that reared outside off, but cashed in on the regular occasions that England lost their length. He eventually fell for an even 50, caught behind off the second ball of Stuart Broad’s new spell, having just completed his half-century from 96 balls.Swann then set about whittling through the tail. Paul Harris attempted a sweep and was adjudged lbw for 2, a decision that was upheld on review despite protestations that the ball had brushed glove before it hit the pads, and though Morkel struck some lusty blows in a useful 23, he was extracted in the first over after tea, pinned lbw from the sixth ball of a Swann over in which every delivery had looked likely to end his stay.That, however, was the end of Swann’s fun for the day. With his eyes on his second five-wicket haul of the series, he was instead repelled by a staggeringly composed onslaught from Steyn, who farmed the strike to keep Ntini as far from the firing line as possible, while cashing in with three fours and three sixes, each in consecutive Swann overs as he opened his shoulders to clear the ropes at long-off and long-on.England’s bowlers lost their direction in the course of his onslaught, with several deliveries speared into the pads and away for four byes, but the pick of Steyn’s shots was a stand-and-deliver back-foot cover-drive off Anderson that would have made de Villiers proud. But with his second Test fifty there for the taking, Anderson straightened his line and grazed a lifter off his outside edge, to give his team some welcome relief, and set the stage for Strauss’s spirited, if shortlived, response.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left buzzing over some team news involving Filip Helander.

Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of their match at home to St. Mirren in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday afternoon, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has revealed that the Sweden international has been ‘back individually for a couple of weeks’, and that he is hopeful that he can join up with his teammates for training sessions after the winter break.

He has not played for the Ibrox faithful since September after having knee surgery, and was a key part of the team earlier in the season, ranking highly among his teammates in terms of average tackles (1.7), clearances (four) and blocks (0.3) per match in the SPFL this campaign. (WhoScored).

Of course, Helander also scored the winning goal against Celtic at home earlier this term, and supporters of the Teddy Bears simply cannot wait to have him back in the side.

Rangers fans on Helander news

These Light Blues buzzed as the team news was shared on Twitter, with one Ger even going as far as to claim that it was ‘excellent’:

“Things you love to hear, great news”

Credit: @alegil2101

“Merry Christmas”

Credit: @pretty_blue82

“Good news”

Credit: @legendsofibrox

“Been missing this big guy”

Credit: @rfc_mac

“Excellent”

Credit: @BrianRhind16

“The best Christmas present”

Credit: @Chalkywoccydoo1

In other news, find out what Boxing Day news has Gers fuming here!

Many Everton fans have been left erupting as some transfer news emerged on Jordan Pickford.

As per The Daily Telegraph, Antonio Conte now wants to sign the goalkeeper for Tottenham Hotspur, and sees him as the ideal successor to Hugo Lloris.

Of course, Pickford would be a difficult player to replace, given that he is very much Rafa Benitez’s number one and has not missed a minute of Premier League football so far this season when he has been available (Transfermarkt).

It would not be ideal either to sell him to a rival in the top flight, and moving to Spurs would not exactly be a big step up for Pickford, given that there are only two places between them in the league at the moment.

Nonetheless, as a full England international as well, the Goodison Park faithful should be demanding a huge transfer fee for him, otherwise opting not to sell him at all.

Everton fans on Pickford transfer news

These Merseyside club supporters erupted as the transfer news was shared on Twitter:

“Not a chance literally our only world-class player……. Huge money £80+ mill”

Credit: @11thommo

“I wouldn’t even sell for £80 mill. The only person who will see a benefit to this is the accountant and his spreadsheet.”

Credit: @gareth_90210

“Why are we even asking this question?”

Credit: @CalMcKay3

“No way would I sell him”

Credit: @amandahufton

“I would not sell him at all, I know you will have the usual few that don’t like him and say sell and get the likes of Dean Henderson etc, but it’s a no for me, I don’t think Pickford even when some moaned about him was not anywhere near as bad as some made out”

Credit: @EFC_Mike79

“Not a chance easily been top 4 keepers in the league the last season and a half, only if they pay us £80 million”

Credit: @EFCMichael7

In other news, find out what transfer news has Toffees talking here!

Mahela Jayawardene ground the Indian bowlers into Ahmedabad dust, almost ruling out a defeat for Sri Lanka

