Indian Cricket Team Suffering from Fatigue?

India kicks off their twenty20 world cup 2009 campaign with the match against Bangladesh on 6 June, before facing Ireland on 10 June. Now, the question is that if Indian team is suffering from any kind of fatigue due to their tiresome international schedule over the last few months. First, India toured New Zealand and then Indian players took part in the IPL 2009 in South Africa. After that they returned to India and took part in training camp for the twenty20 world cup and then recently set out for England. So, there are enough reasons for Indian players to feel tired.

Well, India has a squad which seems to be best in the tournament, at least on paper. The team features a number of hard hitters who are among the best most fearsome big hitters. Most importantly, India has a very deep batting depth because of a number of quality all rounders. India’s bowling attack is also very balanced and features variety as it includes both right arm and left arm pacers as well as off spinner, leg spinner and left arm spinners. Most of the players can bowl to some extent and some of them are pretty much effective. The only worry is perhaps the team fatigue which could be crucial in the tournament.

Now, let us know what the Indian legends are thinking about think about the current Indian team, which is now in England to participate in world t20, and the probability of Indian team to defend the title. Sachin Tendulkar thinks that India will go into the tournament as a complete package which, he thinks, is best at this moment. Former Indian captain Anil Kumble also thinks that Indian squad is the most balanced and if Indian players can play according to their potential, then India will win the tournament again. Sunil Gavaskar does not think that Indian players are tired after playing in IPL 2009; rather, he believes Dhoni’s men will not suffer from fatigue. Australian legend Greg Chappell thinks India is the favorite side to win the title.

Related article:

ibtimes

Australia vs Bangladesh Preview, Live Score: T20 Practice Match 2009

Get the live updates of India vs New Zealand T20 World Cup 2009 Practice Match

Get the updated score of Pakistan vs South Africa T20 World Cup 2009

Short scorecard

Australia 219/6 (Watson 52, Haddin 47, M Clarke 35) Mahmudullah 4/37;

Bangladesh 181/7 (Shakib 54, Mahmudullah 31*, Ashraful 26) Johnson 3/21.

Australia will face Bangladesh in their first warm up match on 1 June ahead of twenty20 world cup 2009 which starts from 5 June 2009. Bangladesh team has already played 3 warm up games against Netherlands, New Zealand and Scotland. Winning two of the three matches, Bangladesh’s preparation for the twenty20 world cup has been pretty much satisfactory.

Match: Australia vs Bangladesh, Warm up Match, ICC World Twenty20 2009

Date: 1 June 2009

Venue: Nottingham, London

Kick off: 12:30 GMT (Local Time 13:30)

You might think that the match against Australia may not be an exciting match, given Bangladesh’s underdog status. Well, herein lies the excitement of twenty20 format of the game. Difference between two teams in t20 decreases significantly because the situation in the shortest version of the game could change after every few overs. I do not think that Australia would take Bangladesh lightly. Rather, they would like to have a very good preparation before heading to start their world twenty20 mission on 6 June.

Bangladesh lost to New Zealand by 4 wickets in the first practice match, but defeated Netherlands and Scotland with sheer comfort as Bangladesh clinched a 64 runs victory over the Dutch before winning over Scotland by 6 wickets. One thing is for sure that Bangladesh and Australia both would like to test their squad strength.

All rounder Mahmudullah and pacer Rubel Hossain are the biggest gainers of Bangladesh’s previous three practice matches. Mahmudullah scored 43, 56 and 46 in the warm up games, while Rubel Hossain picked up 9 wickets from 2 games. The main problem of Bangladesh team is their opening slot. Tamim Iqbal got some runs, but neither Junaid Siddique nor uncapped Shamsur Rahman could click in the practice matches. However, I think, Shamsur Rahman should be given another chance, even though the opener failed against Scotland. All rounder Naeem Islam played in the first warm up match against New Zealand and I think, he also deserves another game before the final event kicks off. Pacer Shahadat Hossain has not got any game yet and I think, it is necessary to give him a practice match.

