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IPL organisers miffed by Jennifer Lopez's diva demands

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Hollywood actress-singer Jennifer Lopez reportedly got herself axed from an Indian Premier League (IPL) gig to perform for 60 million viewers when she gave the organisers a long list of unessential demands.</div>
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The 43-year-old insisted on a private plane and dozens of hotel rooms for her huge entourage, including her stylists, assistants and chef, reports<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">thesun.co.uk</em>.</div>
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Disgusted officials who wanted to book her for the opening ceremony of the IPL cricket tournament instead signed up rapper Pitbull for Tuesday's event.</div>
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"The demands were outrageous. She effectively priced herself out of the event. It was idiotic because the audience for this event is huge," said the source.</div>
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"She had turned down the deal because she was busy recording an album," said Lopez's spokesperson.</div>
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IPL organisers miffed by Jennifer Lopez's diva demands

Hollywood actress-singer Jennifer Lopez reportedly got herself axed from an Indian Premier League (IPL) gig to perform for 60 million vie...

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Pujara will excel in ODI cricket: Rahul Dravid

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Former India captain Rahul Dravid said Cheteshwar Pujara, who succeeded him at No 3 position in the Test side, has it in him to be a successful player in ODIs as well.</div>
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<strong>Cheteshwar Pujara. Pic/AFP</strong></div>
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“He had a great start to his international career, in fact a much better start than I did. I think he has been brought up in the old school of batsmanship. He is developing more shots and he approaches Test cricket in the same way as I did,” Dravid said during an interaction with fans at an ESPNcricinfo event yesterday.</div>
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Since making his Test debut against Australia in 2010, Pujara has played 18 Test innings, scored 1180 runs, and averaged 65.55. Pujara hasn’t made his ODI debut yet, but in 61 domestic one-day matches he averages 56.97, with eight hundreds and 17 fifties. “He’s got some good basics in place. You can see that he is constantly improving and he is someone who will find answers to questions. He is going to have his ups and downs and face a lot of challenges adapting to different forms of the game and conditions,” Dravid said.</div>
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“With his attitude and the way he is going about playing his cricket, I think he will find answers to a lot of these questions and one of them will be one-day cricket,” he added.<br />
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Pujara will excel in ODI cricket: Rahul Dravid

Former India captain Rahul Dravid said Cheteshwar Pujara, who succeeded him at No 3 position in the Test side, has it in him to be a succ...

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109 Indian prisoners in Italian jails, but govt clueless

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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 3px 0px 0px;">NEW DELHI: Italy has cocked a snook at India by refusing to let its marines face Indian law. But ironic as it is, 109 <a href="http://leavesblue.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #024d99; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Indian prisoners</a> are reportedly languishing in Italian jails and the Indian government seems to have done precious little to help their case.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The country's record at helping its citizens who run into trouble abroad is, in any case, nothing to be proud of. Surprisingly, though, in the context of the Indians in Italian jails, the government seems to be completely clueless and is not even aware of the reasons behind their detention.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The explanation given by the government, in response to a question put up in the </span>Rajya Sabha<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> in February 2010, was that the Italian government maintains privacy about prisoners and has not informed New Delhi despite having been requested. The status quo seems to have been maintained as the number of prisoners lodged in Italy have remained the same as per data provided by external affairs minister Salman Khursheed in the Rajya Sabha in November last year. Which means that either no Indian has been released from Italian jails in the past two years or the government has simply not followed up on the cases after Italy refused to share information.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">"It's surprising the way our government plays its hand. It was evident in the way it allowed itself to be taken in by the Italians in the marines case and now it seems to have given up on its own citizens too because the Italians refuse to share information," says Delhi-based lawyer </span>Avi Singh<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">. "The least it can do is to have the Indian embassy in Italy find out details and pursue the cases."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Officials at the Indian embassy in </span>Rome<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> did not respond to TOI's queries on the subject, despite repeated attempts. Sources in the Indian community in Italy, however, say that the embassy rarely, if ever, takes up cases of detention of Indian nationals with the Italians. "I don't think that our embassy has intervened with the Italians whenever Indians have been arrested. Usually, those who land in trouble have had to fend for themselves," says Nandkumar Kurup, president of the Indian Association of Northern Italy.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Majority of the cases - almost 95%-- say sources, pertain to agricultural labourers from Punjab who might have been booked for offences ranging from illegal entry to violence, theft and murder. Their numbers, however, could be far more than reported. "As per our estimates, there would be at least 600-700 Indians in prisons here," says </span>Sukhdev Singh Kang<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">, a local Sikh leader in </span>Milan<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">. "But because so much secrecy is maintained by the Italian authorities, it is very difficult to find out the real picture."</span></div>

109 Indian prisoners in Italian jails, but govt clueless

NEW DELHI: Italy has cocked a snook at India by refusing to let its marines face Indian law. But ironic as it is, 109 Indian prisoners ar...

