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In the latest episode to fuel the controversial issue of throwing, Abdur Razzaq, the Bangladesh bowler, has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling action.Razzaq, the left-arm spinner, was reported by the three match umpires and by Roshan Mahanama, the match referee, after Bangladesh’s Asia Cup clash against Pakistan at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo.Razzaq, playing in only his second one-dayer, bowled his full quota of 10 overs, with the complimentary return of 2 for 36 – but not everyone was impressed. Mahanama later told both the ICC and the Bangladesh management of his decision to report Razzaq. He said: “The umpires were of the opinion that the player’s action needed to be looked at and it is in the best interests of the player that this is done at this early stage of his career.”Under the two-stage process, Razzaq, 22, will be able to continue playing international cricket, but under the eye of a specialist advisor, as well as a specialist from the ICC panel, who will constantly review his bowling action.After six weeks, the Bangladesh board will have to file a review to the ICC, which will then be shown to all the match referees and umpires.

Andre Adams has been thrown a lifeline by John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, who has said that Adams still has an international future as long as he sorts out his attitude.Adams, who turns 29 in a week, joined the New Zealand squad for the first time in 14 months yesterday after falling off the radar last season and not even being considered for New Zealand A. A perceived casual attitude, injuries and inconsistent performances meant that he was left off the list of 20 New Zealand contracted players in April.Adams was summoned this week from Lancashire league cricket with Colne, to cover for injury niggles to Daryl Tuffey (thigh), Chris Cairns (ankle) and Jacob Oram (side) ahead of Saturday’s NatWest Series final against West Indies at Lord’s.Bracewell said he was determined that Adams wouldn’t be cast to the international scrap heap, and had organised a programme with the team’s psychologist, Gilbert Enoka. “He’s a talented athlete, and we won’t give up on Andre,” Bracewell said. “He’s talented enough to play international cricket again, but you can’t drift through life on talent alone.”You’ve got to have discipline and professionalism, and a day in, day out attitude. You can’t just turn it on like a light switch.”After returning home from a limited role in New Zealand’s tri-series win in Sri Lanka last May, Adams admitted it all went downhill. “Last year was a really difficult season for me. I didn’t do the things I wanted to do, got more and more frustrated and started taking it out on team-mates and anyone else around me,” Adams told New Zealand Press Association, having brushed with officialdom several times in recent seasons after clashes with players and umpires. “I got frustrated with where I was going, which was nowhere fast.”He said he was stunned to get the call-up from Lindsay Crocker, the New Zealand manager, earlier this week, but admitted it got the pulse racing again. “You don’t realise how much you want it till you get the phone call. I’ve been trying to tell myself it’s OK, I don’t really need it, but as soon as you hear Lindsay’s voice at the end of the line, I was jumping out of my skin to get here.”

Bob Woolmer has promised a better performance by Pakistan in the second Test after they were hammered by 276 runs in the first Test in Barbados. “We will be coming back with full force in the second Test to draw the series,” Woolmer was quoted as saying by APP. “We have to be more consistent and play better cricket.”Looking back at the debacle of the first match, Woolmer said: “We were simply outplayed by West Indies. We didn’t play Test cricket well enough. Since I have been involved with the team we have not played well in Test cricket apart from couple of occasions. It was very disappointing performance.”Woolmer was particularly scathing in his criticism of the batsmen, who had a shocker in the first innings when Pakistan were bundled out for just 144. “I thought we were spineless on that particular day with our batting,” he said. “It’s something we’ll address in the next few days. It’s not like the guys are out of form. They have been playing well. It’s just that they got themselves out very stupidly. Our batsmen played too many shots square of the wicket off the new ball. There seemed [to be] no spirit, no fight at the crease which is surprising really. It is not that boys are not trying hard. It’s just [lack of] application in certain situation.”Woolmer also played down an alleged incident in the dressing-room involving Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and Inzamam-ul-Haq. The Pakistan media had widely reported that Afridi was apparently upset at being asked to open the batting by Younis, but Woolmer said that the entire incident had been blown out of proportion. “There was a minor misunderstanding and it caused a concern for a while, but it did not affect the team in the middle. It was all over the Pakistan press, who made a mountain out of a molehill,” Woolmer added. “That might have affected them psychologically, but there is no excuse really to go out there and play the way they played.”