Australia has a very strong squad compared to Bangladesh. Led by Ricky Ponting, the team features the all rounders like Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson and James Hopes. There are twenty20 specialists like David Hussey and David Warner. Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson have come back, and I think, they will be given a chance against Bangladesh. Nathan Hauritz, who is the only specialist spinner in the squad, would feature tomorrow. James Hopes had some good games in IPL 2009, and I think, he should also be given a game before the final event of twenty20 world cup starts.

Online live score and updates

I do not know which websites would give live score and updates of the match because I did not see any website giving live score of the practice matches. Even I did not find the live score of the warm up matches in Cricinfo. However, if the match between Australia and Bangladesh is shown live on television, then you would find live score in this website.

There is no doubt, Australia is favorite against Bangladesh, but it does not mean that you are going to see a one-sided match. Given the performance of Bangladesh team in the recent practice matches, I think, cricket fans could experience a very close game, if not an upset.

Ricky Ponting Survived a Wrist Blow

Australian captain Ricky Ponting survived a blow to his right wrist on Saturday. A Michael Hussey shot hit Ponting’s wrist, leaving the captain sidelined for the rest of the session. However, it has been reported that Ponting could avoid a major injury this time ahead of their world twenty20 mission starting from 6 June with their opening match against West Indies. It is noteworthy that the batsman underwent a wrist surgery last year.

No doubt, Ricky Ponting is one of the key player of Australian team and one of those few players who carry experience with him. So, missing the captain would have been a huge blow to Australia’s bid to win the twenty20 world cup 2009. The injury was minor and the team physio did not feel any need to have Ponting’s wrist X-rayed. Ponting is now preparing with Australian team at Nottingham for the upcoming twenty20 world cup 2009. Australia will play two warm up matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand on Sunday and Tuesday respectively.

Related article:

Cricinfo

India vs New Zealand Analysis and Live Score: T20 World Cup Practice Match

If you want to get the live score of the practice match between India and New Zealand of twenty20 world cup 2009, then visit the following link:

India vs New Zealand Practice Match Twenty20 World Cup 2009 Updates

India is the defending champion of the twenty20 world cup thanks to their triumph in 2007’s inaugural event. Naturally, the upcoming practice match between India and New Zealand on 1 June 2009 at Lord's, London has already caught the attention of many cricket fans who are like to see if Indian team remains the same force they were two years back in South Africa. You can write off New Zealand, considering the fact that the Kiwis defeated the Men in Blue in a two-match twenty20 series in New Zealand earlier this year.

Match: India vs New Zealand, Warm up Match, ICC World Twenty20 2009

Date: 1 June 2009

Venue: Lord's, London

Kick off: 16:30 GMT (Local Time 17:30)

Well, I think, the Indian squad still has enough strength to defend their title. The only problem is that some of their key players including Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh are not at the top of their form at this moment. If their players can play their natural game, then I do not think India should have any problem in defending their title.

There has been some concern in India that because of IPL, the national cricketers may be some tired now and it can hurt their prospect in the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup 2009. Sunil Gavaskar did not agree with it and in Hindustan Times he wrote:

There is some concern that the IPL would have left Indian players jaded but India has a fairly easy time after the World Cup, so the boys will be keen to give it their best.

The players also are a lot fitter and stronger nowadays, so fatigue shouldn’t be a worry. There are just two cities in England where the T20 World Cup is being played, so there won’t be any tiring travel either. The weather in England too will be better than it is in India.

New Zealand has a pretty balanced squad in the presence of some twenty20 specialists like Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Martin Guptill and Jacob Oram. No doubt, all of them are specialist hard hitters and are known for their big hits. I think, off spin all rounder Nathan McCullum and middle order batsman Neil Broom will be given a chance in the warm up game against India. Reserve wicketkeeper Peter McGlashan should also be given a chance in either of their two warm up games.