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Aussie coach Mickey Arthur quits Twitter

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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">AUSTRALIA cricket team coach Mickey Arthur on Tuesday deleted his Twitter account after receiving persistent abusive tweets.</strong></div>
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"Thanks twitter,has been fun but deleting my account now!Thanks to all the genuine supporters out there," said Arthur on Twitter on Tuesday, a day after the Australian team lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy when beaten in the third Test at Mohali to go 0-3 down in the four-Test series.</div>
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A sample of the latest advice dished out to Arthur by one frequent tweeter @jimmyob13 gives an indication why he stopped using social media.</div>
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"Hey Mickey Mouse @MickeyArthur do you have enough quicks for 3rd test? Now it's going to be a seamer so I suggest you play 4 spinners...," the user posted on March 12.</div>
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The following day he wrote: "@MickeyArthur How's the team spirit this morn? Did they all wear the correct uniform? Did Hughes and Warner scrub skippers whites for him?"</div>
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The South African's decision to end his account was greeted with more scorn on Twitter.</div>
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One tweeter, @adam_pearce13 said "It's about time you focus on the cricket anyway "</div>
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Another, @willderen tweeted to Arthur "You're an idiot.", @MarkCooper said "you suck", while @KevinWilde described Arthur's move to delete his account as "weak".</div>
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@snev68 said "Lmao..Mickey Arthur deleting his twitter account?!?! #YouCantHandleTheTruth." and Jason ?@SuperQuat tweeted "*takes bat and ball."</div>
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Arthur, the man who guided South Africa to the top of the Test rankings, has endured a tough run with the Australian side, following a summer dominated by controversy over selection decisions to rest injured and tired players through a busy campaign.</div>
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Last week's homework-gate affair on the current tour to India may have been the last straw, when Arthur, captain Michael Clarke and team manager Gavin Dovey suspended four players, including vice-captain Shane Watson, for failing to supply required assessments on how the team could improve on time.</div>
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Arthur said it was a line-in-the-sand moment to create a better culture within the third-ranked Test squad after a series of disciplinary lapses by the team in general including lateness, backchat and attitude issues.</div>
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The bans weakened Australia's side going into last week's crucial third Test in Mohali, which India went on to win by six wickets on Monday to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.</div>
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The homeworkgate affair was widely ridiculed in Australia with ex-players such as Allan Border and Mark Waugh calling the decision ridiculous and schoolboy stuff.</div>
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Legspin great Shane Warne recommended booze and loud music as the best solution to team-culture issues.</div>
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The fourth and final Test against India starts in Delhi on Friday.</div>
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Aussie coach Mickey Arthur quits Twitter

AUSTRALIA cricket team coach Mickey Arthur on Tuesday deleted his Twitter account after receiving persistent abusive tweets. "Tha...

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Mitchell Starc 'content' to stay at No9 despite century near-miss

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Australian quick Mitchell Starc has said that he is content to stay in the No9 slot in the batting order despite being the top-scorer in Australia's first innings in the third Test and coming close to making a century on Saturday.</div>
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The left-arm NSW fast bowler was dismissed for 99 shortly before lunch on day three at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali, joining 22 other Australians who have made the same score in Tests, the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Sydney Morning Herald </em>reports.</div>
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Starc, a former wicketkeeper, insisted that he does not perform well as an all-rounder and will not be requesting a move up the order at the expense of current No8 Peter Siddle, stating that he did not make any runs when was pushed up the order for the Chennai Test.</div>
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Stating that he is happy staying behind Siddle, Starc said that the fast bowler is experienced and is a good batsman, adding that the current batch of fast bowlers are also good at batting.</div>
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Stating that he is working hard to improve his batting, Starc said that as a boy he was a wicketkeeper and is able to score runs if necessary, adding that bowlers put emphasis on their tail scoring runs like they did in the third Test’s innings.</div>
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However, the fast bowler stated that he is disappointed at not making a century which would have made him the first batsman at No.9 or lower to have scored a Test hundred since Ray Lindwall at the MCG in 1947, and said that he hoped for another chance in the future.</div>
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Stating that he felt nervous and found it harder to play all the spinners and bowlers while getting to 99, Starc however said that he is happy that he had got that far ahead.</div>
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Starc, 23, would have had a ton of his own to his name had he not edged Indian seamer Ishant Sharma to wicketkeeper M.S. Dhoni. He had played and missed outside the off-stump twice in the over; on the third swing he came unstuck, the report added.</div>
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Mitchell Starc 'content' to stay at No9 despite century near-miss

Australian quick Mitchell Starc has said that he is content to stay in the No9 slot in the batting order despite being the top-scorer in ...

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Hayden backs 'axed' Watson, says CA lacks 'fundamental Oz ways' of cricket