Football heartthrob David Beckham and rugby hunk Jonny Wilkinson have been caught out this summer by England’s cricket team whose skill against Australia and good looks have won a bevy of female fans. The whole country has gone cricket mad over the past few weeks as England battles to beat Australia in an Ashes series for the first time in nearly 20 years, with a nail biting climax set for the final Test.For a sport that is traditionally worshipped by men, cricket is also attracting more women thanks to the success of the England team and the appeal of certain members, such as charming allrounder Andrew Flintoff, chiselled fast bowler Simon Jones and cheeky blue-haired batsman Kevin Pietersen. “The players look good and they are charismatic, which is partly why the game is spreading to new audiences,” said Clare Connor, captain of the England women’s cricket team, which won its own Ashes against Australia last month. “Everyone male or female gets interested as soon as the team starts doing really well against the top side which is Australia,” she told AFP.England will go into the final Test 2-1 up and needing just a draw to win the overall contest – a feat that will turn the squad into national heroes. “Everyone is talking about cricket,” said a spokesman for the England and Wales Cricket Board. “The fact that the team is potentially in line for an Ashes victory is something that has swept the country.” Asked how the players were handling their heightened fame and adoring throng of female fans, the spokesman said: “They are coping very well. Essentially they don’t have time to do much else other than concentrate on the job at hand – and that is trying to win the Ashes.”Despite their gruelling training regime, some of the team have found time to pose for photo-shoots and give interviews. Their pictures dominate the sports sections of newspapers and also appear increasingly in glossy men’s magazines. They even feature as pin-ups inside women’s monthly magazines. Cosmopolitan magazine sent female hearts racing when it published a naked, smouldering photograph of 26-year-old Jones, who will miss the last Test with an ankle injury, in its August edition. “We were the first people to identify the sexual appeal of the England cricket players,” said a spokeswoman for the magazine. “Suddenly cricket is sexy for young women,” she told AFP, noting that the picture of Jones – which is part of a monthly feature to raise awareness about male cancer – triggered a flood of emails and phone calls from readers wanting a poster-size copy of the tanned, muscle-bound cricketer.The Barmy Army, a colourful group of cricket fans who typically wear fancy dress and sing funny songs at matches, said they welcomed the influx of women who were travelling to the games or watching them on television. “I think the girls like coming along now that there are a few sex symbols on the pitch,” said Paul Burnham, one of the founders of the fan club. “The more girls who get into it the better for cricket,” he said, adding: “The more girls who like cricket, the more times their husbands and boyfriends will be allowed to play or go and watch it.”Highlighting the sport’s popularity, Channel 4, which broadcasts live coverage of cricket in Britain, enjoyed a 21% share of the country’s television audience on August 28 when England clinched the fourth Test at Trent Bridge. The figure was more than double its normal rating and higher than the other stations – ironically it comes in the last season that terrestrial television broadcasts home test matches after the ECB judged it better to move it to BSkyB who offered a lot more money.In addition, one supermarket chain is selling more replica England cricket shirts than football shirts, according to the series sponsor. England captain Michael Vaughan said last month: “We can’t go anywhere without people wishing us luck. It’s great to know that the nation will be right behind us when we take on the Aussies.”With the football and rugby seasons up and running, however, the sponsor’s spokeswoman Sue Newton said it would be naive to think cricket’s new-found popularity will last throughout the winter months when the sport is not played in Britain. At the same time, she hoped enough momentum had been generated to see cricket once more in the headlines when the new season starts next year. As for the female fans, their passion for the game – and in particular the players – shows no sign of fading. “I like the appeal of the characters and personalities who are playing, and the fact that they are doing well,” said Hannah Mervis, 25, a policewoman who lives in a flat overlooking The Oval.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

