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Indian bowlers’ fantastic performance in the just concluded Border-Gavaskar trophy is reflected in their improved ICC rankings with off-spinner Harbhajan Singh rising to a five-year high of seventh and pacer Ishant Sharma breaking into the top-30 for the first time.

Both Harbhajan and Man of the Series Ishant claimed 15-wickets apiece in the series.

The 28-year-old Harbhajan took seven wickets in the fourth Test against Australia at Nagpur and as a result, has moved past Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka and Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar.

Ishant is up six places to 30th position after taking another four wickets in the Nagpur Test.

Meanwhile, the news is not so good for Zaheer Khan who lost three places following the Nagpur Test and is now 18th.

The left-arm pacer took just one wicket for 125 runs.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra continued his rise in the bowling rankings, gaining six places to 43rd position.

The bowling rankings continue to be headed by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran, followed by South Africa’s Dale Steyn in second place and Clark.

In the batting list, Sachin Tendulkar, who registered his 40th Test century at Nagpur, gained three places and is 16th just behind Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke, who loses one place to 15th.

Virender Sehwag has moved up two places to 11th spot after scoring 66 and 92 in the match.

West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul is still at the top of the batting list.

Ryan Sidebottom’s absence notwithstanding, England captain Kevin Pietersen believes his bowling attack is capable of delivering the goods against the strong Indian batting line-up in the first of seven One-Day Internationals here tomorrow. “This is the most stable attack, since Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff have come back into the team.

Then, we have (Stuart) Broad, (James) Anderson and Samit Patel who have been bowling brilliantly,” Pietersen said. “I think our bowling has been the best in the last month or so and if we can bat well, it will be a good match,” he said ahead of the first one-dayer at the Madhavrao Scindia ground here.

He also justified the inclusion of Ravi Bopara in the playing XI ahead of Luke Wright. “It’s unfortunate for Luke because he’s done nothing wrong to be honest but Ravi Bopara is better on these wickets,” he said.

The gangling batsman also hoped that the return of seniors like Flintoff and Harmison would lend the side the necessary experience in the upcoming battles. “Our senior players Freddie and Steve have come back and they are very experienced campaigners with 10 years of international cricket behind them.

(Paul) Collingwood too has been around for a while and there a few youngsters who are being talked about in terms of delegating responsibilities. “The team is raring to go and that’s been our recipe for success.

Like we have been against South Africa, the guys have been fantastic here, they’ve taken on this really really well so it’s nice for me as a captain,” he said.

Chelsea have signalled that they are opposed to Germany captain Michael Ballack playing for his country in next week’s friendly against England in Berlin.

The midfielder has just returned to training after a month out following foot surgery and the London club feel that the international fixture has come around too soon.

“It is an issue, but I’d like to think their coach will use his common sense,” said Chelsea assistant coach Ray Wilkins.

Ballack was expected to sit out Chelsea’s League Cup clash against Burnley on Wednesday evening but will almost certainly be involved in the Premier League match at West Brom on Saturday.

That means Germany coach Joachim Loew will be able to insist on Ballack joining up with the national squad.

The friendly will be Germany’s first match since a public spat between the player and Loew over Ballack’s criticism of the coach’s decision to drop fellow veteran Torsten Frings.

The row was resolved when Ballack apologised and Loew subsequently announced that Ballack would continue as captain.

BARRING INJURY nothing will stop V.V.S. Laxman from celebrating his 100th Test in the new stadium at Nagpur, home to Shashank Manohar, president of the BCCI. With Anil Kumble emphatically stating in his column in this newspaper that he was fit and raring to go at the Ferozeshah Kotla, where he has 55 wickets at an average of 15, and Amit Mishra picking up seven wickets on debut, sections of the media began speculating on whether Laxman - the universal scapegoat - could miss out if India decided to play five bowlers. On cricketing merit there can be no argument for benching Laxman, and Kumble himself came out in strong support of the stylist at the end of the first Test, saying: “Laxman is a true champion.

It is sad that he is always in the spot (scrutiny). Laxman has played 97 Tests and has played a large role in our winning moments and this axe on his shoulder is not done.

” It seems the BCCI is in complete agreement, for they have already produced an ornate scroll to celebrate Laxman’s century of Tests. The Board commissioned ‘The Award Gallery’, a Mumbai-based company, to produce commemorative mementos for Laxman and Ganguly, who will play his last Test in Nagpur.