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Melbourne, Mar 14 (<a href="http://www.aninews.in/" style="color: #006e97; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">ANI</a>): Australian Test great Matthew Hayden has strongly supported axed vice-captain Shane Watson calling him a team man, and adding that senior cricket officials may not be committed to the 'fundamental Australian ways' of the game.</div>
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Watson, who was stood down from the Mohali Test along with Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja and James Pattinson for failing to complete a "homework" task, is at the crossroads of his career after Cricket Australia's high-performance manager, Pat Howard suggested the vice-captain was selfish by saying he was a 'sometime' team player, the Age reports.</div>
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Although Watson's teammates and former Test players like Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey, along with batting coach Justin Langer were reluctant to speak on the situation, Hayden, who played with Watson for Australia and Queensland from 2003 to 2008, praised the vice-captain for his team spirit.</div>
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According to Hayden, Watson's gentle disposition coupled with his competitive streak has enabled his talents in both batting and bowling and has led him to become one of Australia's most celebrated performers in all forms of the game.</div>
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Stating that he has known Watson since his boyhood, Hayden said that the vice-captain has battled with injury and risen in a true Australian spirit in spite of major setbacks to overcome the obstacles which he faced on and off the field.</div>
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Criticising CA and Pat Howard, Hayden said that he hoped that the <a href="http://www.aninews.in/newsdetail/keyword-search/ca.html" style="color: #006e97; text-decoration: none;">CA</a> management is committed to the core and fundamental Australian ways of the game and expressed his sadness due to the under-performing team in India.</div>
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Stating that the team has succumbed both culturally and socially to the pressure of consecutiveTest losses in India, Hayden said that the team needed to come out of their doldrums as Australian cricket represented going ahead with the game in spite of any given challenges.</div>
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Hayden backs 'axed' Watson, says CA lacks 'fundamental Oz ways' of cricket

Melbourne, Mar 14 ( ANI ): Australian Test great Matthew Hayden has strongly supported axed vice-captain Shane Watson calling him a team ...

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Five Indian Paramilitaries Killed in Srinagar

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NEW DELHI—Two suspected militants on Wednesday attacked a paramilitary camp in Srinagar, the main city in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, killing five personnel, a senior police official said.</div>
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Soldiers walk on a road outside a school after an attack against Indian paramilitary personnel in Srinagar, Wednesday.</div>
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The attackers were shot dead in fighting with the Central Reserve Security Force. They have yet to be identified, said Ahafadul Mujtaba, Srinagar's director inspector general of police. At least four CRPF officials and three civilians were also injured, he added.</div>
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The Himalayan territory of Kashmir has long been a cause of dispute between India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947. Kashmir was split between India and Pakistan in 1948, but both countries claim it in its entirety.</div>
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Indian Kashmiri insurgents have for more than two decades demanded separation from India or a merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan. Violence has dropped in recent years, but execution of Mohammad Afzal Guru in February prompted widespread protests in the state. Mr. Guru, a former member of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, was sentenced for his role in a 2001 attack on India's Parliament in which 14 people, including five militants, were killed.</div>
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According to Mr. Mujtaba, the attackers Wednesday threw a grenade into the paramilitary camp from a nearby neighborhood where children were playing cricket, prompting paramilitary personnel to open fire.</div>
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Additional security, including a bomb squad, has been dispatched to the site of the attack, Mr. Mujtaba said.</div>
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"Right now, we cannot speculate on which group is responsible," Mr. Mujtaba said.</div>
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Briefing lawmakers in the state assembly, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said it was a "fedayeen attack," an apparent reference to Islamist militants. He didn't elaborate. Srinagar is the state's summer capital.</div>
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"Five brave soldiers have been martyred today," Mr. Abdullah said, adding that he was awaiting further information on the attack.</div>
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Five Indian Paramilitaries Killed in Srinagar

NEW DELHI—Two suspected militants on Wednesday attacked a paramilitary camp in Srinagar, the main city in the Indian state of Jammu and Ka...

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Poms gloat as Australian cricket team becomes a 'global laughing stock'

