Top 5 Most Memorable Moments of T20 World Cup

Whenever a sporting extravaganza takes place, people will remember that particular tournament because of some memorable moments that were close to their heart. The World T20 too had some memorable moments in its history right from Gayle’s ton in the very first match way back in 2007 to the West Indians’ celebration in the 2012 World T20 finals. Here, we bring you the top five memorable moments from the World T20.

1. Yuvraj Singh Six Sixes, 2007
The year 2007 saw South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs scoring six sixes off Netherlands’ Dan Van Bunge in a Group A game in the 2007 cricket World Cup. Few months later, the world witnessed yet another instance of 36 runs being scored in a single over. This time, it was in Durban and the crowd at the Kingsmead was witnessing the greatest masterpiece from a most under-rated batsman till that night. After choosing to bat against England in the super-eight of the 2007 World T20, India were cruising along with a run-rate of over 9 per over at the end of 16th over. Then it was the turn of India’s dashing southpaw Yuvraj Singh to take charge. After scoring 14 runs off his first six balls, Yuvraj chose Pacer Stuart Broad to deliver the knockout punch. Yuvraj, spurred by comments from Andrew Flintoff before the penultimate over, launched the first ball of the 19th over bowled by Broad to the cow corner, the second ball was disappeared over backward square leg, the third and fourth rocketed over extra cover and point respectively with the fifth flew over midwicket, and the sixth six landed in the stands at long-on. Yuvraj's 12-ball fifty is a record in all forms of international cricket.

2. Chris Gayle’s century in the inaugural match, 2007

Well begun is half done. This is what the inaugural edition of World T20 saw a way back in 2007. On the opening night, West Indies faced South Africa and straight away West Indian opener began with a boundary off the very first ball of the tournament. He accounted for more as Chris Gayle set the World T20 on fire by scoring a swashbuckling ton against South Africa at the Wanderers, Johannesburg in the inaugural match of 2007 World T20. With that ton against Proteas, Gayle also became the first man to score a hundred in International T20’s. It was a devastating innings from the Gayle Storm as he went for a leather hunt against the South African bowlers from the word go that made even the crowd to go for cover. He scored a record ten sixes in his 57 ball 117 that propelled the Windies to a challenging 205. Gayle was particularly severe on veteran Shaun Pollock as he made the former South African skipper look like a net bowler as the big man from Jamaica plundered a massive 44 runs off 14 balls from that particular bowler.

3. West Indies celebration, 2012

It is so hard for a country which dominated the game in the early years and lost its way in the transition period and to make a comeback. West Indies went through that tough period. The last time they played a World Cup final was way back in 1979 and they even went on to win the tournament. After 33 long years, West Indies made their way to the finals of the 2012 World T20 that took place in Sri Lanka. They were the most loved team by the people in the tournament courtesy their way of celebration. Their opener Chris Gayle not only led the team to the finals but also was handed the responsibility of being the leader of the pack when it comes to celebration. Gayle single-handedly made the Korean Song “Gangnam Style” sung by Psy a blockbuster hit by demonstration the step from that song for any celebrations. The calypso men from Caribbean saved their best for the finals. After winning the finals against the home side Sri Lanka, the entire team aligned themselves and started celebrating with the famous dance move. Their wicket keeper Denesh Ramdin started cartwheeling and the players were celebrating like anything to the Gangnam Style song which was played at the stadium. And when the team posed for a photograph with the trophy, Gayle came out and started taking some push-ups in front of the team which was cheered by his teammates from behind. Simply saying, Windies won the tournament and made the entire World happy with their celebration.

4. Mohammad Aamir’s over, 2010

When Australia faced Pakistan in a Group A game in St. Lucia, there was something bizarre took place. After winning the toss, Australia were cruising at 191 for 5 in the first 19 overs with some gritty knocks from Shane Watson, David Hussey and David Warner. It was when Pakistan’s young pacer Mohammad Aamir came into bowl with a figures of 3-0-23-0. As Aamir completed the last over, it went into the history books. For the first time in the history of cricket, as many as five wickets fell in a single over. All of a sudden, Aussies were collapsed from 191 for 5 to 191 all out in a matter of 6 balls. Out of the five wickets, Aamir accounted for 3 wickets and 2 batsmen ran themselves out searching for a bye. This is what happened in the 20th over bowled by Aamir.
19.1: Aamir to Brad Haddin, out. Haddin c Sami b Aamir 1(2)
19.2: Aamir to Mitchell Johnson, Out. Johnson b Aamir 0(1)
19.3: Aamir to Steve Smith, Out. Mike Hussey runout (Kamran) 17(19)
19.4: Aamir to Dirk Nannes, Out. Smith runout (Kamran) 0(1)
19.5: Aamir to Shaun Tait, 0 runs
19.6: Aamir to Shaun Tait, Out. Tait b Aamir 0(1)

