Irani Trophy is not a selection match, but pit the best players outside the Indian team against the Ranji champions at the start of a hectic season, throw in a national selector to watch the match, and every player knows no good performance will go unnoticed. Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of the current selection committee, not present here, will testify to that: he made his international debut on the back of a century made against Madan Lal, Bishan Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna, in only his second match for Bombay.Even last year, seven out of the Rest of India XV went on to play for India. Cricinfo takes a look at the hot contenders for an India berth from this year’s side:Subramaniam Badrinath
Badrinath has never been closer to playing for India. If you follow up two bumper domestic seasons with an even more prolific start to the third, you leave the selectors little choice. Although he missed out in Rajkot, he has scored 867 runs this season, only getting out twice. He’s already been rewarded, earning a call-up to replace the injured Gautam Gambhir in the squad for the ODI series, overtaking Manoj Tiwary and Suresh Raina, two who have been picked for India ahead of him previously.Manoj Tiwary
Tiwary’s aggressive 130 under pressure was his first big innings after coming back from the shoulder injury he sustained on the eve of what could have been his ODI debut. His stays on the wicket were brief against South Africa A and with three matches being washed out, this innings would do no harm to what he would be thinking is rightfully his: a second chance.Parthiv Patel
Parthiv has been even more prolific than Badrinath this season, and with 179 and an unbeaten 59, he has served notice that even he can play as a specialist batsman. He may still lose out to Dinesh Karthik as a pure wicketkeeper, but he has done enough to be looked at as an opener.Aakash Chopra
Drafted back into the national fray because of the need for specialist opening batsmen in Australia, Chopra will be disappointed he didn’t get a big score here. Although he scored a double-century against South Africa A, it was a painstaking innings scored on a typical Feroz Shah Kotla wicket. He will get a couple of Ranji games before India play their next Test, against Pakistan at his home ground – the Kotla.Munaf Patel
Munaf the good and Munaf the bad both played this match. In the first innings he was clearly holding back, just running in and putting the ball in. In the second, he knocked over Mumbai. Where does he stand now? Nobody knows. What is wrong with him? He only knows. But if he is not completely fit, as the selectors probably believe, he will do well to get fit, play more domestic cricket, bowl more spells like in the second innings, and get rid of Munaf the bad. Because when he is good, he is just too good.

Stuart MacGill expects to play in the first Test against Sri Lanka and is confident he can prove his fitness after minor knee surgery. MacGill had the operation last month and missed New South Wales’ opening Pura Cup match against Western Australia.Now he has only the game against Queensland next week to convince the national selectors he is ready to replace Shane Warne. “I know I’ll be fit to play,” MacGill said in the Australian. “I expect to play against Queensland and I expect to play in Brisbane [for the first Test].”The arthroscopic surgery has improved the movement in MacGill’s knee, which he injured during the pre-season boot camp in 2006. He had hoped to play at the WACA but it was only two weeks after the operation.”It wasn’t sore but it felt a little bit weak,” he told the paper. “I didn’t want to rush it so I thought I’d do the right thing by everyone.” If MacGill fails to be ready for the first Test, which starts on November 8, Australia will have to choose between playing a four-man pace attack or picking Brad Hogg or Dan Cullen to fill the spin duties.

Nathan Adcock’s position as captain of South Australia does not guarantee him a first-team place, SACA’s chief executive Mike Deare has confirmed. He said that two other potential captains are in the frame to take over if Adcock, who averages 8.33 in six first-class innings this season, does not merit a place as a batsman.”The reality is if Nathan doesn’t perform he will not be in the squad,” Deare told the . “I don’t think that would be a surprise for him to hear me say that.”This statement contradicts coach Mark Sorell’s pre-season guarantee that Adcock would play every match. “We want to back Nathan all the way through,” he said at the time, “because he is the man for the job.”Adcock took over the captaincy this year since Darren Lehmann was sacked, but has so far delivered only one win, in the FR Cup, a competition in which they have lost their other two matches.However, the two candidates over the off-season – Dan Harris and Cam Borgas – are far from able to guarantee their own places. Harris has only played one Pura Cup match, making 22 in two innings, while Borgas made three successive first-class ducks, before making 13 and in between he was overlooked for the defeat to Tasmania.News that Lehmann is struggling heavily with his achilles heel has piled on the misery for the Redbacks, who are reeling from three Pura Cup losses in three. Lehmann may not complete his final season with South Australia. “The only think I can say is that Darren’s fitness is not as good as everyone would have hoped,” Deare said. “He is having problems with an achilles heel.”