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<li style="border: 0px; color: #8a8c8f; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Watson may quit Test cricket over axe</li>
<li style="border: 0px; color: #8a8c8f; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Players have only themselves to blame</li>
<li style="border: 0px; color: #8a8c8f; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Clarke says axings due to slide in attitude</strong></li>
<li style="border: 0px; color: #8a8c8f; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/when-youve-stopped-laughing-arthurs-decision-does-make-sense-20130312-2fxb7.html?rand=1363046539712" style="border: 0px; color: #484848; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </a>Arthur's decision makes sense</li>
<li style="border: 0px; color: #8a8c8f; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Memes mine Micky Arthur's decision for mirth</strong></li>
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The English are slapping their thighs in gleeful uproar at the decision by Australia's cricket hierarchy to sack four of its struggling Test cricketers for not completing written "homework" on how to improve their faltering team.</div>
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The idea of a three-point presentation to solve Australia's woes is cricket's equivalent of rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic<span style="background-image: url(http://resources.smh.com.au/common/media-common-1.0/css/output/7.19.9/img/sprite-skin-article-new.png); background-position: -639px -241px; border: 0px; bottom: -6px; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-style: inherit; height: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2em; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 22px;"> </span></div>
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Former Australian cricketers joined their one-time foes in questioning the wisdom of Australia's decision to drop Shane Watson, premier quick James Pattinson, emerging batsman Usman Khawaja and left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson for failing to complete a presentation requested by coach Mickey Arthur.</div>
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<img alt="Under fire ... coach  Mickey Arthur." src="http://images.smh.com.au/2013/03/12/4102193/art-mickyarthur-620x349.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" /><br />
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Under fire ... coach Mickey Arthur. <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Photo: Getty Images</em></div>
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England Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff summed up the mood in world cricket, tweeting: "Amazing 4 Aussie players banned for not doing homework , I thought letting them play in the next test would be punishment enough #3-0india."</div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/Aggerscricket" style="border: 0px; color: #484848; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Commentator Jonathan Agnew</a> added: "Not really up on modern text speak, but gather that ROFL might be appropriate..."</div>
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The English, already bemused by Australia's pitiful performances in India, where its own team just won a four-Test series 2-1, did not hold back.</div>
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<img alt="Andrew Flintoff ... delighting in Australia's misfortune." src="http://images.smh.com.au/2013/03/12/4102240/art-andrewflintoff-620x349.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" /><br />
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Andrew Flintoff ... delighting in Australia's misfortune. <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Photo: Getty Images</em></div>
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Former Test swing bowler <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/21742082" style="border: 0px; color: #484848; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Matthew Hoggard told the BBC</a> he was "baffled" by the "unbelievable" sackings.</div>
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"They have not been out until four in the morning. They have not been jumping off ferries or putting hands through doors.</div>
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"I know Shane Watson and he is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Getting him to write things out and put them in front of the coach is not going to be his strong point."</div>
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Bemused ... Matthew Hoggard. <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Photo: Getty Images</em></div>
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The normally sober <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Guardian</em> newspaper did not hold back. The first sentence of its report on the controversy? <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/mar/11/australia-drop-four-players" style="border: 0px; color: #484848; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Four months from the Ashes and Australian cricket has become a global laughing stock…"</a></div>
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After Australia's ignominious second Test defeat, the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2013/mar/05/england-lick-lips-australia-ashes?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487" style="border: 0px; color: #484848; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Guardian</em>'s Vic Marks </a>was already asking if the defence of the Ashes was a "formality", saying: "Australia are in a mess."</div>
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"As Merv Hughes, who was in the stands in Hyderabad as a tour leader, might be observing at this very moment: 'The Australians currently appear to be stuck between Scylla and Charybdis in the manner of Homer's Odysseus.' Or, if in a hurry, he might just say: 'We're buggered."'</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hitting out ... Darren Lehmann was surprised at the decision.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The headline from the tabloid stirrers at the <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Daily Mail </em>was harsh, but fair: "<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2291511/Australia-drop-players-India-The-boys-baggy-green-laughing-stock--Lawrence-Booth.html#ixzz2NGpb7FMR" style="border: 0px; color: #484848; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The once-feared boys in Baggy Green are a laughing stock after farce in India".</a></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lawrence Booth wrote that the English had briefly stopped laughing at the Australians when their own team was bowled out cheaply in the first Test against New Zealand. But as soon as "normal service resumed" and the Poms fought back in Dunedin, the mirth at Australia's expense also returned: "... the idea of a three-point presentation to solve Australia's woes is cricket's equivalent of rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Booth continued: "Australia just ain't that good any more. Coaches are supposed to manage crises, not exacerbate them."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Former quick Damien Fleming joked about the saituation." src="http://images.smh.com.au/2013/03/12/4102192/art-fleming-620x349.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" /></span><br />
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Former quick Damien Fleming joked about the saituation. <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Photo: Getty Images</em></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At least some Australians were laughing along.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://twitter.com/GregBaum" style="border: 0px; color: #484848; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Age senior writer Greg Baum tweeted</a>: "P Hughes lucky. Every time he went to write something, he cut it."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Former Test swing bowler Damien Fleming added: "On a positive note Ed Cowan's presentation has just been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Ridiculous ... Shane Warne had his say on Twitter." src="http://images.smh.com.au/2013/03/12/4102191/art-warne-620x349.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" /></span><br />
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ridiculous ... Shane Warne had his say on Twitter.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And journeyman all-rounder Theo Doropoulos noted: "John Inverarity was my high school headmaster. Not once did he threaten to drop me for not doing homework during my 5 years at Hale. #Legend."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"This feels like a seminal moment in Aus manliness," <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The National</em>'s Osman Samiuddin said on Twitter, looking for feedback from the paragons of hirsute Australian cricket macho, Ian Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chappell's mild response may have disappointed Samiuddin.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="The alternative? 'Old-school' Queensland and Brisbane Heat coach Darren Lehmann favours a less academic approach to coaching." src="http://images.smh.com.au/2013/03/12/4102445/art-wbCRICKETboof-620x349.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" /></span><br />
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The alternative? 'Old-school' Queensland and Brisbane Heat coach Darren Lehmann favours a less academic approach to coaching. <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Photo: Getty images</em></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"It is surprising and if it's team spirit they are trying to build, I'm not sure this is the right way to go about it," Chappell told Cricinfo.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">More recent Aussie cricket heroes did not hold back.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I don't see the logic in this. It's way over the top," former Australian captain Allan Border told Fox Sports. "It seems too strong a measure for coach and captain to take."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mark Waugh was even more blunt: "I've never heard of anything so stupid in all my life. It's not under-6's – this is Test cricket."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Queensland coach Darren "Boof" Lehmann, who favours a less academic approach to preparing players, tweeted: "This is so wrong. Adults we are, not schoolboys. Please let's act properly and make good decisions in India. Need these boys playing. What are we doing? Cricket?"</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Former middle order Test batsman Damien Martyn agreed that the players should be punished, but told Channel Nine on Tuesday morning that "missing a Test match is just too extreme".</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He suggested that they should have been heavily fined instead, and Arthur's punishment was hurting the rest of the team.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Former Test spinning great Shane Warne said that the captain should run the team. He tweeted: "Ridiculous what's happening."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But captain Michael Clarke, a close friend of Warne, completely endorsed the shock decision.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"It's a tough decision but at the end of the day if people are not hitting those standards there are going to be consequences."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He said that players should have been focused on doing whatever was necessary ahead of a series-deciding Test match.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"If you can't do as you're asked by the head coach … it's unacceptable."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Coach Mickey Arthur appears determined to make the decision a turning point for the Test team, thrashed twice in India in the past month.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"It's buy-in time … if you don't we're not going to achieve our goals as a team."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Arthur has his supporters.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/when-youve-stopped-laughing-arthurs-decision-does-make-sense-20130312-2fxb7.html?rand=1363046539712" style="border: 0px; color: #484848; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fairfax columnist Richard Hinds writes that once fans "absorbed the shock, stopped laughing and suspended your disbelief ... Arthur's tough stance makes some sense."</a></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013/content/story/624584.html" style="border: 0px; color: #484848; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Brydon Coverdale of Cricinfo</a> also supported the sackings.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Mark Waugh says this is not schoolboy stuff. It's not Under-6's, he says. That's right, you're a grown man with your own brain and you get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, at least, to play this game. You're a professional. So why haven't you acted like one?"</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On SEN radio, AFL figures David Parkin and Kevin Bartlett, both former coaches, agreed that the measure was necessary.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Parkin said he would have done "exactly the same thing" as Arthurs.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bartlett said the suspended quartet had "thumbed their noses" at a "not unreasonable request".</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I applaud the decision. Finally a light might have been switched on..."</span></div>
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Poms gloat as Australian cricket team becomes a 'global laughing stock'