5. The Only Bowl-Out, 2007

In case a Twenty20 game ends in a tie, Super Over will come into play in order to determine the winner. Before Super over came into existence, a method called Bowl-Out was implemented. The only instance bowl-out took place in a World T20 match was a group game between India and Pakistan in the 2007 World T20, the match in which both the teams ended their 20 overs with a score of 141. Bowl-Out took place with India asked to start the proceedings. Both the teams were given five chances to break the stumps with a proper bowling run-up. This is what happened in the historic tie-breaker at Durban:
India have nominated Sehwag, Uthappa, Sreesanth, Pathan and Harbhajan and it will be Gul, Tanvir, Arafat, Afridi and Asif for Pakistan.
Round 1: Virender Sehwag hits the stumps and Yasir Arafat misses the off stump. India lead 1-0 after the first round.
Round 2: Harbhajan Singh breaks the stumps and Umar Gul misses. India lead 2-0 after the second round.
Round 3: Robin Uthappa knocks the stumps and Afridi fires it down the leg side. India win the Bowl-Out 3-0 and wins the match against Pakistan

T20 World Cup 2014, Schedule, Squads, Rules & Overview

The fifth edition of ICC World Twenty20 is scheduled to take place in Bangladesh from 16 March to 6 April 2014. It will be played in three cities — Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. Bangladesh will host the tournament as announced by the International Cricket Council in 2010. It will be second and consecutive time that an Asian country will host this event, as Sri Lanka hosted the previous tournament in 2012.

For the first time the tournament will have 16 teams including all ten full members and six associate members who qualified through the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. The top eight (full member) teams in the ICC T20I Championship rankings on 8 October 2012 enter the Super 10 stage. The remaining eight teams compete in the group stage, from which two teams advance to the Super 10 stage.

T20 World Cup 2014 Schedule:

T20 World Cup Squads

Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (captain), Asghar Stanikzai, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Hamid Hassan, Hamza Hotak, Karim Sadiq, Mirwais Ashraf, Najibullah Taraki, Najibullah Zadran, Nawroz Mangal, Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Shahzad, Shafiqullah, Shapoor Zadran

Australia: George Bailey (captain), Daniel Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, James Muirhead, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Al-Amin Hossain, Anamul Haque, Farhad Reza, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shamsur Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Sohag Gazi, Tamim Iqbal

England: Stuart Broad (captain), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Michael Lumb, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan, Stephen Parry, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell, Luke Wright

Hong Kong: Jamie Atkinson (captain), Aizaz Khan, Mark Chapman, Ehsan Nawaz, Haseeb Amjad, Babar Hayat, Irfan Ahmed, Roy Lamsam, Munir Dar, Nadeem Ahmed, Najeeb Amar, Nizakat Khan, Kinchit Shah, Tanwir Afzal, Waqas Barkat

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh

Ireland: William Porterfield (captain), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andy McBrine, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, James Shannon, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young

Nepal: Paras Khadka (captain), Pradeep Airee, Prithu Baskota, Binod Bhandari, Naresh Budhaayer, Shakti Gauchan, Sompal Kami, Avinash Karn, Subash Khakurel, Gyanendra Malla, Jitendra Mukhiya, Sagar Pun, Basant Regmi, Sharad Vesawkar, Rahul Vishwakarma

Netherlands: Peter Borren (captain), Wesley Barresi, Logan van Beek, Mudassar Bukhari, Ben Cooper, Tim Gruijters, Timm van der Gugten, Tom Heggelman, Vivian Kingma, Ahsan Malik, Stephan Myburgh, Michael Rippon, Pieter Seelaar, Michael Swart, Eric Szwarczynski

New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Anton Devcich, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Talha, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar

South Africa: Francois du Plessis (captain), Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, Farhaan Behardien, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Beuran Hendricks, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardena, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachithra Senanayake, Lahiru Thirimanne