New Zealand pace attack includes the pacers like Iain O'Brien, James Franklin, Kyle Mills, Ian Butler and Scott Styris. Oram is also there with his medium fast, but I am not sure if he will be allowed to bowl, given his recent injury problem. I think, pacer Brendon Diamanti, who has only 1 ODI to his credit, should be given a chance against India in the practice match. Ryder’s medium pace has also been proven very effective. Their spin attack includes Captain Daniel Vettori and off spinner Nathan McCullum.

India has a fearsome batting line up that features the batsmen like Sehwag, Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Irfan Pathan who all the well-known for their hard hitting batting. Though opener Gambhir is not at his top form at this moment, given his ordinary display in IPL 2009, he poses a threat for the opposition bowlers. I think, India will play young Ravindra Jadeja in the warm up match.

India’s bowling attack is also very strong in the presence of the pacers like Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, the leading wicket taker of IPL 2009, Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan as well as spinners like Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Yusuf Pathan. There are occasional spinners like Yuvraj, Sehwag, Rohit, Raina and others. So, there is no doubt, India has a balanced squad that features many young players who are pretty much experienced.

Online Live Score and Updates

To be honest, I have not found any website which is giving live score of the warm up matches of twenty20 world cup 2009. Even Cricinfo is not providing live score. So, I am not yet sure which website would give the live score, but I find any site, I would definitely share it with you in this entry. However, if the match is shown live on television, then we will give you live score of the match.

India might be slightly favorite against New Zealand considering their squad strength, but you should keep it in your mind that some of the key performers of Indian team are currently not at the top of their form. So, I see 50-50 chance for both sides in the warm up match.

Pakistan vs South Africa Preview, Live Score: T20 Practice Match 2009

If you want to get the live score and updates of the first semi final match between Pakistan and South Africa, then visit the following link:

Pakistan vs South Africa T20 Live Online Updates:18 June 2009

To get the live updates of the warm-up match of t20 world cup 2009 between Pakistan and South Africa, you should visit the following link:

Pakistan vs South Africa T20 World Cup 2009 Practice Match Live Score

Pakistan and South Africa will face each other in a warm-up Twenty20 match on 1 June at Trent Bridge, Nottingham ahead of ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2009 which starts from 5 June. This is going to be the first of their two scheduled practice matches before the final event kicks off. Both Pakistan and South Africa would test their squad strength, in stead of focusing on the result of the game. However, it does not mean that Pakistan and South Africa will have no objective around this match. Of course, they would like to win in what would boost up their confidence level, but the main focus will be on having a good preparation for the final event of twenty20 world cup.

Match: Pakistan vs South Africa, Warm up Match, ICC World Twenty20 2009

Date: 1 June 2009

Venue: Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Kick off: 16:30 GMT (Local Time 17:30)

South Africa has been in excellent form of recent in all three formats. So, naturally the Protease would like to continue it in the upcoming twenty20 world cup too, but before they would like to test their squad strength against Pakistan. You might think that this is just a practice match and there would have enough excitement. Well, I do not think so. Though win or defeat would not be the main focus, but it does not mean that Pakistan and South Africa would let each other come, see and win on the field.

Pakistan has pretty strong batting line up in the presence of some of the big hitters like Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Salman Butt, Misbah-ul-Haq and Sohail Tanvir. Moreover, there are experienced batsmen like Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik who are also expected to play a big role behind Pakistan’s twenty20 world cup mission. I think, Pakistan should give a chance to their uncapped opener Shahzaib Hasan and another young opener Ahmed Shehzad in either of the two warm-up matches. To be honest, I believe, Pakistan would feature Shahzaib against South Africa.

Mohammad Aamer is another uncapped player in the Pakistan squad and I think, the pacer should also feature against South Africa. Pakistan has a very strong pace attack in the presence of Umar Gul, who is currently the highest wicket taker in Twenty20 international. Their pace attack also feature Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat and Iftikhar Anjum who replaced injured Shoaib Akhtar. In the presence of Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik, Pakistan seems to have very strong spin attack.