Watson may quit Test cricket over axe Players have only themselves to blame Clarke says axings due to slide in attitude Arthur's...

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We had to make a statement by axing players, says Mickey Arthur

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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Mohali:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">  </span><img align="right" border="0" src="http://sports.ndtv.com/images/stories/mickey-arthur300.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 10px; padding: 2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Australian coach Mickey Arthur dropped a bombshell on Monday when he announced that the four players would not be considered for selection for the third Test.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"That's a line-in-the-sand moment. We have given these guys absolute clarity," Arthur said while making the announcement at a press conference in Mohali.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">The stunning turn of events leaves Australia with just 13 players to choose from for the third Test. "After Hyderabad the whole team was really hurting, we were discussing ways of getting back into the series," Arthur said.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"We were particularly aware of where we were as a team and how we were going to get back. I asked the players at the end of the game to give me an individual presentation.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"I wanted three points from each of them technically, mentally and team as to how we were going to get back over the next couple of games, how we were going to get ourselves back into the series," he added.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Arthur said the dropped players failed to meet the deadline set for making the presentation and it was important to maintain team discipline by punishing them.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"Unfortunately four players didn't comply with that. We pride ourselves on attitude. We have given the players a huge amount of latitude to get culture and attitude right," Arthur said.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"We believe that those behaviours with what we want to do with this team, how we want to take this team to be the best in the world, teams that are the best in the world have best attitudes and best behaviour patterns and a good, hard, ruthless culture.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"I think the best thing that these three days off have given me is reflection time, to reflect on how well have I been going in my job, like I expect everyone else to do when you're 2-0 down in the series.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"Myself and Pup (Clarke) came to the conclusion that we have been so focused on winning cricket games that maybe some people have been cutting corners. Perhaps there have been some soft options taken. We decided that we needed to really get that in line," he said.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Arthur said it was a tough decision to drop Watson but he had to apply the axe irrespective of how big the player was.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"I have never ever doubted, not for one moment, the drive of Shane Watson. Not for one moment. Shane Watson prepares well. He's very professional and he goes about his business in a very professional way. I've not ever been in a position to doubt Shane Watson the person or Shane Watson the cricketer.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"It's extremely tough to sit here and make that decision. I wish it wasn't the vice-captain, I wish it wasn't Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson, they are leaders within the team and are very professional with the way they go about their business. But this was a moment where we had to make a statement irrespective of who the players were," Arthur said.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"Usman Khawaja is different. This will be the catalyst I think for Usman Khawaja to realise we're pretty serious in the Australian cricket team." This is perhaps the first time in the history of the game that players have been dropped for not making a presentation and comes as a massive blow to the team, which is likely to be without wicket-keeper Matthew Wade due to injury.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Brad Haddin is being flown in as cover for Wade, who sprained his right ankle on Saturday while playing basketball.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Pattinson, who has been their in-form bowler, would be missed badly as the track in Mohali is expected to assist the seamers.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Khawaja was expected to replace Phil Hughes in the team but that has now been ruled out, providing the out-of-form number three batsman another opportunity to prove his worth.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">The fourth player to be dropped, Mitchell Johnson, has not played a single match yet.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Available players: Michael Clarke (capt), David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Xavier Doherty, Nathan Lyon, Brad Haddin (wk).</span></div>

We had to make a statement by axing players, says Mickey Arthur

Mohali: Australian coach Mickey Arthur dropped a bombshell on Monday when he announced that the four players would not be considered for ...