United Arab Emirates: Khurram Khan (captain), Ahmed Raza, Amjad Ali, Amjad Javed, Asadullah Shareef, Faizan Asif, Kamran Shahzad, Manjula Guruge, Moaaz Qazi, Rohan Mustafa, Swapnil Patil, Rohit Singh, Shadeep Silva, Shaiman Anwar, Vikrant Shetty

West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith

Johnson, Haddin valued at top base price for IPL auction

Freshly-crowned Ashes heroes Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin and Steven Smith are part of a group of 31 players that has attracted the highest base price of Rs 20 million (US$ 320,000 approx.) for the IPL player auction to be to be held in Bangalore on February 12 and 13. They are part of the 233-strong auction list of capped players from ten countries, which was finalised by the IPL last week and distributed to the eight franchises.

There are 46 Indians on the list including prominent players like Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Pragyan Ojha and Yusuf Pathan, all of whom have been listed at the top base price of Rs 20 million. Irfan Pathan, the allrounder, is not in the top bracket but has been valued at Rs 15 million. Varun Aaron, the fast bowler who is currently with the national team in New Zealand, has skipped the auction.

Among the overseas players, some of the notable names missing are the Sri Lanka pair of Kumar Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal, Australia's Michael Clarke and Mitchell Marsh, England's Stuart Broad, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, and West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach.

With Sri Lanka touring Ireland and England this summer players like Sangakkara - who also has a young family - are likely to have decided to cool their heels before the UK trip. However Sangakkara's team-mates Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews have decided to enter the auction even if they are bound to miss the business end of the IPL.

Among the first-timers, New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson tops the list and could likely be one of the most sought-after players. Anderson hit the fastest ODI century, in 36 balls, against West Indies. The 23-year-old, who is now the fastest to register both a century and a five-for in an ODI career, has a base price of Rs 10 million. Anderson has been the best allrounder in the ongoing one-day series against India, which New Zealand have won.

Alex Hales, currently the No. 1-ranked batsman in Twenty20 internationals, is also searching for a top-bracket deal after that became a clause in the agreement he made with his county Nottinghamshire to be allowed into the auction. Both Hales and Samit Patel will only be allowed to participate should they secured the most lucrative contracts available.

The biggest England name in the list is Kevin Pietersen who is a free agent again after Delhi Daredevils opted not to retain any players. Although England's central contracts have clauses to allow players a period at the IPL - a period that has been extended under the new deals - Pietersen's IPL participation could well by a thorny issue again if there has been a breakdown in the relationship between him and England's team director Andy Flower as has been suggested.

As expected, Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes have not put their names forward for this year's tournament even though both would have gathered significant interest. After the 5-0 Ashes whitewash there is a desire in English cricket for the rejuvenation of the Test side to be made a priority and both Broad and Stokes, who impressed in the Ashes, will be central to that.

Perhaps a little more surprising is the absence of Jos Buttler, England's explosive limited-overs wicketkeeper, who has a strong reputation in Twenty20. However, not joining the IPL means he will have an extended run of four-day County Championship cricket at the start of the English season to push his claims to be England's Test keeper - a role that is now far more fluid following Matt Prior's omission during the Ashes.

Once again Pakistan players will be not part of the auction although two Pakistan-born players - Azhar Mahmood (England) and Fawad Ahmad (Australia) - have been listed.

Australian chinaman bowler Brad Hogg, at 43, will be the oldest capped player in the auction and is listed at reserve price of Rs 15 million. Hogg was part of Rajasthan Royals till IPL 2013, though he played just the one match last season. The other 40-plus capped player is former Sri Lanka offspinner Muttiah Muralitharn (Rs 10 million), who was with Royal Challengers Bangalore last season.

Ryan ten Doeschate, who was with Kolkata Knight Riders till last year, is the solitary player form the Associates (Netherlands) and has a base price of Rs 10 million.

According to the new IPL player regulations, it has been decided that all players will be paid in Indian rupees from this year. Overseas players will be paid in the currency of their choice at the prevailing exchange rate on either the actual date of payment or contract due date, whichever is beneficial to the player.

Johnson moves to world No.4

Mitchell Johnson has leapt five places to be ranked the world's fourth-best bowler in the latest update to the Reliance ICC player rankings for Test bowlers.

Johnson destroyed South Africa with career-best figures of 12-127 in the opening Test at Centurion last week, and has taken 49 wickets at an average of 13 in his past six Test matches.

South Africa and Australia now occupy the top four positions in the bowling ranks, with Dale Steyn taking back the No.1 position from teammate Vernon Philander, while Ryan Harris remains consistent in third.