“For Laxman, we have produced something similar to what the maharajahs used in ancient times to write letters to each other. It’s called a maan patra,” Vibhash Sonawane of ‘The Award Gallery’ told HT. “For Ganguly, we have done something different.

It is a solid silver salver with an intricate Kolkata design on the border. Sourav being from Kolkata, we thought it would be something close to his heart.

” Laxman’s scroll, signed by Manohar, congratulates him on completing 100 Tests in the fourth Test against Australia at Nagpur. Ganguly’s salver speaks of how he has given 16 years to Indian cricket, from his first-class debut in 1989-90.

‘The Awards Gallery’ produces trophies and awards for a variety of events, most notably the 55-year-old Filmfare awards and the Addy awards. They recently produced their first major cricket trophy when the Maharashtra government wanted to felicitate the T20 World Cup winning team in Mumbai.

Kevin Pietersen launched an impassioned defence of test cricket on Monday, less than two weeks before he will lead England in the $20 million Twenty20 Stanford match.

England face a West Indies select team in Antigua on Nov. 1 in the winner-takes-all game where each victorious player will walk away with $1 million.

That match — and there will be four more like it over the next four years — combined with the success of the big-money Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 competition, has led to concerns that the crowd-pulling format might undermine the status of test cricket.

Pietersen, however, whose explosive batting is perfectly suited to the shorter format, dismissed the idea.

“Twenty20 is here to stay and is the future of coloured clothes cricket but white clothes separate the men from the boys — where you are testing yourself over five days,” Pietersen told a news conference at Lord’s.

“Tests are certainly the pinnacle and I want to be remembered for having pretty good stats in test cricket.

“A test victory is something really special, it’s an amazing feeling because they don’t come around that often and I don’t think that is going to change.”

With Sri Lanka’s visit to England next year in doubt because so many of their leading players might opt for the IPL, Pietersen said he would be immensely saddened if any England player contemplated a similar move.

“The priority should always be playing for your country,” said the former South African.

MORALITY QUESTIONED

Pietersen, who took over the captaincy from Michael Vaughan for the last, victorious, test in this year’s home series defeat by South Africa, leads England on their short trip to the Caribbean before moving on to India for two tests and seven one-day internationals.

Pietersen, who has said he would donate some of any victory money to charity, said he understood completely those who have questioned the morality of putting up $20 million for a three-hour showdown.

“I respect the situation in the world at the moment, I’ve got friends who are really struggling and the game has come up at a difficult time,” he said.

“But we didn’t organise it, we’ve just been lucky enough to get picked. We can’t be blamed, as long as we don’t mess it up by acting like clowns.”

He said that, despite the rewards on offer, the match was more about getting ready for the sub-continent.

“It’s a reality check, a chance to see how the guys are but it’s a Twenty20 at the end of the day — three hours — so mostly it’s preparation for the trip to India which is going to be really tough,” he said.

“I’ve been there before and it’s a hard place to win but that’s the challenge for me. When you look back on your career you look at the challenging times and ask how you did and it’s going to be exciting to be able to look back on India 2008.”

Zaheer Khan wreaked havoc as India punctured Australia’s aura of invincibility by inflicting a crushing 320-run defeat on the visitors with more than two sessions to spare in the second cricket Test here today. With Zaheer breathing fire, India took just one-and-half hours and 18.4 overs overs to complete the formality and Australia, thoroughly bruised and battered, were subjected to one of their worst defeats in recent past as India went 1-0 up in the four-match series.

Australia needed well nigh a miracle to chase down the monumental 516-run target for an improbable win and with the top order blown away cheaply, their pursuit looked doomed right at the outset. It was too much to expect the lower middle order batsmen and tail-enders to do what their front-line willow-wielders could not and Australia eventually folded for 195.

Zaheer’s triple strikes in the first hour maimed Australia and since then, their collapse was just a matter of time and formality, which was completed in due course. This was India’s biggest win against the Aussies, eclipsing the 222-run victory that came in Melbourne in 1977.

Michael Clarke (69) was the only face of Australian resistance in the face of some inspiring Indian bowling but his knock didn’t go beyond boosting his personal tally. Clarke’s 152-ball knock included nine hits to the fence.