South African batting line up includes some of the biggest hitters of today including Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Albie Morkel, Roelof van der Merwe, Jean-Paul Duminy and Mark Boucher. So, there is no question regarding the quality and strength of their batting line up. Their pacer attack features pacers like Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell, Yusuf Abdulla, all rounder like Albie Morkel and Jacques Kallis. Led by Vice-captain Johan Botha, their spin attack includes Jean-Paul Duminy, Jean-Paul Duminy and Robin Peterson.

Online Live Score and Updates

Well, I did not see any website giving live score of the warm-up matches yet, not even Cricinfo. However, the match between Pakistan and South Africa is a big match, and I think, some websites including Cricinfo would give live score of the match, though I am not sure about it yet. However, I will share the online live score websites with you whenever I would know about any site giving live score of the match. If the match is shown live on television, then we will provide you live score with live text commentary.

Overall, I think, both sides have equal chances to win the match. Neither side would like to lose the match, even though they would be experimenting with the squad. So, I think, there will be sheer amount of excitement for the cricket fans in the match if both teams can live up to the expectation and play their natural cricket.

Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq: Now Eligible for Pakistan National Team

Two Pakistani ICL players, Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq, were cleared by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to play for national team once again having released from ICL contract. Now, both Yousuf and Razzaq are delighted to have been allowed to play for Pakistan again. They are now expecting to make their international return with next month’s Sri Lanka tour. PCB earlier said that Pakistani players could be back into national fold by terminating their contract with ICL by May 31.

Both Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq are two of the most experienced Pakistani cricketers. Naturally, their return would boost up the Pakistan squad. They have said that they missed playing for Pakistan. Veteran batsman Yousuf said that what happened is now past. He is now looking forward to be back in Pakistan team. Razzaq expressed that he felt relived at the news of being cleared by PCB, while Yousuf said that there was nothing that could give greater pride than playing for one’s country.

Related article:

indianexpress

Kevin Pietersen: Not Good in Twenty20 Format?

Well, do not blame me for the title because this is not my statement. To your surprise, the statement was made by hard-hitter English batsman Kevin Pietersen himself. To be honest, I also got shocked when I first found the statement made by the batsman. In fact, I think, Kevin Pietersen should be among the top ten batsmen of twenty20 cricket.

However, Kevin Pietersen has recently said that he is not good at twenty20 cricket because he did no play many matches in twenty20 format. He thinks that the more one will play in the shortest version of the game the better he would become in this format of the game. You might be surprised to know that Kevin Pietersen has been the most costly cricketer in IPL 2009, even though he played just few games for Bangalore Royal Challengers. However, he has also indicated that he has made some theories which he would implement in the coming twenty20 internationals and he is hopeful that his performance in twenty20 format would improve in future.

Related article:

PTI News

Ricky Ponting on Twenty20 World Cup 2009

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said that the upcoming twenty20 world cup 2009 is big incentives for Australia as they are currently hold the ICC World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy titles. Ponting added that winning all three tournaments would be a nice thing. He said that playing one or two twenty20 internationals and participating in twenty20 world cup are pretty much different in terms of preparation. Ponting thinks that it is necessary to be well prepared for twenty20 cricket.

Australian captain admitted that there are players in the Australian squad who did not play many twenty20 internationals, but he was happy to see some of the players had just come from IPL 2009. Ponting is also very delighted to have some time off from cricket as he missed IPL 2009 and Australia’s five-match ODI series and one-off twenty20 against Pakistan in UAE because he thinks remaining fresh is very important.

Related article:

Sky Sports

FA Cup Final 2009 Live on Sony Pix, ITV1 Channels

This is the last match of the 2008-09 season of English football and this is perhaps the second most prestigious trophy in English domestic football after premier league. There is no doubt, both Chelsea and Everton are determined to win the title in what would make their Summer vacation more enjoyable and exciting. Everton has not won any silverware since current manager David Moyes and the last time they won the FA Cup title was way back in 1995. Naturally, Everton players are now dying for silverware and the FA Cup 2009 title would make their otherwise descent season a great one.