Philander had held top spot for 55 days but his match return of 1-97 at Centurion saw him drop 11 ranking points to fall back behind Steyn.

Steyn's Centurion returns of 4-78 and 2-61 in either innings saw him remain steady with 901 ranking points. The South African spearhead took top spot in July 2009 and spent 187 matches, or 1630 days, as the top-ranked bowler until Philander overtook him last December.

Peter Siddle sits in sixth position, while Lyon holds down 19th spot – one behind Ben Hilfenhaus who remains in the rankings despite not having played a Test since December 2012.

Lyon's 614 ranking points for 19th spot are light-years ahead of South Africa's first-choice spinner Robin Peterson, who sits in 64th spot with 259 points.

New Zealand’s Tim Southee moved up to a career-best ninth following his match haul of 5-143 in the Wellington Test against India. Southee is now on 757 ratings points, just 10 behind eighth-ranked teammate Trent Boult.

In the batsmen rankings, Blackcaps skipper Brendon McCullum’s spectacular match-saving knock of 302 in the Wellington Test against India has helped him jump eight places to a career-best 12th.

McCullum, who became the first New Zealand batsman to score a triple hundred, helped draw the second and final Test in Wellington on Tuesday, giving NZ a 1-0 series win.

McCullum shares 12th position with Australia’s David Warner, who moves up three spots of his 115 in the second innings in Centurion.

Meanwhile, India’s Virat Kohli has moved up two places to a career-high of ninth, following knocks of 38 and an unbeatedn 105 in Wellington, to break into the top 10 for the first time.

Kohli joins seventh-ranked teammate Cheteshwar Pujara (down by one) as the only two India batsmen inside the top 10.

Alex Doolan's gutsy knocks of 27 and 89 on debut have seem him enter the table in 59th spot, while Shaun Marsh returned to the table in 63rd position following scores of 148 and 44.

South Africa’s AB de Villiers continues to top the batting table, followed by Kumar Sangakkara in second position and Shivnarine Chanderpaul of West Indies in third place.

T20 WORLD CUP 2014 Schedule

ICC has announced T20 World Cup 2014 schedule and fixtures dates as per FTP of Cricket which is set to take place in Bangladesh from 16 March to 6 April, 2014 in four major cities including Mirpur,

Chittagong, Sylhet and Cox's Bazar. For the first time the tournament will have 16 teams including 10 full members qualified directly and 6 associate members qualified through 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. Full schedule and fixtures of ICC T20 World Cup 2014 has now been announced by the ICC. A total of 51 matches are to be played during the 2014 T20 World Cup including 16 warm-up matches, 32 group matches, 2 semis and finals. All teams play four group matches before they qualify for the semis and final. Pakistan meet arch-rivals India in their opening match on Friday March 21 followed by matches with Australia, A1 qualifier and West Indies. India on the other hand play with West Indies, A1 qualifier and Australia respectively. You can sort the below fixtures table by each country by using the built-in search function. Schedule of T20 World Cup 2014 fixtures shows list of all matches with dates, venues and timing of matches in GMT, local, IST (Indian standard time) and PKT (Pakistan local time). Use the search below to filter matches by venues, countries or timings:

16, March 2014	Group A – Bangladesh vs Afghanistan	Mirpur
16, March 2014	Group A – Hong Kong vs Nepal	Chittagong
17, March 2014	Group B – Zimbabwe vs Ireland	Sylhet Stadium
17, March 2014	Group B - Netherlands vs UAE	Sylhet Stadium
18, March 2014	Group A - Afghanistan vs Hong Kong	Chittagong
18, March 2014	Group A - Bangladesh vs Nepal	Chittagong
19, March 2014	Group B - Netherlands vs Zimbabwe	Sylhet Stadium
19, March 2014	Group B - Ireland vs UAE	Sylhet Stadium
20, March 2014	Group A - Afghanistan vs Nepal	Chittagong
20, March 2014	Group A - Bangladesh vs Hong Kong	Chittagong
21, March 2014	Group B - Zimbabwe vs UAE	Sylhet Stadium
21, March 2014	Group B - Ireland vs Netherlands	Sylhet Stadium