In the end, the scorebooks will record that on April 13, 2006 Australia beat Bangladesh by three wickets at Fatullah. But that does little to showcase a thrilling match in which Bangladesh were the dominant side for the better part. On a frenetic fifth afternoon – a day this match was not even supposed to go into – Ricky Ponting’s awesome 118 not out sealed a great win but the battle was much, much harder than it seemed.Those who have followed this match knew that another classic twist was always around the corner as Ponting marched into the nineties. Brett Lee was dimissed for a vital 29 by Mashrafe Mortaza – rewarding his captain’s decision to take the new ball – and then Ponting was given a slice of luck that had Bangladesh going into lunch shaking their heads. Shahadat Hossain banged one short, Ponting swiveled into his favourite shot, the ball spiralled high to deep backward square leg where Mortaza dived and dropped a swirling chance. A push through covers for four off Mortaza brought Ponting his sensational hundred and the bowler walked back to his mark knowing that he had dropped the match.A flurry of boundaries after the interval took Australia to within three runs of victory and all but sealed the affair, but still Bangladesh refused to cave in. Shahadat sent down three bouncers in a row to Ponting, one of which struck him square in the helmet. Bowler stared down batsman, words were exchanged, and in the end the match concluded in the same in-your-face aggression that had played out for four days.Ponting’s effort must go down as another classic. Australia, who haven’t lost a Test since surrendering the Ashes, were in danger of falling prey to one of the biggest upsets in Test history if not for Ponting’s most meaningful hundred this year. As Mohammad Rafique struck gold with the wickets of Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne first thing in the morning, Ponting looked on, memories of Old Trafford fresh in his head. When push comes to shove Ponting has always been the aggressor, and today was no exception.The battle of the morning was always going to be him versus Rafique, and Ponting won it hands down. Rafique tossed it up but Ponting was right there, feet and bat firmly in defiance. When he used the quicker one, Ponting was back and across. When he erred in line and dropped it short, Ponting pulled him for four or cut past point. He had his moments – Rafique got one to spit and rip past his forward prod and a leave to Enamul Haque came agonisingly close to off – but otherwise Ponting was supreme in his assessment of the situation. Most importantly, he did not let the situation get on top of him. Singles were stolen wide of cover and short of square leg and his overall rotation of the strike with a confident Lee was worthy of a battle-hardened veteran.

Ponting was quick to acknowledge the scare Bangladesh had given them. “They’ve played very, very well. For them to score 355 on the first day was a terrific effort,” he said at the end of the match. “They certainly have come a long way. A few of us had to put our hand up in the second innings and make sure the job was done. lt was just nice to be there at the end of the day.” Adam Gilchrist’s brilliant 144 earned him the Man-of-the-Match award and it was this effort that allowed Australia to crawl their way back into the match.Bangladesh have only ever won one Test match in their six years as a Test nation and that was against a depleted Zimbabwe side, and things almost changed here. Habibul Bashar and his band of would-be giant-killers didn’t scale Mount Improbable, but the view from base camp must have looked very promising. Bangladesh can take some positives from this match – Shahriar Nafees’s hundred, Bashar’s own hand with the bat, and Rafique’s superior effort with ball. In both Australian innings Rafique was the key, taunting the mighty with his loop and turn and getting them to dance to his tune. Today, as Australia attempted their bid for another win, he put the lethal faster one to use, dismissing Gilchrist and Warne, he checked Lee numerous times and forced him to hustle onto the back foot.Bangladesh also have problems to address – the fielding, the running between wickets, and an appalling second-innings record – but now they will believe that they can compete with the best in the business. Mohammad Ashraful played but a little role in this Test but can lay claim to having sown its seeds. For it was a balmy summer’s afternoon last year at Sophia Gardens when he defied Australia and allowed all of Bangladesh to dream. With a little more of the brilliance they showed in bursts here, they wont have to dream anymore.How they were outAustralia