1993

December 14, Sydney

At the age of 26, Gary Kirsten makes his ODI debut. His career is not off to the best of starts, scoring 4 off 27 balls as South Africa were skittled for 69 against Australia.December 26-30, Melbourne
Kirsten makes his Test debut, scoring 16 in a match – the first Australia-South Africa Test since readmission – marred by rain.

1994

January 21, Melbourne
Opening with half-brother Peter, Kirsten scores an unbeaten 112 – his first ODI hundred – as South Africa clinch a 28-run win.

1995

November 30 – December 4, Johannesburg
Kirsten finally scores a Test hundred – his first – in his 17th Test in the first Test against England.

1996

February-March, Wills World Cup
Kirsten starts the tournament with an unbeaten 188 against UAE, the highest individual score in a World Cup match. However, South Africa lose in the quarter-finals against West Indies after winning all the matches in the group phase.April, Sharjah
Kirsten scores 356 runs in five innings, including two hundreds against India – one in the final, as South Africa win the triangular tournament, also involving Pakistan.October-December, South Africa’s tour to India
Kirsten amasses over 300 runs at an average of 50 in both the Titan Cup – including India and Australia – and the three Tests against India. He makes a century in each innings as South Africa win the second Test in Kolkata by 329 runs.

1998

June-August, South Africa’s tour to England
Kirsten scores his first double-hundred in the third Test at Old Trafford, that England save by the skin of the teeth.

1999

December 26-30 , Durban
Scores his Test best of 275 against England, the then joint-highest Test score for a South African batsman. Kirsten’s knock – which lasted 878 minutes – still stands as the second-longest innings (in terms of duration) in Test cricket.

2002

October 18, 2002, East London
With his hundred against Bangladesh, Kirsten became the first player to score a century against all other nine Test-playing nations.

2003

February-March, World Cup 2003, South Africa
Bows out of ODIs after South Africa’s bizarre first-round exit at home. In 185 ODIs, Kirsten has 6798 runs at an impressive average of 40.95.August 21-25, Leeds
Kirsten’s painstaking knocks of 130 and 60 set up South Africa’s 191-run victory in the fourth Test at Headingley, and prompted a rethink of his future.September 2

Defers retirement, which was originally intended to be after the fifth Test against England at the Oval.October 17-21, Lahore
Playing the first Test against Pakistan, he required ten stitches in his face when he missed an attempted hook shot off Shoaib Akhtar on the first day. To everyone’s surprise, he was batting again on the fourth morning

2004

March 15, South Africa’s tour to New Zealand
Kirsten confirms that he would retire from the game after the ongoing tour of New Zealand.March 18-22, Auckland
He becomes the first South African to play 100 Tests during the second Test against New Zealand.March 30, Wellington
Kirsten signs off his Test career in style, with a gutsy 76 in the third Test against New Zealand aiding South Africa to square the series. He finished with 7289 runs – including 21 hundreds – from 101 Tests, at an average of 45.27, being South Africa’s most-capped player and leading run-scorer at the time.April 24, 2004
Receives lifetime achievement award at the inaugural South African Cricket Awards.Post retirement, he stays involved with the game, mainly in coaching activities in South Africa. He spends time with the Warriors, a South African domestic franchise team, as a consultant batting coach. In 2006, Kirsten sets up his own academy in Cape Town.In April 2006, Kirsten powered South Africa to victory in the 20-20 World Cricket Classic in Bermuda, with centuries in the semi-final and the final.Kirsten conducts a week-long coaching clinic for the Zimbabwe national team in June 2007, before completing a Cricket South Africa Level 3 coaching course.He continues to be involved with the Gary Kirsten Cricket Academy, which conducts camps and performance programmes aimed mainly at cricketers in the age group of 16-24.