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Spinner Nathan Lyon has batted away Mickey Arthur's claim he needs work

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<strong>AXED off-spinner Nathan Lyon has hit back at claims from coach Mickey Arthur that his confidence is down and he needs work on technique.</strong></div>
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"To be honest, I thought they came out all right in Chennai," Lyon said.</div>
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"To bowl Sachin Tendulkar through the gate you must be doing something right. I was quite happy with that. I went for a few runs here and there, but bowling against the best bats in the world in their conditions, they were obviously going to come hard at me playing one spinner in the side.</div>
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"But I've worked hard in the nets and I'm feeling confident in my own bowling. The technical stuff . . . it's all the same, I haven't changed anything from when I first started bowling for Australia since I was 16."</div>
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Lyon bowled one of the best deliveries of his life to remove Tendulkar in the first innings and rejected claims from Arthur about his confidence after taking 4-244 in the first Test.</div>
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No, I reckon it's gone up if anything, bowling to the best batsman in the world through the gate," he said. "As an off-spinner growing up, that's what you dream of -- my confidence has gone up a level rather than down."</div>
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Lyon was the only spinner played in the eight-wicket loss at Chennai and was bowling well until MS Dhoni came to the crease and scored a double hundred.</div>
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The India captain said part of the reason for his early aggression was to break the hold the spinner had on the match.</div>
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Lyon was dropped after the game as selectors opted for the left-arm orthodox spin of Xavier Doherty and brought in part-timer Glenn Maxwell.</div>
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After the spinner was axed, Arthur said: "I don't want to go into what we are working on - there are one or two technical things plus we want him to get a little bit of confidence back."</div>
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Lyon is quietly angry with the way he has been treated and a chorus of commentators chipped in to say they believe he should not have been dropped.</div>
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Lyon has 65 wickets from 20 tests. Selectors went through almost an entire team of slow bowlers since Shane Warne's retirement before settling on the former groundsman who took 5-34 (from 15 overs) on debut against Sri Lanka in 2011.</div>
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Nathan Hauritz warned Lyon against changing his technique in India, saying he had done that and it "stuffed him up".</div>
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Hauritz, the former leading spinner who claimed 63 wickets from 17 Tests at 34.98, never played for his country again after his Indian experience.</div>
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Lyon backed the performance of the other slow bowlers in the innings loss at Hyderabad - Doherty took the last three wickets to finish with match fixtures of 3-131 (46.1 overs) and Maxwell took 4-127 (26).</div>
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"I thought both Maxi on debut and Xavier bowled well and Maxi picked up four big scalps on day three," he said.</div>
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"Xavier did his role in the team, he bowled really well and pretty similar to (Ravi) Jadeja. He challenged the stumps so they bowled really well," he said.</div>
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Lyon has not given up hope of being selected again. "I have to keep putting my hand up for selection and get back in the nets. I've been fortunate enough to have a few good training sessions in the nets and I got a few things out of that. I am confident in my skill set to get the job done if I'm selected."</div>
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Lyon has a ball that goes the other way - he calls it Jeff - but did not use it Chennai.</div>
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"Jeff is here, I just didn't feel it was the right place to bring it out," he said. "If you look at the pitch in Chennai, the best part of the pitch was the middle and I was going to get more variation with my off-break, that's why Jeff didn't come out. I always work on it, so hopefully it's getting better."</div>
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The off-spinner says he bowled a delivery as good as "the Sachin ball" once before. "You are going to laugh at this, but it was the ball I bowled Chris Martin at the Gabba (2011-12)," he said. "Exactly the same thing, through the gate."</div>
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Spinner Nathan Lyon has batted away Mickey Arthur's claim he needs work

AXED off-spinner Nathan Lyon has hit back at claims from coach Mickey Arthur that his confidence is down and he needs work on technique....

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Rajasthan Royals sign four new players