Adam Gilchrist b Rafique 12 (225 for 5)
Shane Warne lbw b Rafique 5 (231 for 6)
Brett Lee c Mashud b Mortaza 29 (277 for 7)

Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag have been appointed as captains of the India Senior, India A and India B sides to contest in the Challenger Trophy one-day tournament to be held in Mumbai from February 7. All teams will play each other once before the best two contest in the final at the Wankhede Stadium on February 10.Barring Sachin Tendulkar, all the first-choice Indian players will feature in the tournament. Lakshmipathy Balaji will return to competitive cricket after a five-month layoff while Ashish Nehra will also be returning after a break.MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel were picked as the three wicketkeepers and each team also includes youngsters who have shone this season. Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu and Rudra Pratap Singh – all of whom played in the Under-19 World Cup last year – will get a chance to make an impression.When India Senior take on India A, there is a good chance of Irfan Pathan bowling to his elder brother Yusuf, also an allrounder, who gets a chance after a string of impressive performances in the Ranji Trophy this year.India Senior
1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 MS Dhoni (wk), 3 Yuvraj Singh, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Venugopal Rao, 6 Niraj Patel, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Lakshmipathy Balaji, 10 Gagandeep Singh, 11 Rajesh Pawar, 12 Shikhar Dhawan.India A
1 Rahul Dravid (capt), 2 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 3 Satyajit Parab, 4 Dheeraj Jadhav, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Dinesh Mongia, 7 Murali Kartik, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Rudra Pratap Singh, 11 Yusuf Pathan, 12 Robin Uthappa.India B
1 Virender Sehwag (capt), 2 Parthiv Patel (wk), 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 VVS Laxman, 5 Sridharan Sriram, 6 Rohan Gavaskar, 7 Ramesh Powar, 8 Joginder Sharma, 9 Ashish Nehra, 10 Shib Shankar Paul, 11 Amit Bhandari, 12 Ambati Rayudu.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Although they comfortably lost by five wickets, Zimbabwe’s young team will take great heart from their performance against the West Indies in the first of seven one-dayers at Antigua. On a two-paced pitch, chasing just 152, the West Indies made hard work of their task and rarely looked in complete control of proceedings.That they were made to struggle was down to Zimbabwe’s young bowlers’ control, and the energetic performance of their fielders. As early as the sixth ball of their innings, the West Indies lost their opener, Runako Morton, who carelessly drove one from Ed Rainsford straight to second slip. It was just the start they needed.Rainsford bowled intelligently. Using his height to good effect, he generated bounce – on what was a difficult pitch to bat all day – causing Chris Gayle several anxious moments. However, his and his team-mates’ inexperience told. The left-hand right-hand combination of Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan upset their lines, prompting Sarwan to punish Rainsford for several fours.After putting on 37 with a subdued Gayle, from 10 turgid overs, Sarwan was caught inches short going for a quick single; the running was lazy, if a little complacent, and handed Zimbabwe a fortunate wicket. Gayle batted with curious restraint and only briefly did he threaten to open his broad shoulders.He looked to be regaining his touch and power when he planted Prosper Utseya, the off-spinner, straight on top of the Richie Richardson stand at long-on – a remarkable one-handed shot of immense power. It appeared he and Denesh Ramdin, promoted ahead of his captain Brian Lara, were easing West Indies to victory until Gayle attempted to hit Utseya beyond the same stand and into the sea. Utseya, not afraid to toss it up, cleverly beat him in the air and had him caught at square leg.Worse was to come. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was relieved of the captaincy last week, continued his poor run of form when he tried to cut Utseya. Soon after, the same bowler should have had Lara caught at deep midwicket when, inexplicably, he tried to pull one wide of the off-stump. The three fielders converged in a potentially disastrous triangle, but the ball somehow evaded each of them. That blemish aside, Lara batted with his customary brilliance to late-cut the spinners and nudge singles with ease.At the other end, Ramdin – a compact, neat and correct batsman – grew in confidence until, with just 31 runs needed to win, he decided to late-cut a half-volley and was bowled by Utseya. It was a dreadful, lackadaisical shot.If their batting was lacklustre, the West Indies’ bowling performance was similarly uninspiring. Whereas Zimbabwe looked sharp in the field, the hosts lacked intent and spark. After removing Piet Rinke in the second over, the opening bowlers – Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor – lost their ferocity and didn’t look like a side determined to take 10 wickets.Terry Duffin, the Zimbabwe captain, then batted diligently for his 26, and put on a vital 64 runs with Justice Chibhabha, who made a very impressive 55. Though the pair batted well, rarely did they break into a trot which said more of their inexperience than anything else.Their wickets marked a dramatic collapse in which Zimbabwe lost 7 for 30 as the West Indies bowlers, Gayle and Dwayne Bravo in particular, found their lengths. But it was the batsmen’s inexperience that told. Panic set in during the final ten overs, and though they reached the milestone of 150, it was never likely to trouble the West Indies.Lara, clearly fed up with the injudicious strokeplay of his team-mates, clobbered a couple of late boundaries, including a huge six to win the game. It was a disappointing effort from the home side, and an encouraging one from Zimbabwe who can take heart not only for batting out fifty overs, but for making the West Indies work hard to reach what was a paltry total.

How they were out

West IndiesRunako Morton c Higgins b Rainsford 0 (1 for 1)
Ramnaresh Sarwan run-out (Mahwire) 14 (38 for 2)
Chris Gayle b Utseya (71 for 3)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Taylor b Utseya (77 for 4)
Denesh Ramdin b Utseya 37 (121 for 5)
ZimbabwePiet Rinke c Smith b Taylor 1 (5 for 1)
Terry Duffin c Ramdin b Smith 26 (69 for 2)
Justice Chibhabha c Edwards b Smith 55 (105 for 3)
Elton Chigumbura run out (Chanderpaul) 8 (121 for 4)
Brendan Taylor c Bradshaw b Bravo 25 (126 for 5)
Keith Dabengwa c Chanderpaul b Bravo 5 (135 for 6)
Greg Strydom c Bravo b Gayle 8 (142 for 7)
Ryan Higgins c Bravo b Gayle 0 (142 for 8)
Blessing Mahwire c Sarwan b Taylor 6 (150 for 9

Scorecard

A five-wicket haul by West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor followed by a merciless assault by Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels helped Jamaica decimate Bermuda by nine wickets in their Stanford 20/20 match in Antigua. The West Indies trio proved too hot to handle for the World Cup qualifiers as Jamaica eased to their target of 75, getting there in only the sixth over.Taylor finished with fantastic figures of 5 for 10, which included a three-wicket burst in the space of four balls in his third over. Jermaine Lawson too kept the batsmen under check at the other end with some incisive seam bowling as Bermuda were tottering at 26 for 4. Oliver Pitcher and Delyone Borden made a recovery of sorts, adding 30 before another burst of wickets let them down. Pitcher top-scored with 19 as his side were bowled out for 74.Bermuda caused some early jitters, as George O’Brien bowled Xavier Marshall for a duck. Samuels earned a reprieve, skying his first delivery to extra cover, only to be dropped by Pitcher. From then on, it was Jamaica all the way with Gayle smashing four sixes in his unbeaten 40 off 22 balls. Samuels smacked five boundaries in his unbeaten 25, as Jamaica booked their place in the quarter finals.