Two stalwarts of the English game have been honoured in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list. Clive Radley and Rachael Heyhoe-Flint have been rewarded for their services to cricket both on and off the pitch. Radley earns the MBE while Heyhoe-Flint gets an upgrade to OBE after being awarded the MBE 25 years ago.Radley, 63, played for Middlesex, Auckland and England during a first-class career spanning three decades from the mid-1960s. He finally made his Test debut in New Zealand in 1977-78 aged almost 34, and played eight Tests. But it is off the pitch where he has excelled as coach and he is now head coach with the MCC.Heyhoe-Flint’s contributions to the game are manifold. As an England captain with a shrewd business brain she raised the profile of the sport massively, quick to spot a media opportunity, and later a commentator.She even thought of the first World Cup – the women played theirs two years before the men – when, along with Sir Jack Hayward, they cooked up the idea for the women, who played their first tournament two years before the men. She took England to that title in 1973, the crowning glory of her captaincy which, from 1966, saw her unbeaten in six series.She became an MBE in 1972, and was a shoo-in as one of the first ten female members of the MCC in 1999 and in 2004 she became the first woman elected to the full committee, aged 64. She also represented England at hockey, playing in goal, and was for many years a director of Wolverhampton Wanderers.”I am naturally thrilled to bits,” Heyhoe-Flint told Cricinfo, “particularly that it has been awarded for services to cricket.”My MBE was for services to women’s cricket – so it is really pleasing that I have received the recognition for my deep involvement with the MCC and the Lady Taverners charity -one of the fund raising arms of the Lord’s Taverners – the official charity for recreational cricket.”Nowadays the Lady Taverners are sponsors of junior women’s cricket indoor and outdoor, club and county events for Under-13s and Under-15s, and also cricket events for youngsters with disabilities.

“I thought about this in Sydney in 2004,” said Anil Kumble with a smile, “but I think this time it will be my last match in Australia for sure.” The final Test in Adelaide offers India a chance to draw level but also promises to be the last time the five members of the golden generation will play in a Test match in Australia.Kumble has had a roller-coaster ride through his three tours here. He was rendered ineffective in 1999 before reviving his career last time around, snapping up 24 wickets in three Tests. He’s been a big threat here too and needs just two more victims to snap up 50 wickets in Australia. Among Indians, only Kapil Dev (51) has managed more.”It’s been fantastic in Australia,” said Kumble the day before the game. “It’s my third trip here and I’ve enjoyed all my visits. In terms of results, the last one was fantastic and this one as well. We’re thoroughly enjoying this tour. We came with the purpose of winning a series in Australia but haven’t achieved that. But we can hold our heads high after this – hoping we level the series. Future Indian teams will come here and look at the past. I’m really proud of what this team has done.”It was in Adelaide that Kumble saw his Test career being revived. Harbhajan Singh injured his finger and Kumble was given a chance in the second Test last time around. He endured a hammering on the opening day but came back with an iron-willed performance. “Indeed a special venue,” he said. “It all started here in 2003-04. It was important we won the Test and the last four years have been fantastic for me personally and for Indian cricket. Here we are again, with the opportunity to level the series. Having done well in the past in Adelaide, gives us the added confidence.”Was he confident that this bunch of five players – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and himself – could be replaced? “It’s difficult to replace anybody. You can see that in the current Australian team itself. Every team will undergo a transition. The key is how you handle it. There is definitely a lot of talent in India. It’s about ensuring they get the confidence and probably 4-5 years from now, you’ll have a good set of players to ensure India goes forward.”The most heartening aspect of this tour, according to Kumble, was the manner in which the young bowlers have exceeded expectations. RP Singh has grown into the leader of the pack, Irfan Pathan has shown the desire to come back and Ishant Sharma, just 19, has got tongues wagging with his seam movement. “I remember the first press conference here and I was asked about us picking up 20 wickets. We’ve shown we can do that. Although we don’t have the senior most bowler in terms of experience [Zaheer Khan] the young fast bowlers have stepped up.”

Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has said that Pakistan would not back down as hosts of the Asia Cup, scheduled in June. Ashraf has reacted to an offer by his Sri Lankan counterpart Arjuna Ranatunga to host the tournament due to the security situation in Pakistan following former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.”There is no way we would withdraw as Asia Cup hosts, then I don’t know why they [Sri Lanka] had to make such an offer,” Ashraf told the in Karachi.Ranatunga confirmed that Sri Lanka was willing to act as a back-up should both sides agree on a neutral venue but left that decision to Pakistan.”We have written and asked Pakistan if we can host the Asia Cup,” Ranatunga told in Colombo on Thursday. “It’s a sensitive issue, but we will understand if Pakistan refuse us.”The PCB had earlier ruled out hosting Australia in a neutral venue for the home series in March and April. General elections were due to be held in the country on January 8, but have now been postponed to February 18. A security delegation from Australia is expected to arrive after the elections and Ashraf has expressed confidence that both series would go on as planned.