21, March 2014	Group 2 – India v Pakistan	Mirpur
22, March 2014	Group 1 – South Africa v Sri Lanka	Chittagong
22, March 2014	Group 1 – England v New Zealand	Chittagong
23, March 2014	Group 2 – Australia v Pakistan	Mirpur
23, March 2014	Group 2 – India v West Indies	Mirpur
24, March 2014	Group 1 – New Zealand v South Africa	Chittagong
24, March 2014	Group 1 – Sri Lanka vs TBC (Q B1)	Chittagong
25, March 2014	Group 2 – West Indies vs TBC (Q A1)	Mirpur
27, March 2014	Group 1 – South Africa vs TBC (Q B1)	Chittagong
27, March 2014	Group 1 – England v Sri Lanka	Chittagong
28, March 2014	Group 2 – Australia vs West Indies	Mirpur
28, March 2014	Group 2 – India vs TBC (Q A1)	Mirpur
29, March 2014	Group 1 – New Zealand vs TBC (Q B1)	Chittagong
29, March 2014	Group 1 – England vs South Africa	Chittagong
30, March 2014	Group 2 – Pakistan vs TBC (Q A1)	Mirpur
30, March 2014	Group 2 – Australia vs India	Mirpur
31, March 2014	Group 1 – England vs TBC (Q B1)	Chittagong
31, March 2014	Group 1 – New Zealand vs Sri Lanka	Chittagong
01, April 2014	Group 2 – Australia vs TBC (Q A1)	Mirpur
01, April 2014	Group 2 – Pakistan vs West Indies	Mirpur
03, April 2014	1st Semi-Final	Mirpur
04, April 2014	2nd Semi-Final	Mirpur
06, April 2014	Final – TBC vs TBC	Mirpur
07, April 2014	Reserve Day (Final)	Mirpur

Top 10 Highest 6th Wicket Partnerships

New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum and BJ Walting have recorded the highest partnership for the sixth-wicket with a 352-run partnership against India.

Top 10 Highest 6th Wicket Partnerships:

Players	Runs	Opponent	Year
Mathew Hayden, Andrew Symonds (AUS)	279	England	2006
Graham Thrope, Andrew Flintoff (ENG)	281	New Zealand	2002
Brian Lara, Ridley Jacobs (WI)	282*	England	2004
Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri (IND)	298*	Australia	1986
Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin (AUS)	307	England	2010
Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist (AUS)	317	South Africa	2002
Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (NZ)	339	Bangladesh	2012
Jack Fingleton, Don Bradman (AUS)	346	England	1937
Mahela Jayawardene, Prasanna Jayawardene (SL)	351	India	2009
Brendon McCullum, BJ Watling (NZ)	352	India	2014

The Big Show backs players' big pay days

Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has thrown his support behind the lucrative T20 contracts offered to international cricketers, explaining that they’re a beneficial part of the game’s development. 

Already known as ‘The Big Show’, Maxwell took it up a notch last week by commanding more than a million dollars in the IPL auction, when he was sold to the Kings XI Punjab IPL franchise. 

It’s the second season in a row that Maxwell has collected a seven-figure IPL contract and the big-hitting right-hander was quick to quash any talk of the T20 format sending a bad message to young cricketers.

“I think it sends a good message to kids as far as telling them that they can make a career at cricket,” Maxwell said.

“Kids see that there are millions of opportunities in AFL, but only 11 in cricket. Now they know that they can earn that kind of money in a couple of weeks and maybe that starts them playing.

“They might end up in the longer format, they might enjoy cricket that way, but what it’s doing is getting kids involved.” 

The dual million-dollar man will be hoping the next generation are well on their way, with his Victorian side languishing at the bottom of the Sheffield Shield table following an innings and 48-run defeat at the hands of New South Wales last week - a defeat that could have been much worse if not for Maxwell's two innings match tally of 221 runs.

“It was a pretty disappointing match all-round to tell you the truth,” he said.

“To get that many runs and have no impact on the game is pretty frustrating for the whole team.”

Despite his support for short-form cricket, Maxwell cites the KFC Big Bash League, and a lack of continuity, as a possible explanation for Victoria’s struggles. 

“We’ve been jumping from format to format. We’ve had an unsettled side for a while with guys going to T20, one day cricket and in and out of the Australian teams,” he explains.

“We haven’t had a consistent group all year.”

Formats aside, Maxwell acknowledged the need for change to come from within the team.

“I think it’s time for us to stand up, take account of ourselves and just do the job,” he said.

“At this level, there are no excuses to say you can’t adjust between those formats.”