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga18-Nov-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outInevitably, Mahela Jayawardene got to double-century No. 6•AFPMahela Jayawardene ground the Indian bowlers into the Ahmedabad dust, almost ruling out a defeat for Sri Lanka in the first Test. This was only the second time that Sri Lanka took a first-innings lead in India, and only the first time they crossed 450 in the country. Jayawardene’s sixth double-century, and twelfth 150, was one of his easier ones because for more than half his innings India didn’t try to take his wicket, and only towards the end was he made to work hard for singles. The bowlers were not helped by the slowness of the pitch and the indiscipline of the spinners, who managed just one wicket in 102 overs, that too a dodgy decision against Angelo Mathews.Jayawardene was supported by Thilan Samaraweera in the first session, Prasanna Jayawardene in the second and third, and by muddled thinking from India in both. Their fast bowlers couldn’t generate any swing, conventional or reverse, but still looked the only ones capable of making things happen. The only blip for Sri Lanka came when Samaraweera was set up by Zaheer Khan and dismissed by Ishant Sharma, but Jayawardene had started assuredly, and never gave India a serious look-in. Despite that Mathews wicket to what turned out to be the last ball before lunch, the Jayawardenes thwarted any hopes of a quick Indian comeback.Sri Lanka started the day 151 runs behind, knowing they needed a lead of at least 70 runs to compensate for having to bat last on a pitch that was turning. But the problem with that turn was its slowness, and both Jayawardene and Samaraweera negotiated it comfortably in the morning. India were made to bowl spinners for the first 10 overs before the new ball was due. And in a move that spoke a lot about their attitude, they came out in the containment mode, with a deep point for Harbhajan Singh. Not a single shot went there, and the fielder watched late-cuts from Jayawardene go to the third-man boundary.Smart Stats

Mahela Jayawardene reached his sixth score of 200 or above in Tests, joining Kumar Sangakkara, Marvan Atapattu and Javed Miandad. Ahead of him on that list are Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Wally Hammond.

Jayawardene now has 12 scores of 150 or above; five players have exceeded that mark.

Jayawardene’s 216-run stand with Prasanna Jayawardene is the highest for the sixth wicket for Sri Lanka. It was Jayawardene’s seventh stand of 200 or more in Tests.

By scoring 591, Sri Lanka have equalled their fourth-highest score in away Tests. They are within striking distance of reaching their second-highest – 644. They’ve gone way past their previous best score in India, though, of 420.

India’s spinners were taken for 372 runs in this innings; it’s third in the list of most runs conceded by an Indian spin attack since 2000 at home, and the record is likely to be overtaken tomorrow.

Harbhajan Singh conceded 150 runs or more in an innings for the sixth time in Tests, and the second time against Sri Lanka.

The only blotch on Jayawardene’s morning came when Amit Mishra drew an edge from him, but the ball died on Rahul Dravid at slip. Twenty-nine runs and two maidens came in those first 10 overs, the last of which had Mishra beating Samaraweera with a googly and missing out on an lbw call. Both batsmen reached fifties during that spell, and brought up their ninth 100-run stand. That last over was about the best Mishra had bowled, but MS Dhoni went for pace from the 81st over.The sixth over with the new ball, bowled by Zaheer, was the best of the day from India’s perspective. He beat Samaraweera with an away-going delivery, got him into an uncertain position with a bouncer, and then hit him in the midriff with another. Ishant continued from there in the next over, beating him with one that held its line. And then came a pull shot Samaraweera would otherwise have kept along the ground, but was hurried into this time.Jayawardene made sure India wouldn’t feel too excited when, two overs later, he drove Zaheer for three boundaries in four balls: through mid-on, wide of midwicket, and through covers. The last one of those shots took Jayawardene to 74, Sri Lanka to within 78 of India’s total, and Zaheer out of the attack. The spinners came on soon, and failed to make an impact as Sri Lanka started to steadily push the accelerator.Prasanna looked to sweep Harbhajan, while runs kept coming effortlessly for Jayawardene. Dhoni spread the field, but Mishra and Harbhajan struggled to keep the same batsman on strike for a considerable period. Despite the defensive mindset, India could manage only four maidens in the first two sessions. India’s bowling was most insipid in the second session and the Jayawardenes capitalised fully. Without much fuss, Prasanna reached 42 by tea, and Jayawardene 142, another of his tons that seemed inevitable once he got in. By tea, the two had added 108 off 27.4 overs, 84 of which were run.Post tea, both sides called ceasefire. Dhoni got spinners to bowl from round the stumps with 6-3 leg-side fields, while the Jayawardenes didn’t seem interested in taking too many risks, and were happy scoring in ones and twos and occasional boundaries. In the 144th over of the innings, Sri Lanka ran their 200th single. In the 158th over, Zaheer bowled the 17th no-ball; and India had got only 21 runs from four of their top-six batsmen. While India managed to stem the run-flow in the final session – a total of 108 runs came in 36 overs – it didn’t help much because there were still two days left in the match, and Sri Lanka got closer and closer to not having to bat again.The senior Jayawardene didn’t let fatigue get the better of him and reached the double with two overs to go, while Prasanna took the opportunity to move towards what would be a risk-free second century.

In terms of scoring goals, Liverpool have had no trouble in the penalty area so far this season with 29 goals scored in their opening ten Premier League games of the season, with 11 goals scored in three Champions League games and five goals bagged in two Carabao Cup games.

One player in Jurgen Klopp’s squad that has played his part in Liverpool’s goalscoring success so far this season with six goals across all competitions is 30-year-old centre-forward Roberto Firmino.