Chelsea is also starving for silverware, compared to their record and performance since the turn of the century. The Blues were without any silverware last season and they have not won any trophy this season. They won FA Cup last time in 2007. So, Chelsea would try their best to avoid a second consecutive season without title. Moreover, Chelsea is going to play their last match under their short term coach Guus Hiddink. Naturally, Chelsea players would like to bid farewell to their inspirational manager with silverware. So, you can expect an exciting affair between Chelsea and Everton with both teams ready to show their best in their bid to win the title of FA Cup 2009.

Live on Sony Pix and ITV 1 TV Channels

The seemingly exciting match between Chelsea and Everton will be shown live on Sony Pix and ITV 1 television channels. European football fans would be able to watch the match live on ITV 1 television channel. ITV was fully criticized because of a broadcasting error that happened during Everton vs Liverpool fourth round replay, but still ITV is going to cover the final match of the tournament. This time, they are expected to be much more concerned about the matter. No doubt, the incident cost the TV channel its goodwill and they are now ready to retain their lost reputation by giving quality coverage of the final match between Chelsea and Everton. ITV is the oldest commercially run television channel in UK as the channel has been active since 1990.

In India the match will be shown live on Sony Pix television channel. Sony Pix is not a very popular channel in this region, and no many household has this channel in India and South Asia. Naturally, many football fans in this region are disappointed as they can not enjoy the exciting matches of FA Cup this season. I also got surprised to see that Sony Pix even did not try heart and soul to promote the channel and the competition in India. There are many people who even do not know which channel is showing the FA Cup 2008-09 matches. It is a very new channel which has very little amount of viewers. I think, Sony should have telecast the match live on its other popular channels like Sat Max or Sony TV.

Time and Venue

The match will be held at the Wembley stadium, London, England on 30 May 2009. The match kicks off at 15:00 BST (British Standard Time), 19:30 IST (Indian Standard Time), 20:00 (Bangladesh time). If you are an avid football fan, then I guess you might already know about the Wembley stadium. Still, I am giving some information about Wembley stadium here:

1. Wembley Stadium is the home venue of England national football team.

2. With 90,000 seating capacity, Wembely stadium is the second largest stadium in the world.

3. Each and every seat of the stadium is under cover. There is no bigger stadium than Wembley stadium where every seat is under cover.

4. This is one of the most expensive football stadium in the world.

5. As football is originated in England, the stadium is also termed as “The Home of Football.”

Sania Mirza to Marry Sohrab Mirza

Star Indian tennis player Sania Mirza is now all set to marry a Hyderabad-based business student named Sohrab Mirza. It has been reported that 22-year-old Sania Mirza will get engaged to 23-year-old Sohrab Mirza on July 10, but they are not going to tie the knot pretty soon as Sohrab Mirza is going to attain his MBA degree in UK. Sania’s father Imran Mirza has confirmed the news, stating that two are all set to get engaged very soon, even though the marriage will take place little later. Mr. Imran also ensured that Sania would not stop playing tennis after marriage. It has also been reported that Sania and Sohrab are known to each other for a number of years now. The two families are also friend and hail from Hyderabad.

Sania Mirza rose to stardom when she won a WTA tournament, and thus, becoming the first Indian tennis player to attain this achievement. Moreover, in 2005, Sania got into the top 50 of WTA ranking, another achievement that no other Indian tennis player could ever attain. With her unprecedented success as a tennis player from India, Sania Mirza gradually became a youth icon in India and her success led many young people to come to tennis in India. Sania was also reportedly linked with a romantic relationship with Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor and Telegu movie star Navadip Palaplu.

Now, it seems that Sania Mirza has got her man and from now on, there will be no more rumors regarding love relationship involving Sania Mirza.