The perfect example of this resilience may lie just across the Tasman, with T20 star, and Black Caps captain, Brendon McCullum bringing up his country’s first ever triple-century in the second Test against India.

“The fact that someone can face 580 balls and still have the concentration to keep going; that’s amazing,” Maxwell said. 

“Test cricket hasn’t taken away his natural flair, but he harnesses it a lot better than most players. He’s a big one that I can look up to and hopefully follow in his footsteps.”

First up for Maxwell however, is the Bushrangers’ Sheffield Shield clash against top-of-the-table South Australia at the Adelaide Oval, starting on Thursday.

Victoria will field a vastly different side to the one that found themselves 6-9 against the Blues with internationals, Aaron Finch, Dan Christian, Clint McKay and James Muirhead, missing out along with Peter Handscomb.

Rob Quiney, Michael Hill, Jon Holland, Fawad Ahmed and young quick, Jake Reed, will come into the side.

Reed is currently leading the Victorian Premier Cricket wicket-taking list (with 46), picking up 25 wickets at just over eight runs across his last four matches.

Following on from Thursday’s Shield encounter, Maxwell will leave for South Africa to work with Shane Warne ahead of three T20s and the ICC T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Cricket Australia

Asia Cup 2014, Schedule, Squads, Rules & Overview

Asia Cup 2014 cricket Tournament will start on Feb 25, 2014 in Bangladesh. The last match of the tournament will be held on Mar 8, 2014.

There will be 5 teams participating in this edition of the tournament namely India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

According to the Asia Cup 2014 time table, all the teams will play 4 matches (one against each other) and will be rewarded 4 points for victory and 2 points for tie/ no result. After the competition of the preliminary round, the two teams with the maximum no. of points will qualify for the final and the team winning that final match will become the champion.

The opening match of the Asia Cup 2014 will be played between the defending champions Pakistan and Sri Lanka on 25th of February at Fatullah. The next 4 matches will also take place at the same venue and then, the action will shift to Mirpur where the last 6 matches including the final will be played.

Sri Lanka

Angelo Mathews (capt), Dinesh Chandimal, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Ashan Priyanjan, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Sachithra Senanayake, Ajantha Mendis, Chathuranga De Silva.

India

MS Dhoni (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar, Mohammad Shami, Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra and Ishwar Pandey.

Pakistan

Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Sharjeel Khan, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, Fawad Alam, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Anwar Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Mohammad Talha.

Bangladesh

Imrul Kayes, Nazimuddin, Jahurul Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Elias Sunny, Nazmul Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Anamul Haque.

Afganistan

Mohammad Nabi Esakhil (C), Mohammad Shehzad (WK), Noor Ali Zadran, Karim Sadiq, Nawroz Mangal, Mohammad Asghar Stanikzai, Samiullah Shinwari, Rehmat Shah Zurmati, Mirwais Ashraf, Fazal Niazai, Hamza Hotak, Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran, Dawlat Zadran, Najibullah Zadran.

Pakistan

History

Following the Partition of India in 1947, and the establishment of the separate nation state of Pakistan, it was not long before the latter was accepted into the Test fold at a meeting of the Imperial Cricket Conference in July 1952, after being recommended by India. Pakistan's first Test match took place in Delhi in October 1952 and its first home five-day encounter was held in Dacca (also against India) in January 1955.

International Competition

After three successive appearances in the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup, Pakistan made it one step further in 1992 when Imran Khan led his side to a 22-run win. It reached the final again in 1999 but failed to get out of the group stages in the last two competitions. Pakistan did almost win the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 2007 but it fell agonisingly short in the final against India, although it managed to defeat Sri Lanka to win the 2009 event at Lord's. Pakistan are a mercurial team in all forms of the game - capable of beating the best yet also slumping to humiliating losses when least expected. Security issues means it is currently unable to play matches in its homeland, meaning England played host to one-day and Test series against Australia and the home nation in 2010.

Domestic Cricket

The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is Pakistan's premier first-class competition and was first contested in 1953. A mixture of 11 regional teams and departments compete in two groups with the winners of each contesting the final. The Pentagular Cup is another first-class competition, this time contested by five teams. The premier one-day tournament is the ABN Amro Cup (played as four 50-over leagues followed by a Super Eight phase leading to semi-finals and a final) as well as a 20-over tournament.