ScorecardTravis Dowlin, the Guyana opener, hit an unbeaten half-century to guide his side to an easy eight-wicket win over Montserrat in their Stanford 20/20 match in Antigua. Dowlin and Narsingh Deonarine (31 not out) reached the target of 116 with 21 balls to spare in front of a capacity crowd which had a large Guyanese contingent.Choosing to bat first, Montserrat struggled to force the pace against the slow bowlers, led by former West Indies spinners Mahendra Nagamootoo and Neil McGarrell. Montserrat had an encouraging start, with their openers Nesta Piper and McPhearson Meade adding 46, picking runs of the seamers. The spinners then came into play, sharing five wickets between them to restrict Montserrat to 115 for 8. Guyana made a steady reply, with Dowlin opting to graft it out instead of going for the big shots.Guyana will now meet Jamaica in the quarter-finals next Friday.

As had been expected for some time now, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were finally ruled out of Pakistan’s World Cup squad, though the decision, farcically, came minutes before the team’s departure to the Caribbean. Asif is down with an elbow injury while Shoaib is nursing a crocked knee.”We have received their medical assessments and the players are physically unfit. Therefore we felt we shouldn’t take them for such a big tournament,” PJ Mir, the team spokesman told Cricinfo. “Their injuries will take time to heal so after selectors consulted Inzamam-ul-Haq the decision has been taken to not take them.”The pair will be replaced by fast bowler Mohammad Sami and allrounder Yasir Arafat. “Sami and Arafat will join the team in the Caribbean in a few days but we have to get clearance for them from the ICC’s technical committee. Their names were decided by the captain and the selection committee together,” Mir added, mindful perhaps of reports today speculating that the decision to name Azhar Mahmood as a replacement for Abdul Razzaq overlooked the selection committee altogether.Though injuries remain the official reasons for their withdrawal it is understood that continuing doping-related concerns clinched the issue. The pair tested positive last year for Nandrolone in internal dope tests conducted just before the Champions Trophy got underway, but their bans were eventually overturned, much to the chagrin of the global cricket community.Fears that traces of Nandrolone remained at unacceptably high levels in their bodies were enhanced as the pair, for varying reasons, avoided undergoing another PCB-conducted dope test, held last week for all members of Pakistan’s World Cup squad. Only last week, an official close to the team had told Cricinfo that neither of the injuries were serious enough and if the pair didn’t go, it would only be “over concerns with the doping issue”, a thought confirmed once again today by an official. There was a threat that if the two tested positive again, either in internal tests or those conducted by the ICC, they would face stringent bans.Shortly before the pair were ruled out, the ICC confirmed they would be target-testing players at the World Cup and Malcolm Speed made specific reference to Shoaib and Asif. “Both Shoaib Ahktar and Mohammed Asif have played for Pakistan over the past few months despite testing positive for prohibited substances last year,” he said.”That is a fact neither player has disputed and it is also a fact that has caused the game a high level of embarrassment as a result. We want to make absolutely sure that all players who take part in the World Cup do so on the basis that they are free from banned substances.”From an ICC perspective, having the option to target test as well as the already-scheduled tests in place means that if a player does have anything in his system then there is a very strong possibility he will be caught out.”Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, however, stressed that Shoaib and Asif’s exclusions were due to injuries and unrelated to the doping issue. “The truth is both of them are injured and they may take even months to make a full recovery,” Ashraf told PTI.”The board’s medical panel will soon check them out but the chances of them recovering quickly from their injuries is very bleak.”Whatever the reasons for their exclusion, the impact of their absence cannot be underestimated; Asif is one of cricket’s most exciting young bowlers and Shoaib one of the game’s fastest. Inzamam acknowledged to reporters that losing the two, and the uncertainty surrounding them, was not the best way of preparing for the tournament. “It is not an ideal situation for us. We are going there under intense pressure. But in the past we have played in such situations with tremendous team spirit and we can achieve best results even without our key players.”Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, preferred to draw strength from good results achieved over the last two years without the two bowlers. “It is a big blow and I feel sorry for both these players. They are missing a mega event.”But last year we did well without Shoaib in Sri Lanka and the year before in India without either of the two bowlers,” he added. “I want to remind the players of those two series and of playing with the same unity and spirit we showed on those tours. If we can replicate that, we can still do well. We also now know at least where we stand and exactly what players we have available.”It now means that Pakistan go into cricket’s premier event without three key components of their team, after Razzaq was also ruled out of the tournament this week with a serious knee injury. Additionally, they will be without allrounder Shahid Afridi – owing to a four-match ban imposed by the ICC for misconduct in South Africa – for their first two games, including a tough opening game on March 13 against the hosts. Preparations for big series or tournaments in Pakistan are often blighted but few in recent memory have been as ravaged by injuries, controversies and scandals as this.

