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Brendon McCullum will play the role of skipper for New Zealand in the ODI, T20 series against Zimbabwe. New Zealand ODI squad : Brendon McCullum (capt), Dean Brownlie, Michael Bates, Andrew Ellis, Doug Bracewell, Tom Latham, Nathan McCullum, Martin Guptill, Tarun Nethula, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Kane Williamson and Rob Nicol. New Zealand T20 squad : Brendon McCullum (capt), Doug Bracewell, Michael Bates, Colin de Grandhomme, James Franklin, Dean Brownlie, Nathan McCullum, Martin Guptill, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Ronnie Hira, Rob Nicol, Kane Williamson and Tim Southee.

Australian batsman Ricky Ponting face is used without his permission in a mobile phone application by an Indian software company AHI Infotech . For this Ricky Ponting is mulling to sue AHI Infotech an Indian software company. According to the report, Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting was not aware of the fact that 99c iPhone app " Face Guess Cricket " was using his image. His manager James Henderson said to Herald Sun . " We weren't aware of it and we'll be issuing action against them straight away for the use of his intellectual property. "

Australian fast bowler Dirk Nannes will return to Surrey at this season. Nannes will join Murali Kartik at The Oval. Surrey director Chris Adam s said " As we saw last season in the shortest form of the game, Dirk is still one of the most consistently dangerous and economical bowlers on the world scene, He did a fantastic job for us and I can speak for the whole club when I say we are delighted to welcome him back for another spell. "

Yuvraj Singh has been ruled out of cricket for six months due to the treatment of his lung tumour. He would not be available to play the Asia Cup and the IPL season 5 starts on April 4.

Graham Ford from South Africa has been announced Sri Lanka's new coach Recently Ford announced his quitting coach position for the Dolphins (Durban-based franchise). Ford will replace Geoff Marsh after losing the entire series in South Africa .

David Miller has been retained by Kings XI Punjab with a two-year contrac in the upcoming season IPL . Earlier in the transfer window, Dinesh Karthik has been sold by Kings XI to the Mumbai Indians .

Brad Hogg has been included in the Australian Twenty20 squad for the two matches against India. In 2008, Hogg was retired from international cricket. George Bailey will lead the Australian T20 team. Australia squad : George Bailey (captain), Travis Birt, David Warner, James Faulkner, Xavier Doherty, Dan Christian, David Hussey, Aaron Finch, Brett Lee, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Hogg, Clint McKay, Shaun Marsh and Matthew Wade.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has decided to resigned as a captain in all three forms of cricket after the tour of South Africa.   Mahela Jayawardene will lead the side as a captain for the upcoming triangular ODI series in Australia featuring India . Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a statement, " Dilshan has resigned as captain in all three formats of the game " Squad for Australia tri-series featuring India : Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Dinesh Chandimal, Kumar Sangakkara, Thisira Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Sachithra Senanayake, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath, Chamara Welegedara, Nuwan Kulasekera and Dhammika Prasad.

Former Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly and Former Fast Bowler of South Africa Allan Donald have been included to the Pune Warriors as a coaching staff in the fifth season of the IPL . Ganguly will be the mentor and a player, while Donald will be the bowling coach for Pune Warriors. Ganguly has been retained for $400,000 by the franchise.

Royal Challengers Bangalore has retained aggressive batsman Chris Gayle for the next two seasons of IPL . Royal Challengers Bangalore sports private limited Director Sidhartha Mallya said in a statement " We are delighted to make Chris Gayle a permanent member of our IPL squad. We are confident that with players like him in our side, we will take the extra step this season, and win our maiden IPL title. " Gayle said, " I wanted to continue playing for them, and it turned out that they were keen to retain my services. "

Shahid Afridi has been sold to the Dhaka franchise for $700,000 in an auction for Bangladesh Premier League (BPL)2012 tournament. But batsman Herschelle Gibbs and spinner Monty Panesar failed to attract bids in current BPL auction. There is a total of 111 overseas players and 80 local cricketers with a maximum budget of $2million. Chris Gayle for Barisal in $551,000 Marlon Samuels for Rajshahi in $360,000 Kieron Pollard for Dhaka franchises in $300,000 Shoaib Malik for Chittagong in $150,000 Dwayne Bravo for Chittagong in $150,000 Brad Hodge for Barisal in $140,000 Sanath Jayasuriya for Rajshahi in $110,000 Muttiah Muralitharan for Chittagong in $100,000 Niall O'Brien for Khulna in $80,000 Nasir Hossain for Khulna in $200,000 There are no Indian players in the auction for Bangladesh Premier League. Bangladesh international players Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Alok Kapali and Shahriar Nafees had been choosen as a

Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan both have been selected in 17-member squad for the ODI triangular series in Australia. MS Dhoni will lead the Indian squad in the ODI triangular series against Sri Lanka and Australia. Indian squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Praveen Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Zaheer Khan, Rahul Sharma, R Vinay Kumar and R Ashwin.

Left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha will play for Mumbai Indians in the upcoming season of Indian Premier League (IPL5). Earlier he was the part of Deccan chargers from Hyderabad. Ojha so far in 56 matches took 62 wickets with an average of 22.19 in IPL.