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Rajasthan Royals have signed up four new players who will represent the team in the upcoming Indian Premier League, commencing in Kolkata on April 3.</div>
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Kerala's one-day captain Sachin Baby, wicketkeeper Sanju Viswanath Samson, Jharkhand medium pacer Rahul Shukla and Mumbai left arm spinner Harmeet Singh are all set to join the team's training camp soon to prepare for the sixth edition of the T20 league, said a media release in Mumbai today.</div>
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The Royals will be captained by Rahul Dravid, while Paddy Upton would be their high performance coach.</div>
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The 18-year-old Samson, who made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2011 against Vidarbha and hit two centuries this season, was recently appointed vice-captain of the Kerala team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.</div>
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A budding Under-19 Asia Cup star, Sanson attended Rajasthan Royals' selection trials, which were held on January 27, 28 and 29.</div>
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Vijay Hazare Trophy captain, Sachin Baby has been a consistent performer for Kerala in the last few years and was among the top run-scorers in the invitational Buchi Babu Tournament and Hazare Trophy.</div>
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The 24-year-old left-handed batsman made his first class debut against Andhra in 2009. Since then, Baby has appeared in 14 first class and domestic matches, and has scored 492 runs with a highest score of 104 at an average of 49.20.</div>
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Jharkhand's 22-year-old right-arm medium pacer, Rahul Shukla, who made his first class debut in 2009 against Tripura and played 11 matches, was a part of the IPL in the 2010 and 2012 seasons and took seven wickets at 15.71 from four Twenty20 games with an economy rate of 7.17.</div>
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Recruited a few months back, Mumbai's young spinner Harmeet Singh has represented India in two Under-19 ICC World Cups in 2010 and 2012 and was one of the main pillars for India, helping the team win the title with his economy rate of 3.02.</div>
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The 20-year-old slow left-arm bowler led Mumbai at the U-16 and U-19 levels before making a magnificent first-class debut in 2009, when he grabbed a match-winning seven wickets against Himachal Pradesh.</div>
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Dravid said the four talented players would add depth and variety to the IPL side.</div>
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"The Indian Premier League has been an excellent platform for encouraging the growth of fresh talent in our country. Rajasthan Royals have always been at the forefront in identifying and providing adequate opportunities to upcoming cricketers. These four confident players will provide more depth and variation to our team during IPL 2013," said the former India captain.</div>
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The Royals CEO Raghu Iyer added that he was confident that the youngsters will prove to be asset to the squad.</div>
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"As a team, we have been very passionate about nurturing and promoting young and promising talent. We believe there are many budding cricketers out there who need to be given the right platform to perform. We are thrilled to be giving four aspiring players an opportunity to play with us and are confident that their skills will be an asset to the squad," said .</div>
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Rajasthan Royals sign four new players

Rajasthan Royals have signed up four new players who will represent the team in the upcoming Indian Premier League, commencing in Kolkata ...

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Pup gives pep talk to Australian cricket team

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Australia captain Michael "Pup" Clarke has given his batsmen a pep talk in a bid to inspire them to greater deeds after two heavy defeats against India.</div>
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Australia have lost by eight wickets and an innings and 135 runs and face a daunting task to win the remaining two matches on India's turning pitches and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.</div>
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Clarke - with 268 runs at 67.00 - is Australia's only specialist batsman averaging over 30 in the series.</div>
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The skipper has confirmed he'll move from No.5 into the top four for the third Test in Mohali starting on March 14.</div>
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Coach Mickey Arthur called a training session for Wednesday on the day-five wicket in Hyderabad after India had completed their thrashing of the tourists by lunchtime on day four.</div>
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Arthur says the opportunity to have a centre-wicket training session on an authentic day-five pitch, complete with loose soil and footmarks, was too good to pass up.</div>
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"We had a chat this morning with our batsmen about forming a partnership, forming a bond, investing in the other batsmen," Arthur said on Wednesday.</div>
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"Michael was doing that today.</div>
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"When Michael talks, the other players listen because he's so experienced.</div>
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"He went out of his way today to make sure that he connected with every batsman and give them every bit of advice that he could to try to help them through their net session today to ultimately make them better players.</div>
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"The boys have just trained exceptionally well.</div>
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"(They) did a little bit of soul searching last night and the guys have come back strongly this morning so morale is very good."</div>
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Coach/selector Arthur said Australia would be silly not to consider changes to their batting line-up for the third Test, with Ed Cowan, David Warner, Phil Hughes and Shane Watson all struggling badly for runs.</div>
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Hughes, with 25 runs in two Tests, appears the player most likely to make way, with reserve batsman Usman Khawaja expected to press strongly for a recall.</div>
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The Australians will travel to Mohali on Thursday and resume training on Sunday.</div>
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Arthur said he'd told his players to look at the example set by India's Chesteshwar Pujara (204) and Murali Vijay (167) who added a record second-wicket stand of 370 in the second Test including 151 in the third session on day two.</div>
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"If you're still batting at tea-time, you're going to score a lot of runs. But you need the patience to get to tea," Arthur said.</div>
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Pup gives pep talk to Australian cricket team

Australia captain Michael "Pup" Clarke has given his batsmen a pep talk in a bid to inspire them to greater deeds after two hea...

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Was it murder or suicide in Hyderabad? Australian media asks

