 Andrew Flintoff ruled out of twenty20 World Cup England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has been ruled out of 2020 world cup 2009. Adil Rashid the Yorkshire legspinner has been included in the squad in place of allrounder Andrew Flintoff. Flintoff was included by England selectors in 15 member squad for world twenty20 but he is not recovered fully from his injury. England twenty20 captain Paul Collingwood showed concerned over Andrew Flintoff unavailability from world twenty20. He consider it as a big blows for England in world twenty20 however he also said that he has players to fill up for his absence. Flintoff, 31, sustained a tear to the meniscus in his right knee while playing for Chennai Super Kings in the recent Indian Premier League. Andrew Flintoff who missed almost all of the test series as well as ODI against West Indies this season will now eye Ashes series against Australia to make come back into the team. Sanjay Manjrekar feels India as one of the firm favourites to win t20 World Cup Sanjay Manjrekar feels India as one of the firm favourites to win the 2020 World Cup to be played in England from June 5th. He said in an interview that with IPL experienced behind Indian players will help them a lot going into twenty20 world cup. Players like Rohit Sharma and Yusuf Pathan matured enough in these two years since 2007 twenty20 world cup and that will give India edge over other country. He also told that Australia, South Africa and England are other teams that might pose a good challenge to the Indians. New Zealand beat Ireland by 7 Wickets in warm-up game Ross Taylor continued his good form of IPL as he smashed 74 runs in just 36 balls with eight huge sixes and two fours to help his team chase down the target of 153 runs in just 17 overs against Ireland. After winning the toss New Zealand Captain Daniel Vettori put Ireland into bat. Batting first Ireland manages to post 152 runs with the loss of five wickets in the quota of 20 overs. Opener J Bray was top scorer with 48 runs from 43 balls. Chasing the target of 153 runs New Zealand were 44/2 in the sixth over with both openers back in the hut. Ross Taylor (74 runs of 36 balls) and Martin Guptill (45 runs of 42 balls) put on 103 runs in just 65 balls to guide New Zealand to a comfortable win. Shoiab Akhtar ruled out of twenty20 world cup Pakistan fast Bowler Shoiab Akhtar has been ruled out from twenty20 World Cup 2009. Rao Iftikhar Anjum's name has been sent to the ICC's technical committee by the PCB as a replacement. Rawalpindi express Shoaib Akhtar hadn’t recovered from skin infection and has also missed three practice games which Pakistan cricket team is playing ahead of twenty20 world cup. Shoaib has not trained since coming back from the series against Australia in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. So now he will miss the twenty20 world cup for the second time in a row. In inaugural world cup also he was sent back home after verbal fight with his teammates in South Africa in 2007 and now he will miss the 2009 world cup also. Pakistan is runners-up of 2007 twenty20 world cup and is firm favourites to win the title. Bangladesh Coach wants his team to qualify for Super eights by beating India at group stage Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach said he would like his team to beat India at group stage and make it to the super eight stages. Bangladesh is in Group A along with India and Ireland. Siddons said that his team main goal is to beat India in their first game and confirm their berth in the super eight stages. He also said that India is world champions in twenty20 cricket but if his top three players fire on that day then Indian team will be in big trouble. In the inaugural World twenty20 in 2007 also they shocked the world by beating West Indies by six wickets in their first game and qualified for the Super Eights. Their win came as surprise to West Indies as they were thrown out of the competition. Ireland Coach wants his team to qualify for Super Eights berth Ireland coach wants his team to perform exceptionally well and qualify for the super eights berth. They are placed with World Champions India and Bangladesh in Group A. A win against Bangladesh will confirm their place in the super eights stage. Simmons wants his team to repeat the performance of 2007 world cup played in West Indies. In 50-over world cup played in West Indies they reached the last eight after beating Pakistan in the qualifying section. Ireland also beat Bangladesh later in the tournament. |