Zimbabwe 's Leg-spinner Graeme Cremer , Matsikenyeri and bowler Brian Vitori has been selected for the squad to tour New Zealand starting from January 26 at Napier. Match Details and Series: Thu Jan 26 - Mon Jan 30 1st Test - New Zealand vs Zimbabwe (Napier) Fri Feb 3 1st ODI - New Zealand vs Zimbabwe (Dunedin) Mon Feb 6 2nd ODI - New Zealand vs Zimbabwe (Whangarei) Feb 9 3rd ODI - New Zealand vs Zimbabwe (Napier) Feb 12 1st T20 - New Zealand vs Zimbabwe (Auckland) Feb 14 2nd T20 - New Zealand vs Zimbabwe (Hamilton) Zimbabwe squad : Brendan Taylor (Capt.), Tinotenda Mawoyo, Malcolm Waller, Elton Chigumbura, Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu , Regis Chakabva, Ray Price, Foster Mutizwa, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Keegan Meth, Graeme Cremer, Prosper Utseya, Brian Vitori, Shingi Masakadza and Kyle Jarvis.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hinted on Thursday at the press conference that he might say goodbye to test cricket by the end of 2013. World champion team captain Dhoni said " If I want to see the 2015 World Cup, I’ll have to retire from one of the formats. There’s still time as I am just 30. We will see it by 2013. " In the last few days, Dhoni's captaincy in Tests has been under severe criticism after lost 6 test matches in abroad continuosly.

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson struggling with his big toe of left foot injury believes that still five to six years of cricket is left in him and he wants to be a part of IPL to regain his place in Test cricket. Mitchell has been ruled out of the forthcoming series against West Indies in March-April. Mitchell said on Fox Sports " I'm only 30 years of age, I'm definitely confident of my ability, I've got five or six years left in me so that's my goal. " Johnson played 47 matches in his career and has taken 190 wickets so far.

Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald will now play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming season of IPL. During the IPL trading window Andrew has moved from Delhi Daredevils to RCB. The BCCI said in a statement, Australia's ALLROUNDER Andrew McDonald now went into the Royal Challengers Bangalore. McDonald is the member of the Melbourne Renegades in Big Bash League .

Javagal Srinath , Former Indian fast bowler has been appointed as the match referee for the Tests series between England and Pakistan in UAE. Umpires for the entire series: 1st Test: Bruce Oxenford and Billy Bowden 2nd Test: Bruce Oxenford and Steve Davis 3rd Test: Steve Davis and Simon Taufel 1st ODI: Ahsan Raza and Simon Taufel 2nd ODI: Kumar Dharmasena and Aleem Dar 3rd ODI: Simon Taufel and Aleem Dar 4th ODI: Zameer Haider and Kumar Dharmasena 1st T20: Sozaib Raza and Ahsan Raza 2nd T20: Zameer Haider and Ahsan Raza 3rd T20: Sozaib Raza and Zameer Haider

England paceman Tim Bresnan has been ruled out for the forthcoming Pakistan series due to injury of soreness in the elbow

Kevin Pietersen has been moved to Delhi Daredevils from Deccan Chargers in the upcoming season of 2012 IPL . In 2009, Pietersen was being a part of and captained Royal Challengers Bangalore for a few games. Pietersen, said: " I am looking forward to a wonderful time with the Delhi Daredevils," Pietersen said. "It will be a great experience to be playing in the same squad as Sehwag ."

Test cricket series running between India and Australia so far the one-sided view even though Mahendra Singh Dhoni captain of India lost the first two matches but according to the latest ratings audience are more than ashes series. In TV this series is been proving a hit more than Ashes . Compared to last year's ashes this year television viewership has been up to 30 percent.

Thursday, January 5, 2012, Sydney India's middle order batsmen Virat Kohli have been fined 50 percent of his match fees on the second day of test at the SCG for showing his middle finger to the audience. Kohli pleaded guilty after the match and posted on Twitter, " i agree cricketers dont have to retaliate. what when the crowd says the worst things about your mother and sister. the worst ive heard "

Sri Lanka has announced their squad in which Lasith Malinga , Nuwan Kulasekara , Kosala Kulasekara and Upul Tharanga has been selected in a 15-man squad for the upcoming five-match one-day series against South Africa starting from January 11 in Paarl. Sri Lanka squad : Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Upul Tharanga, Angelo Mathews, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Kosala Kulasekara, Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dhammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne and Dilhara Fernando.

Legend fast bowler Glenn McGrath has predicted Australia whitewashing India 4-0 in the current test cricket series, because he feels home team's fast bowling attack, especially the young and dynamic fast bowler James Pattinson is the key to win. McGrath said " Yesterday, I said 3-0 but I stuffed up because I thought there were only three Tests. But definitely 4-0 now " In test career, McGrath took 563 wickets in 124 Tests.

Rahul dravid is the only Indian cricketer, who found a place in ESPN cricinfo Test-11 team of the year 2011, while five players, including Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni were chosen for the ESPN cricinfo ODI XI. Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar could not find a place in any team. England players dominated ESPN cricinfo Test XI, because there are six players of England in the squad featuring Alastair Cook, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Kevin Pietersen , Ian Bell and Matt Prior . Other players are two players from Pakistan, opener batsman Mohammed Hafeez and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal. Darren Bravo from West Indies and fast bowler Dale Steyn from South Africa. In the ODI X1, Virender Sehwag has been chosen as opener who recently scored the highest individual 219 runs against the West Indies. Test XI Squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Alastair Cook, Rahul Dravid, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Darren Bravo, Saeed Ajmal, Stuart Broad, Dale Steyn and James Anderson ODI XI Squa

South Africa announced their squad for the ODI series against Sri Lanka starting from 11 January in Paarl, with the final match will be played in Johannesburg. Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher has been dropped out from the squad. AB de Villiers will lead the team as a wicketkeeper-batsman. South Africa squad : AB de Villiers (captain), Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Johan Botha, Dean Elgar, Rory Kleinveldt, Jacques Kallis, Francois du Plessis, Wayne Parnell, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Robin Peterson and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.