All-time Great

Imran Khan would almost certainly have deserved the accolade as Pakistan's greatest ever cricketer even if he had "merely" represented his nation as a rank and file servant. But when you add in the way he coaxed, cajoled and united a collection of potentially volatile individuals into a powerful unit there really is no alternative. Khan's greatest moment was leading his team to ICC Cricket World Cup glory in 1992 but the results his sides had previously achieved in the longer format should also not be underestimated. Not only was he one of the finest bowlers of his age - one of the pioneers of the reverse-swinging yorker - but he would also have merited a spot in the team purely as a batsman. His 362 Test wickets @ 22.81 and 3807 runs @ 37.69 need no further embellishment.

Women's Cricket

Having appeared in the Women's World Cup in 1997, it earned a place in the ICC Women's World Cup 2009 after overcoming stiff opposition in the qualifying event - which was shifted from its home country to South Africa following political unrest. Going into the World Cup it was ranked eighth, and emerged as sixth in the world. The Pakistan women's cricket team is certainly heading in the right direction.

Sri Lanka

History

Cricket began to develop in Sri Lanka once the process of British colonisation was completed in the early 1800s. The earliest reference to the game in Sri Lanka was reported in the "Colombo Journal" on 5 September 1832 which was when the formation of a cricket club was recorded. The Colombo cricket club was formed soon after in November 1832 and played its first cricket match against the 97th British Regiment. Although the domestic first-class system was set up in 1937-38 it was not until 1981 that Sri Lanka became the eighth Test playing country (playing its inaugural Test the following year in Colombo against England).

International Competition

After winning just four games out of 26 during the first five ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments, the next edition brought forth the most unlikely winner of a major international cricket tournament thus far. Sri Lanka's victory over Australia in the 1996 Final was the climax to an outstanding competition for Arjuna Ranatunga's men. Sri Lanka has since reached the final once more, when Australia exacted its revenge in West Indies in 2007. It was also joint-winners, with India, of the ICC Champions Trophy on home soil in 2002. Sri Lanka's participation in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 flattered to deceive as they were knocked out in the Super Eights. Meanwhile, the Asian nation continues to be a tough nut to crack on the Test circuit - particularly at home. 

Domestic Cricket

A domestic first-class tournament began in 1937-38 as the Daily News Trophy and has since undergone five changes in name to reach its current guise of the Premier Trophy. Ten sides compete in each of two tiers, with Sinhalese SC historically the most successful team. The main one-day competition in Sri Lanka is the Premier Limited-Overs Tournament which began in 1988 and has existed under three different names. Finally, there is an Interprovincial Twenty20 tournament, contested between six teams. 

All-time Great

It would be fruitless for any would-be cricketer to aspire to play the game like Muttiah Muralidaran - the Sri Lankan is inimitable. Nominally an off-spinner, the number of variations at his disposal make him difficult to define - which is why batsmen around the world continue to flail against the now veteran. "Murali" played his part in Sri Lanka's biggest team success - the 1996 World Cup - but his individual feats have largely eclipsed anything the side has achieved since. After tussling with Shane Warne for the title of leading Test wicket-taker, the Sri Lankan has now moved way out in front after the leg-spinner's retirement. Muralidaran then became the highest wicket-taker in ODIs as well when he went past Wasim Akram's record of 502 wickets in 2009. If that wasn't enough he has also shown himself to be a worthy hitter down the order. Who knows how much further he can go before flexing those fingers no more.

Women's Cricket

Although Sri Lanka women only played its first recognized international match just over a decade ago, in 1997, it has already run up a fair tally of one-day internationals, appeared in several ICC Cricket World Cups, and even played in a Test, a form of women's cricket which is increasingly less common. They owe much to Gwen Herath - the former president of the WCA of Sri Lanka - for her administration in the days before the men's board took over in 2005. In 2007, the ICC's High Performance Manager, Richard Done, created a further improvement strategy for Sri Lankan women's cricket, including introducing a schools-based competition. The aim was to increase their performances at such tournaments as the Asia Cup - where they have regularly made the final - and the 2009 World Cup, although they failed to win a match.

West Indies

History

The first Caribbean club, St Anne's, was formed in Barbados in 1806 and soon became part of the European culture on the island through the military. But it was only in 1865 - 32 years after the abolition of slavery - that the first inter-colonial match occurred, between Barbados and Demerara, now part of Guyana. Trinidad soon joined those sides in a triangular competition, but it would only be in the latter half of the 20th Century, with the increasing availability of air travel, that such teams as Jamaica could play other islands regularly. West Indies took time to establish itself as an international side, but finally beat England in 1930, in Trinidad.