Jimmy Maher has cut short his retirement plan, announcing he will quit from Queensland at the end of the state’s Pura Cup match against South Australia starting in Adelaide on Friday. Earlier in the season Maher announced he was standing down from the captaincy at the close of the summer but would stay on as a player.However, Maher’s up and down form this year, combined with seeing his friend and Bulls team-mate Michael Kasprowicz close his career, made him consider his immediate future. “It [retirement] has been on my mind and I must admit I tossed and turned a fair bit before I settled on this,” Maher said. “Coming here to make this announcement is probably the toughest thing I’ve had to do.”Maher, 34, needs only 99 in Adelaide to become the second player to score 10,000 first-class runs for Queensland, after his team-mate Martin Love. He is the second-most capped Bulls player with 154 first-class games and was the first Queenslander to reach the double of 100 Pura Cup matches and 100 domestic one-day games. However, Maher’s playing days might not be totally over and he is keeping his options open regarding the Twenty20 competitions in India.Maher will be remembered as an integeral part of the state’s strong top order that helped the side dominate the Australian domestic scene for a decade from the mid-1990s. At 21, he tasted Queensland’s first Sheffield Shield triumph in 1994-95.The Bulls went on to win four more titles under Stuart Law, including a hat-trick from 1999-2000 to 2001-02, before Maher took over as leader and guided them to success in 2005-06. His own contribution in that most recent result was to top score with 223 in Queensland’s total of 6 for 900.Maher said he was fortunate to play in such a strong era. “The first Shield win obviously – if I could pick a moment to replayagain, that would be it – but the 1996-97 Shield win in Perth was a special one too, as was the hat-trick of Pura Cup titles,” he said.”Then finally being able to hold up the Pura Cup as captain in 2005-06 was pretty amazing. I look back on the blokes I was fortunate enough to play alongside and pinch myself. If you’d ask me at the start if I could imagine playing 150 games for the Bulls, winning trophies for my state, playing for Australia and being a cricketer for 14 seasons and honestly I’d say ‘no I can’t’.”Maher’s 26-match ODI career did not bring great individual success, but he was part of the World Cup-winning squad in South Africa in 2003, when he was surprisingly selected as the back-up wicketkeeper. His only one-day international half-century had come at Centurion the year before, when he scored 95 against South Africa in his first game back in the side following two appearances four years prior.His domestic one-day highlights reel is dominated by a national-record score of 187 from 129 balls against Western Australia in 2003-04, and his 108 in their FR Cup final victory over Victoria last season was also memorable. Big scores became harder to come by this summer and his 298 Pura Cup runs came at an average of 19.86.The Bulls have one more Pura Cup match this season after the Adelaide game and the selectors will wait until that clash has concluded before deciding on a replacement captain. James Hopes, Chris Simpson and Chris Hartley have all led the state in limited-overs contests in the past two summers.

The Indian Premier League has extended its co-sponsorship deal with Hero Honda, India’s largest manufacturer of two-wheelers, from three to five years. The five-year deal is worth US$22.5 million.Hero Honda had earlier lost out on the title sponsorship rights for the IPL to real-estate developer DLF, who won the five-year contract for $50m. Last month, they had negotiated a three-year co-sponsorship deal, reportedly worth $4.5m per year.”I am very pleased to have the country’s largest two wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda extend its co-sponsorship deal from three to five years,” Lalit Modi, the IPL’s chairman and commissioner, said. “Hero Honda have a long association with cricket both at the domestic and international levels and their decision bears testimony to the fact that the DLF Indian Premier League is here to stay and is set to carve out a distinct niche for itself in the international cricketing calendar.”Incidentally, Hero Honda were represented for both the title sponsorship bid and the negotiations for the co-sponsorship deal by World Sports Group, who in alliance with India’s Sony Television network, secured the television rights for ten years at a cost of more than US$1 billion. The bids for the IPL’s eight-city based franchises had generated proceeds of $723.59m.The first edition of the IPL starts on April 18, with 59 matches to be played over 44 days.

Pakistan have included youngsters Shoaib Khan and Mansoor Amjad in the 15-member squad for the one-off Twenty20 international against Bangladesh in Karachi, the first Twenty20 international in the country.Shoaib is an opening batsman, while Amjad is a legspinner. However, it’s unlikely they will feature in the match, as the squad has all of Pakistan’s ODI regulars, except Mohammad Yousuf, who had been dropped for last year’s World Twenty20 as well. Nasir Jamshed comes in his place.Younis Khan, who had opted out of the ODI series before making himself available for the fifth one in Karachi, has been included as well.Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul, both of whom who made comebacks during the ODIs following injury layoffs, have been included in the squad, along with Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz and Rao Iftikhar Anjum.Pakistan Twenty20 squad: Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Fawad Alam, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Wahab Riaz, Shoaib Khan, Mansoor Amjad.