With five wickets separating India from a win at the end of the fourth day, the dice was indeed loaded too heavily against Australia and whatever hopes they had of saving the Test went up in smoke when Zaheer crashed through Brad Haddin’s (37) defence in the first over of the day.

IT’S NOT every day that someone who is drafted in as a last-minute replacement walks away with a five-wicket haul on debut. On Sunday Amit Mishra floored the Australian batting line-up to return figures of 26.4-8-71-5 at an economy rate of 2.66 at the PCA Stadium.

An unlikely hero at a venue which is considered to have a pacer-friendly pitch, Mishra delivered the goods to wrest the initiative for India. “I aimed at taking a wicket with every ball and I think it worked.

I was very positive from the start,” said Mishra, who returned to the Test scene after five years in the wilderness to replace an injured Anil Kumble in the crucial tie. Recalling the tough times spent playing domestic cricket, Mishra said, “It was a difficult time but I made good use of it learning a lot of variations.

I also spent time with many former greats and learned finer points of leg-spin. I knew if I kept performing well the selectors would notice me again,” said Mishra, who burst into the scene with a five-wicket haul against England Under-19 in 2001.

Of his five scalps Mishra cherished the dismissal of Michael Clarke with a clever googly the most. “We needed that wicket to force Australia on the back foot and I was happy to deliver the goods.

My task was perhaps made easier by the pitch, which is now helping spin,” Mishra said, adding, “I was not in any kind of pressure playing against Australia. I tried to stick to my normal bowling.

” Mishra, who is now an India Test cricketer comes from a humble background and is the youngest of five siblings, dedicated his performance to his family, which stood by him all these years. “I am dedicating this performance to my family as without their support I know I couldn’t have done it,” said Mishra.

Mishra may be axed from the playing XI if Kumble regains full fitness but he said it didn’t matter to him whether he played the next Test or not. “All I am focused now is to perform whenever I am given a chance.

It has been a satisfying debut, wherein many persons have helped me realise my potential. Narendra Hirwani and Anil Kumble have both been supportive, always giving me tips.

M.S. Dhoni also showed a lot of faith in me today,” said Mishra. For the moment, though, he can soak up his moment of international glory, and think about the Ranji Trophy in time to come.

Milestone man Sachin Tendulkar on Friday asserted that he would play as long as he enjoys his game and nobody should dare tell him when to stop.Basking in his new-found glory as the highest Test run getter after breaking Brian Lara’s record of 11,953 runs, the batting great said he does not have anything to prove to anyone and nobody should tell him when to call it quits.

“I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. I have been around for 19 years and all those 19 years I did not play to prove anything to anyone, not in my first year not in the 10th, 15th or 19th year,” a combative Tendulkar told a press conference after the opening day’s play against Australia.

“What I need to do is to contribute to whatever my team’s requirements are. I’m not here to answer what x,y, and z is writing about me or saying about me. People will say lot of things, not necessarily they are always correct. I don’t take thir opinions seriously,” he said.

A weary Roger Federer will pace himself carefully for the rest of the season, the world number two said on Monday.

The five-times U.S. Open champion pulled out of last week’s Stockholm Open saying he needed a rest but returns at this week’s Madrid Masters.

Federer has not played since helping Switzerland beat Belgium in their Davis Cup World Group playoff three weeks ago.

“I’m still very tired. I felt I just needed some rest. I wasn’t sure how much was needed,” he told a news conference.

“I took some time off, started practising again, and felt good enough to come and play this tournament. We’ll take it from here and go week by week.

“I have had a successful season after winning the U.S. Open so it doesn’t necessarily make much sense for me to play that much but I love the game and love to compete. That’s why I’m back.”

Federer, 27, refused to commit to next week’s event in Basel.

BALL BOY

“Basel is my home, it’s where I used to be a ball boy. I have quite a history there. I’ve won the last couple of titles and sure I would like to defend it,” he said.

“But I am going to take it one week at a time.”

Federer said he was also undecided about whether to play in Switzerland’s opening Davis Cup World Group match in the U.S. in March.

“Next year’s ATP schedule looks much easier because there are no Olympic Games, which gives the calendar a couple of extra weeks,” he said.

“I haven’t taken the decision yet as regards the Davis Cup first round. I hope I can decide that in the next few weeks as well.”

After a first-round bye in Madrid, Federer will meet Czech Radek Stepanek on Wednesday.