Indian Captain Dhoni: Zaheer Khan Not 100% Fit Yet

Ahead of Twenty20 world cup 2009, starting from 5 June, Indian team left India for England. However, Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has already made it clear that ace pacer Zaheer Khan has not recovered 100 percent from his shoulder injury that he picked up while playing in IPL 2009 recently. However, Dhoni is hopeful that the pacer would regain his full fitness by the time India kicks off their twenty20 world cup campaign in Trent Bridge on 6 June against Bangladesh. India will play two warm-up matches against New Zealand and Pakistan on June 1 and June 3 respectively.

Well, Zaheer Khan is the key pacer of Indian squad and his recovery is very important for India in their bid to defend their title. Here, it is noteworthy that India won the twenty20 world cup in 2007 in South Africa. So, if you are a fan of Indian cricket team, then just pray for a quick recovery of Zaheer Khan.

Chelsea vs Everton Preview, Live Score: FA Cup Final 2009

English premier league 2008-09 season has already finished with Manchester United winning the third consecutive domestic league title. Now, there is only one match left to end the 2008-09 season of English football and that is the FA Cup Final 2009 between Everton and Chelsea. Chelsea finished third and Everton finished fifth in the league, even though the difference between the two teams was of 20 points. On the other hand, Chelsea did not lose to Everton since 2000 and Everton manager David Moyes failed to win over Chelsea, having tried 20 times so far. Anyway, none of these statistics seems to have any impact on Saturday’s (30 May) FA Cup Final 2009 at the Wembley stadium, London.

Match: Chelsea vs Everton; FA Cup Final 2009;

Date: 30 May 2009, Saturday

Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England

Kick off: 15:00 BST (British Standard Time)

Live TV: ITV Television Channel

In their bid to farewell their inspirational manager Guus Hiddink with a trophy, Chelsea is now gearing up to lift the FA Cup 2009 title in what would also help the Blues avoid second successive season without a silverware. Since joining Stamford Bridge in January 2009 on a short term deal, Hiddink, who is also in charge of Russian national football team, has helped Chelsea to reach the Champions league semi final, finish 3rd in the league and reach the FA Cup final. Overall, Hiddink’s performance was pretty much satisfactory, and given his excellent working relationship with the players, Chelsea players are keen to hand him a winning farewell. Under Hiddink, Chelsea won 16 out of 22 games including the only premier league defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

If Guus Hiddink is the man who can inspire his players to give their best on the field, then Everton manager David Moyes is the man who knows it very well how to win games despite having several restrictions. With limited resources, Moyes could successfully lead Everton to finish in the top five in premier league, and thus, ensuring qualification to European Cup and reach the FA Cup 2009 final. I think, the encounter between Chelsea and Everton is also a showdown between two of Europe’s best managers.

Everton won the FA Cup last time in 1995 and Barry Horne was one of the proud members of that Everton time. He recently expressed his delight at the performance of Everton this season. I am quoting the former Wales captain from BBC:

"And the successes they have had have come despite crippling injuries right down the spine of the team - long-term injuries to Yakubu, Arteta and latterly Jagielka, who has been a fantastic player for Everton.

"At times David has barely been able to put a bench together, but against this backdrop they have once again qualified for Europe, reached the FA Cup final and, for those who are willing to either look or care, played some very attractive football. It has been a fantastic season when examined in that context."

When it comes to injury, the two teams have contrasting feeling ahead of the FA Cup final match. Everton is going to miss some of their key players like midfield general Mikel Arteta, who has been in his way to become a legend of the Toffees, and defender Phil Jagielka, who became the player of the round at the FA Cup semi final, through injuries. Everton will also be without their key striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni who has not recovered from his long term injury.

On the other hand, Chelsea does not have any new injury woe. Rather, key midfielder Frank Lampard has shaken off his knee injury and is ready to feature against Everton at Wembley. Naturally, it would boost up Chelsea’s midfield strength if Lampard plays the final match. Brazilian defender Alex has also reportedly recovered from his injury and is all set to catch the trip to Wembley. That means, Chelsea has a number of options in central midfield position in the presence of Alex, Ricardo Carvalho and Juliano Belletti and Branislav Ivanovic. However, Hiddink has indicated that he might put Carvalho along with John Terry at the heart of their midfield. José Bosingwa and Ashley Cole will be deployed in the right and left wings respectively.