Anil Kumble, India’s leading Test wicket-taker, will soon face a rare milestone – his 100th Test. He is set to don the Indian cap for the 99th time when the second Test against Sri Lanka begins at Delhi on Saturday.A smile, a rare expression of happiness, broke through the usually stony facade of Kumble at the mention of the milestone. “It is a great feeling. To think back, I started in 1990 and to have got this far,” he said. “It definitely helps your confidence. It shows your sustained kind of performance at international level. It acts as a motivational factor.”Of current Indian cricketers, only Sachin Tendulkar with 124 Tests has played more matches than Kumble. Tendulkar himself will be equalling Sunil Gavaskar’s tally of 125 matches. Kapil Dev, the former allrounder, has the most matches for an Indian, 131.When he steps on to the Feroze Shah Kotla ground this weekend, Kumble will be on par with Mohammad Azharuddin, his former captain, who played in 99 Tests. “The team knows what I am capable of,” he added during a team practice at the Palam ground on Thursday. “I have the respect of the team and the opponents as well, and the adulation I have received has been tremendous. So I have no qualms.”Kumble typically played down any suggestion of disappointment at having remained backstage throughout his long career. “I think it has got to do with the media. As a cricketer I have to perform, I have a job to do,” said Kumble, 35. “I look at it as a profession and try to do best what I can. People writing and speaking about it is not in my control.”Kumble will have happy memories of this ground. The Kotla is the venue where he became only the second bowler in the history of the game to claim all 10 wickets in an innings, against Pakistan in 1999. However, Kumble politely dismissed any talk about attempting a repeat of the feat over the next five days. “It is the people who have been talking about the 10 wickets. Not myself or the team. As a cricketer we know it happens once in a lifetime,” he said. “I don’t think I have gone with that in my mind into any match. It is a good feeling, I don’t deny that. And I know that the expectations are high and hopefully I will live upto that.”Kumble also said that a combination of factors have made things difficult for the slow bowler in modern cricket. “No matter what you do, there is lot of pressure at the international level. Even before you bowl the first ball, a debutant knows what you are going to do. He has studied your leg spinner, top spinner, what angle you are going to bowl. There is so much one gets to know from the media. The challenge is to adapt.”He added that it was not correct to say the present lot were better than those of the past merely because they have pushed the benchmark higher. “I don’t think you can judge different eras. There have been better performers before. What you have to look at is the standards in that scenario, we have to judge them on the standards of that era.” Kumble felt that whatever change that Indian cricket has gone through in recent times was for the good.”You need different ideas and different people if you need to change. Change has been good. Having been there for 15 years, whatever happens, I have learnt to take it positively and focus on improving my game and better my performance.”Commenting on the rain-marred first Test at Chennai that lasted less than a day and a half, Kumble said Sri Lanka deserved credit for the way they played on the last day. He did add, however, that it was not a true indicator of the strengths of the two teams. “You should not read too much into what happened in Chennai. The groundsmen did a great job to get the match started. The whole city was under water, and to have a match in that situation takes a lot of hard work.”