Given his age and the fact that his current contract at the Merseyside club is set to expire in the summer of 2023, it would seem likely that Liverpool will have some thoughts on potentially finding a suitable replacement for the Brazilian in the near future.

With this in mind, we feel that the club could already have their ideal replacement for Firmino with 18-year-old centre-forward Max Woltman.

As a product of Liverpool’s youth system, Woltman has made 35 appearances for the club’s U18 side, netting 14 goals and providing eight assists in the process as well as making 12 appearances for their U23 side. For that outfit, he has registered one goal and one assist, showing his attacking talent.

So far this season, the teenager has managed to score two goals and provide one assist in 14 appearances across all tournaments.

Back in January, Woltman, who has been described as “brilliant” in the past by Liverpool U18 coach Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, signed his first senior contract with the Merseyside club.

In their announcement for this news, the official Liverpool club website labelled the player as a “skilful forward with an eye for a goal,” who can “play in several positions across the frontline.”

This says to us that Woltman could go on to be an ideal long-term replacement for Firmino, judging by his abilities and positional sense. The latter has racked up a total of 93 goals and 70 assists across all competitions during his time at Anfield, whilst playing in a number of attacking and midfield positions.

If the Liverpool youngster can continue to play regularly for the Liverpool U23s, continue producing offensive numbers and make the most out of any potential opportunities he gets to play in the first team in the future, we feel that he could well go on to be a regular senior figure for the Reds in the coming years.

If he does get a chance, he could very much be Firmino 2.0.

In other news: FSG could secure Jota 2.0 at LFC with “outstanding” £67.7m star, fans would be buzzing – opinion

An update has emerged on Rangers manager Steven Gerrard, regarding Newcastle’s interest in his services.

What’s the talk?

According to The Times, the Gers head coach is one of the leading candidates to take over at St. James’ Park, with Steve Bruce on the verge of being relieved of his duties.

The report claims Villarreal’s Unai Emery and Belgium’s Roberto Martinez are the other two names the Premier League side are looking at alongside Gerrard.

Worry

This major update on Newcastle’s manager search will surely leave Rangers fans feeling worried, especially after Gerrard’s recent comments on the situation.

When asked about links to St. James’ Park, Gerrard admitted that he is not a fan of the speculation, but refused to rule out an exit from Ibrox. He said: 

“I don’t react or get involved in any speculation, especially when someone I have the utmost respect for is sitting in that job. Steve is a great character, someone I’ve got a personal relationship with. Sitting in this position, I wouldn’t like people to speculate about my job, so I certainly won’t be getting involved in speculation towards his.

“It’s interesting what’s happening at Newcastle. If anyone deserves a break, it’s the Geordie fans, so I’m sure the excitement levels are very high. Everyone connected in the game is looking on with interest.”

These quotes do not indicate that Gerrard is eager to quit Rangers, but they also do not rule out the possibility of a switch to the English side. This latest report from The Times now appears to amp up the speculation, with the ex-Liverpool man being a ‘leading candidate’ for the role, rather than just another one of the names linked with the job.

Newcastle could, therefore, be seriously interested in prying him away from the Scottish giants. This is why Rangers fans will be worried about what this means for the Liverpudlian’s future, with the Magpies potentially preparing to make a move for him if they pull the plug on Bruce’s time on Tyneside.

Gerrard has won 2.15 points per game on average throughout his time in Glasgow, managing the club in 186 matches to date. He led them to the Scottish Premiership title last term which prevented Celtic from reaching 10-in-a-row and these achievements highlight why supporters have a right to be concerned by rumours surrounding his future, as he has proven himself to be an excellent manager in Scotland.

AND in other news, 100% dribble success: Rangers gem with four key passes stole the show vs Hearts…

MS Dhoni, the Indian captain, has said the four-ODI series in West Indies could help erase memories of their performance in the World Cup there two years ago. India made a first-round exit after losing to Bangladesh.”Of course, it is not an easy thing to forget, especially that 2007 World Cup,” Dhoni said ahead of the first match in Kingston on Friday. “It is always tough to forget that kind of tournament. It will be important for us to do well here.”India are without Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan for the series and are coming off a disappointing World Twenty20 campaign where they were beaten by England and West Indies and failed to qualify for the semi-finals.But Dhoni chose to look at the injuries in a positive way. “Injuries are never good when it comes to your key players. But now that it has happened, the only good thing is it gives a chance to see the bench’s strength.”When it comes to India, we have plenty of talent, but it’s about adaptability. International cricket doesn’t have much to do too much with talent. It’s how you cope with the pressure and how you deal with the situations, how you react.”Dhoni said the series would give youngsters crucial exposure. “This gives them the opportunity to spend time in the middle, play a few games, get a bit of experience, see what international cricket is all about.”Dhoni hoped the weather would stay clear for the series. “Our aim is to win this series and keep on improving our world rankings. We believe we have the players to do it and the hope is that the weather holds up and will be able to entertain the peoples of the region.”