In the center of the midfield, there are two quality players in Mikel John Obi and Michael Ballack, while Florent Malouda will be deployed in the left wing position. There are two creative attack minded players in Michael Essien and Frank Lampard. I think, Chelsea would play Essien in right wing and Lampard in an attacking midfielder’s role just behind two strikers: Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. With 19 premier league goals, Anelka has been the leading scorer of 2008-09 season. The French international is also among leading the top scorers of FA Cup this season with 4 goals and another goal in the tournament final would earn him the single highest scorer of FA Cup this season.

However, there is no doubt, Chelsea’s Didier Drogba has been in excellent form recently and he is expected to be show another match winning performance for the Blues. Here, it is noteworthy that, Drogba scored the winning goal against Manchester United in the FA Cup 2007 final, the last time Chelsea won the FA Cup title. In an recently interview, Drogba said that winning the FA Cup title would be more important than just reaching the final. Here, I am quoting some lines from that interview:

A few weeks ago, we were battling on three fronts (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League) and today, we only have one chance left to win a title. It's a great opportunity. It's fantastic to be in the final but it's even more important to win it. It's even more important after all the efforts we made since January and we just have to deliver the final stroke to win the trophy.

But we are going to face a side (Everton) who may be even more motivated than us because it's not been a long time since we last won the Cup (2007). This final will be even more difficult than the one against Manchester United two years ago [in which Drogba scored the only goal in a 1-0 win.]

Though Everton is missing a number of players through injury, they have some match winners like Tim Cahill and Phil Neville. In the back, Everton have two good centre backs in Joseph Yobo and Joleon Lescott, alongside Leighton Baines in the left back. There are a number of options for the right back position including Tony Hibbert, Lars Jacobsen and Dan Gosling. In the midfield, Everton has creative midfielder like Australian star Cahill and former Manchester United player Neville who will be playing as a holding midfielder. There are some other quality midfielders in the presence of Steven Pienaar, defensive-minded Jack Rodwell and winger Leon Osman. Moyes is left with three key forwards: experienced Louis Saha, Marouane Fellaini, who has been in an excellent form since joining the club this season, and young Jose Baxter. However, there is no doubt, Tim Cahill will have a big part to play in their attacking line up.

Online Live Score and Updates

Here, I am giving websites from where you can get the live score and updates of the match:

Live Score

Goalzz

Live Football Scores

Goal.com

Footie Scorez

Overall, Chelsea seems to be a bit ahead of Everton in terms of strength, but I would not be surprised if Everton ends up winning the FA Cup title after 14 years, given their confidence booster victory over Manchester United in the semi final. In fact, both the previous two meetings of the two clubs in premier league this season ended up in goalless draws. I just hope that the players of both sides will live up to the expectation and that is what needed to experience a classic final tomorrow.

Tim Nielsen: Take Twenty20 Seriously

Australian coach Tim Nielsen has asked cricket community to take twenty20 format of the game seriously, putting an end to its exhibition status. Nielsen thinks that there should be three or five match Twenty20 series alongside ODI and test series in a full-fledged tour, and thus, making it more important to the participating team. Now, most of the cricket tours includes only one twenty20 match for which the participating teams do not bring any change in their squad and do not give much of important to the one-off twenty20 internationals.

Well, I also agree with Tim Nielsen. I think that twenty20 cricket has huge popularity among the cricket fans and when something has popularity among the general fans then it is useless to try to restrict the popularity at international level because the popularity of the shortest version of the game will keep growing thanks to its hard-hitting batting display and full of excitement. So, I think, every cricket tour should include at least a three-match twenty20 series.

Related article:

Cricinfo

Is APL is Going to be Empty Vessel that Sounds a Lot?

