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Ponting retires from T20 Internationals to prolong his test carier
Today we find a Shocking News, Australian Cricket Captain, Ricky Ponting has decided to retire from International Twenty 20 Cricket. But the good News is that he will continue to play Test and ODI Matches.
Cricket Australia revealed he will remain the captain of the Australian Test and one-day team, but will step away from the international T20 scene.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting quit Twenty20 Internationals on Monday, hoping the decision would prolong his career in other formats of the game.
Ponting said he would no more feature in Twenty20 Internationals but would complete his contracts with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.
"After much thought and careful consideration I have advised Cricket Australia of my decision to retire from international Twenty20 cricket," Ponting said.
"I have also spoken to (chief selector) Andrew Hilditch, (coach) Tim Nielsen and (vice captain) Michael Clarke and I feel this decision provides me the opportunity to prolong my Australian Test and one-day career, an opportunity I am extremely determined about," he said.
"As I said after the fifth Test in London, I am hoping to continue playing Test cricket for as long as possible and retiring from the Twenty20 format gives me the best chance of doing this.
"I will now have set periods of rest throughout the Australian summer and while touring which I feel will be very beneficial," said Ponting, who returned home after losing the Ashes to England.
Earlier this year, Pakistan captain Younus Khan had also quit Twenty20 Internationals after guiding his team to the World Cup glory.
Dhoni versus Yuvraj
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh will be on opposite sides when their respective teams Air India Blue and Air Indian Red take on each other in the finals of Sahara BCCI Corporate Trophy here on Tuesday.
Apart from Dhoni, Air India 'Blue' team will also feature Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, R P Singh and VVS Laxman.Pravin Amre was named coach of the side.
With Air India fielding two sides in the 12-team tournament, Yuvraj will play for Air India Red team, while Dhoni will represent Air India Blue.
Yuvraj will have the likes of Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, and Irfan Pathan in the Red team, which will be coached by selector Narendra
Both teams reached the title round in similar fashion - Air India Blue beat Tata Sports Club by five wickets and Air India Red defeated Gautam Gambhir-led ONGC by a similar margin.
There is no doubt that Yuvraj's side knows the conditions here better, having played three matches. But with the likes of Chandan Madan and Manvinder Bisla in fine form, Air India Blue are no pushovers, which will make it a keenly-contested day-night match, weather permitting.
Air India Red also have a solid line-up of batsmen with Yuvraj himself being a massive threat to the opposition bowlers.
Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina and Naman Ojha are proven performers and a lot would be expected of them.
Air India has a slightly better bowling attack with RP Singh and Pankaj Singh leading the pace battery. Feisty off-spinner Harbhajan Singh lends balance to the attack.
Teams (from):
Air India Blue: MS Dhoni (captain), Mohammad Kaif, Dheeraj Jadhav, Vijay Dahiya, Manvinder Bisla, Rajat Bhatia, Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Rana, J Arun Kumar, RP Singh, Pankaj Singh, Shafiq Khan, Chandan Madan, R Sodhi, Sonu Sharma, Praveen Amre, Deepak Joon, Vinit Jain, Monish Sharma, Kuldeep Singh and VVS Laxman.
Air India Red: Yuvraj Singh (captain), Irfan Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Naman Ojha, Sushant Marathe, Paul Valthaty, Suresh Raina, Ankeet Chavan, Siddharth Trivedi, Moondeep Mangela, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rohan Kerkar, Harmeet Singh, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Ajit Chandila, Narendra Hirwani, Pritam Gandhe, Rohit Prakash and Saurabh Netravalkar.
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