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<tmp style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">MELBOURNE: "Was it murder or suicide in Hyderabad yesterday?", the Australian media asked today in the wake of their team's humiliating defeat at the hands of India.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The team's capitulation to India's spinners in the second Test was described as "the Hyderabad horror show" on a "dark day" for Australian cricket.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />"It was, without doubt, a crime scene and one that Australian cricket fans should not have had to witness. The saddest thing about yesterday's capitulation was that the Australians weren't mugged - this was an act of self-harm," the 'Australian' wrote.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The paper said that none of the batsmen except captain Michael Clarke looked to take the fight into the Indian camp.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />"Suicide cults have displayed more resolve than the procession of batsmen who walked to the middle and volunteered to drink the cordial yesterday.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />"..The captain owns the two highest scores of this series by an Australian (130 and 91) and posted both of them in the critical first innings when the running needed to be made.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />"Unfortunately his pale warriors don't have the legs to go with their skipper. Some join him for a couple of kilometres here or there, but none can go the distance. Nor do any seem intent on forming a partnership without him."<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The critical write-up added that if Clarke wept when <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Ricky-Ponting" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #024d99; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Ricky Ponting</a> left the team, he must have felt a "sense of dread when <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Michael-Hussey" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #024d99; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Michael Hussey</a> followed at summer's end".<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Another newspaper 'Herald Sun' writes, "THIS is not the crisis Australian cricket was meant to have. Not with the Ashes 16 weeks away. In a dark day for Australian cricket, the Hyderabad horror show was over by lunch on day four."<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />It added that Rajiv Gandhi Stadium resembled a "cricketing abattoir" yesterday as a slew of "Australian batsmen batted like meandering Brown's cows before meeting a swift 237-minute execution".<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />A report in the Sudney Morning Herald said the time has for Clarke to take some tough decisions.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />"... after consecutive drubbings in India? It is time for Clarke to get his hands dirty. To move out of the comfort zone. Choose your cliche. Until now, we have indulged a fantasy in which Australia would find four batsmen who could hold up an end until Clarke had time to fasten the pads. Thus, Clarke's tardy arrival would be demoralising for a beleaguered opposition. That fantasy has exploded like the bowlers' foot marks at Roland Chennai.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />"Clarke has passed most reasonable tests of leadership. Two challenges remain. The captain must do more to entertain, engage and select players who are not like-minded. And he must fix bayonet, move up to three or four and lead the charge. For the religious minded, Clarke must suffer for the sins of his fellow batsmen."</tmp></div>
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Was it murder or suicide in Hyderabad? Australian media asks

MELBOURNE: "Was it murder or suicide in Hyderabad yesterday?", the Australian media asked today in the wake of their team's ...

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Oz media brands humiliating Hyderabad defeat 'death of Australian Test cricket'

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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">SYDNEY: Australian media has blasted Michael Clarke's men after their humiliating innings and 135 runs defeat against India in the Hyderabad Test, branding the rout as death of Australian Test cricket.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">According to the Herald Sun, even wet Sao biscuits have provided greater resistance than the Australian batsmen in the second Test.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Tuesday's loss is confirmation of the death of Australian Test cricket, that once great and mighty force which dominated the world for much of the 20th century but which is now so lifeless not even the cast of Weekend at Bernie's could revive it, the paper added.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The paper further said there was some conjecture after the match on the sandy strip at Chennai last week that the surface had contributed to Australia's demise, but now everyone knows the truth.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The entire team, captain Clarke excused, is just hopeless. The loss is Australia's fifth successive loss in a Test in India, and the first time India has beaten Australia by an innings or more since 2000, it reported.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Compounding the humiliation, Australia actually declared in the first innings, while Indian batting big guns </span>Virender Sehwag<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> and </span>Sachin Tendulkar<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> barely troubled the scorers. In further food for thought, none of the Indian batsmen have sleeve tattoos. Just sayin', the paper concluded.</span></div>

Oz media brands humiliating Hyderabad defeat 'death of Australian Test cricket'

SYDNEY: Australian media has blasted Michael Clarke's men after their humiliating innings and 135 runs defeat against India in the Hyde...

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M S Dhoni no longer faces VVS Laxman wrath as retired batsman showers praise

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<span style="background-color: #f5e3d1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Putting all speculations to rest about his alleged strained relationship with M S Dhoni, former India batsman VVS Laxman today said that the Jharkhand dasher is the best person to lead the Indian team.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f5e3d1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">"Dhoni is a fantastic player and I believe he is the best person to lead the Indian team," Laxman said at the launch of ESPNcricinfo's new book 'Talking Cricket' here.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f5e3d1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Laxman also sought to clear the air about the controversy that took place last year when Dhoni was not among the invitees during a dinner function at the former's residence here.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f5e3d1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">"I never knew that a dinner at my place would become a topic of national discussion. It was really disturbing to read the report in the media about that event," he said.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f5e3d1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">The Hyderabadi stylish re-iterated that the timing of his retirement -- in August last year -- was perfect.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f5e3d1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">"Initially, my aim was to beat Australia in Australia and then retire, but unfortunately we had a very poor series. But the matter (retirement) was at the back of my mind for around six months. I could have easily played against England and Australia but I thought it would be better to give a youngster a chance to play 10 Tests at home before India's South Africa tour.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f5e3d1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">"The toughest day after taking the decision to retire was the very next day. As I woke up I told my wife I have taken a brilliant decision," he said.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f5e3d1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Laxman stressed the need for youngsters to take Test cricket seriously. At the same time, he termed IPL as the best form of cricket entertainment.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f5e3d1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">"There has to be a balance and youngsters should understand that money is the byproduct of your hard work and good performance you put in for your country. There is no bigger prize than representing your country.</span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">"At same time, T20 requires a special set of skills. And I could have never imagined someone like A B de Villiers reverse-sweep a fast bowler for six over third man. In my entire career I could have never imagined of playing that shot," said Laxman.</span></div>
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M S Dhoni no longer faces VVS Laxman wrath as retired batsman showers praise

Putting all speculations to rest about his alleged strained relationship with M S Dhoni, former India batsman VVS Laxman today said that th...

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