International Competition

West Indies enjoy the distinction of winning the first ICC Cricket World Cup, in 1975, and then retaining the trophy in the next edition, in 1979, both trophies being held in England. It is one of the only two teams to have won the World Cup more than once, with Australia the other. It has also won the ICC Champions Trophy, their sole triumph coming in England in 2004.

Domestic Cricket

There are three competitions in West Indies domestic cricket, the one-day trophy - currently known as the President's Cup - the Regional Four-Day Competition, which features first-class matches, and a T20 tournament. The Regional Four-Day Competition - which was known as the Shell Shield when introduced in 1965, and has also been called the Carib Beer Cup - comprised the six regional West Indies teams of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Leeward Islands and Windward Islands plus the Combined Campuses and Colleges in 2009-10. A new Twenty20 competition, Caribbean T20, took place in July 2010, featuring the above seven teams along with Canada.

All-time Great

Where to start with West Indies greats  "The three Ws" - Richards, Ambrose, Walsh and Lara. One man stands above them all - Sir Garfield Sobers, who had an embarrassment of natural talent. He is in the top 10 greatest batsmen of all time, with a Test total of 8032 runs at an average of 57.78 - and he accumulated them in flowing fashion. Perhaps his most memorable innings was his 365 not out against Pakistan in 1958, a record that stood until 1994 when Brian Lara eclipsed him. Sobers also took more than 200 Test wickets and, to complete the set, he could also field anywhere.

Women's Cricket

West Indies is a country steeped in deep cricket tradition and, though never as high profile as the men, the women have been a useful force since the 1970s, the time when their game started to get more serious. There were two island sides in the first Women's World Cup in 1973 - Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica - and this was also the same decade that the women made their debut in Tests. The men's board took over the game in 2005 and, although the women didn't play internationally for three years, the domestic competition was strong enough to ensure they kept their fifth-place world ranking in the 2009 World Cup. Their best showing to date in a major tournament came in 2010 when they knocked out holders England on the way to the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty20 on home soil.

Zimbabwe

History

The first cricket match staged in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) took place on 16 August 1890 near Masvingo (then Fort Victoria). Touring sides gradually began to filter over to Rhodesia in the 1900s and the standards of the game further improved when they entered the South African domestic competition (the Currie Cup). After independence Zimbabwe was elected as an Associate Member of the ICC in 1981 and eventually played its inaugural Test match in October 1992 (against India in Harare) having already competed in three one-day World Cup tournaments.

International Competition

Zimbabwe's first ever World Cup match suggested the birth of a welcome new entrant onto the international scene, when they beat Australia by 13 runs at Trent Bridge in 1983. Sadly not everything has run smoothly in Zimbabwean cricket since then. Zimbabwe has not played a Test since September 2005, officially withdrawing in January 2006, although they do continue to play one-day internationals. For a while in the late nineties they were among the toughest sides to beat in Test cricket (their peak coming in 1998-99 when they won a home series against India and went to Pakistan and won there). Zimbabwe last made their mark on the international stage in September 2007 when they beat Australia in the ICC World Twenty20.

Domestic Cricket

The first-class competition in Zimbabwe is called the Logan Cup (named after the honourable JD Logan), which was first presented in 1899 to commemorate the visit of Lord Hawke's English team to Rhodesia. The competition was re-vamped in 2006-07 with provinces being merged to form Northerns, Westerns, Southerns and Easterns. There is also a one-day tournament that was introduced in 2003, although the structure changes on a regular basis, and a domestic Twenty20 competition started up in 2007.

All-time Great

A Test batting average of over-50 would put any player among the elite of their nation's cricketers. When that achievement comes for the one of the minnows of the game there is little doubt that Andy Flower stands head and shoulders above any of his compatriots in Zimbabwe's hall of fame. The left-handed batsman's record matches up with any of his contemporaries around the world and his ability to play spin, in particular, was peerless. Add in his credentials as a wicketkeeper for a large chunk of his international career, as well as a period as a captain, and it is fair to say he WAS Zimbabwe cricket for a period. Flower's leadership qualities have now taken him to the position of England Team Director just two years after retiring from playing (May 2007).

Women's Cricket

Zimbabwe women is one of the newest international teams. In fact, its first international matches came in 2006, in the regional qualifiers for the 2009 World Cup. It won all three matches against Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to head through to the qualifiers, where it came a respectable fifth out of eight teams.