LAMPARD "FUTURE DEAL"

Manchester United considering move for Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard in summer transfer window

Sir Alex Ferguson is considering a summer move to take Frank Lampard to Manchester United following Chelsea’s decision to allow the midfielder to leave Stamford Bridge at the end of his contract.

NASIR IN "HURRY"

Karachi:  Pakistan star batsman Nasir Jamshed, who tormented the Indian bowlers in the just concluded series, has forgotten to carry his man-of-the-series trophy with him.

Jamshed, who scored back-to-back centuries in the first two one-dayers in the series, and the victorious Pakistan team was accorded a warm welcome on Monday.

."In the rush to get to the airport I forgot my trophy but the team management says I will get it soon," Jamshed said

YUVRAJ THE "FIGHTER"

PUNE: Yuvraj Singh’s decade-long attempt to secure a permanent spot in the Test team may have been thwarted once again this month, but in the first Twenty20 against England he once again showed why he is indispensable in limited-overs formats. First, his spell of left-arm spin upended England’s innings and then his burst of hitting smoothened India’s path to a comprehensive victory.
Yuvraj’s introduction in the ninth over transformed the game. He was the seventh bowler MS Dhoni turned to as India desperately searched for ways to stall the runs, and he immediately delivered. Five of the previous six overs had been punished for 10 runs or more, but Yuvraj in his first gave away just five singles. In his next, he had Luke Wright caught at long off. In his third, Hales was dropped by Dhoni, then bowled before England captain Eoin Morgan gave long-on a catch. The triple-blow sucked out the momentum from the innings, and by the end of his spell the run-rate was down to around seven-and-a-half.
Ashok Dinda, leading India’s pace attack though he himself is fairly new to international cricket, delivered the perfect penultimate over, taking two wickets and giving away only two runs. Either side of that though, Dhoni’s go-to bowler in Twenty20s, R Ashwin, and debutant fast bowler Parvinder Awana were hit for two sixes in an over each as Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 33 lifted England to 157.
Brief scores: India 158 for 5 (Yuvraj 38) beat England 157 for 6 (Hales 56, Yuvraj 3-19) by five

VIEW ON "DHONI"

Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been under attack from all quarters as he was being blamed most for the shameful loss to England , which registered their first Test series win in India in 28 years . It also ended India's nearly decade long record of not losing a Test series at home.

Cricket veterans blamed Dhoni's unimaginative and stubborn leadership for India's loss in the grudge series wherein the hosts were expected to avenge their whitewash in England last year.

After India's 1-2 loss, former legends have openly called for Dhoni's sacking.

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has called for Dhoni's head as he wants to see Virat Kohli as the new captain. He feels that Kohli has made a strong case for captaincy after his crucial knock of 100 in the Nagpur Test.
Former chief national selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth also openly slammed Dhoni and said that he should be sacked as Test captain after his stale performances.

The attacks by Gavaskar and Srikkanth come after some other former greats, including Mohinder Amarnath and Bishan Singh Bedi, openly expressed their views against Dhoni.
Dhoni's 7 blunders

Dhoni has been under fire for committing seven cardinal blunders in the series that saw India shamed.

Ahead of the series Dhoni underestimated the English spinners and had expected to bamboozle the visitors with spin, but it were the Indians who were caught up in the spin web.
The skipper then under bowled the experienced Harbhajan Singh in the Mumbai Test, despite including him as an extra spinner.

Dhoni won the tosses in Mumbai and Kolkata, but failed to make it count.
Going by his remarks over pitches, the Indian skipper was pre-occupied with getting rank turners than putting his house in order.

He again missed a trick by not including a second pacer for the Nagpur Test. Moreover, the advantage of fourth morning was needlessly wasted as India delayed in declaring their innings.
To make things worse, Dhoni remained strangely defensive all through the series and let the visitors off the hook.

"COOK"THE FIGHTER

"I was surprised at the level we managed to achieve so soon after Ahmedabad. I was talking [there] about playing to our potential, but I was surprised we managed to do it straight away and put all those doubts to bed and prove it to ourselves."

He added: "We didn't handle the Ahmedabad wicket well but the others were all very different and we adapted well. The bowlers have been brilliant and our batters have contributed big runs.

Everyone in the squad can be very proud, especially after Ahmedabad and that heavy defeat. The guys who played a couple of games all made a difference and the amount of effort the guys have put in for me, I can't ask any more.

THE 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD

1) The Colosseum in Rome. 2) The great wall of China. 3) The great pyramid of Giza.
4) Taj Mahal in India.
5) Christ of Redeemer in Brazil.
6) Chichen Itza in Mexico. 7) Petra in Jordan.

MESSI THE LEGEND

Lionel Messi scored his 22nd double of 2012 to reach 90 goals as Barcelona beat closest rival Atletico Madrid 4-1 on Sunday, opening up a nine-point lead and sitting 13 in front of Real Madrid in the Spanish league.