You know that last month, there was a lot of buzz in the media about American Premier League (APL). An American sports company is going to arrange it and they have already stated that six teams are going to play in it. There will be teams on the name of countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and West Indies. The organizers are hoping that there are a lot of people from South Asia and West Indies in USA. So, there is a market already exists for watching cricket on television and in the stadium. They have already promised that some big international cricketers are going to play.

 However, until now, we have not heard the name of any big player except perhaps Inzamam-ul-Haq. Richard Hadlee has also joined this venture. APL owner recently said that there had been a lot of offer for sponsorship from different companies because APL will attract many people of South Asian origin living in USA. However, what I feel is that all the things that have been said are very vake and unclear. There have been no specific names of companies or TV channels or even sponsorship bids. We still do not know which players from India are going to play in the event. We also do not know whether any current cricket player will also play there.

Andrei Arshavin: Hopeful of Better Performance Next Season

Many Arsenal fans have started to love Andrei Arshavin because of his good performance. He joined middle of the season and it is better to say that he joined towards the end of the season and he scored a number of goals. Not only that, he also scored four goals against Liverpool and this performance made him very popular among fans. Arshavin is also very good in creating opportunity for other players and it was the bad luck of Arsenal that he joined middle of the season. As a result, the Gunners could not have his service in Champions league trophy. This season, he was good, but he thinks that he will be better next season. Arshavin feels that next season, he can help Arsenal to win something. 

Andrew Flintoff out of T20 World Cup 2009

It is definitely bad news for English cricket fans ahead of ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2009. English all rounder Andrew Flintoff has now been ruled out of England’s twenty20 world cup mission as he failed to shake off his knee injury. The all rounder pulled himself out of IPL 2009 just after making a short presence in the twenty20 competition in South Africa last month, and then underwent a knee surgery. However, Flintoff could not yet recover from the injury fully and that is why, England selectors decided not to rush him for the upcoming event in England. Rather, they called up Yorkshire player Adil Rashid in his place. Flintoff also missed England’s recent home test and ODI series wins.

Well, it is a huge blow to miss someone like Andrew Flintoff, who is known for his big hits, but still I think England is a strong side in the tournament and I would not surprise if England end up winning Twenty20 world cup this year.

Related article:

USA Today

Adam Gilchrist: Symonds Should have been in Ashes 2009 Squad

Former Australian Adam Gilchrist has recently expressed his surprise at former team mate Andrew Symonds’ exclusion from Australia’s Ashes 2009 Series which will take place in England. Gilchrist was full of praise about Symonds while talking about talking about IPL 2009 where he captain Deccan Chargers to win the title. He said that Symonds was a key performer for Deccan this year besides stating that Symonds has the ability to turn the matches. Adam Gilchrist thinks that Symonds should have been included in Ashes squad.

Well, I also agree with Gilchrist on this regard. I admit that Symonds did not have good time over the last one year as he was suffering from injury and disciplinary problems too often. However, the all rounder retuned to Australian team with the series against Pakistan in UAE and indicated to get back his top form, and then finally in IPL 2009, he showed that he still deserved a place in Australian squad. I support Australian selectors’ youth policy, considering the long term benefit of the team. However, you can not forget the present in order to focus only on the future. Players like Hayden, Gilchrist, McGrath, Warne, McGill and many more already retired. So, there are lots of places in the squad left to bring new faces and I do not think that Symonds’ exclusion was a right decision.

Related article:

AFP

Mohammad Yousuf Cut Ties with ICL

You can see Mohammad Yousuf playing for Pakistan during Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka which begins from June 27. The veteran batsman has recently sent a NOC from IPL to the board, and thus, ensuring his quit with the rebel league. As such, it seems that Mohammad Yousuf has no more problems in his return to the national team. However, PCB has indicated that the player might face financial fine because of joining ICL last year.

Mohammad Yousuf is also looking for a national call up and is hopeful to come back to the national fold very soon. Well, it has been reported that the final decision would be taken PCB chairman Ijaz Butt. ICL has released 50 local and foreign cricketers from their contract recently.

Related article:

Press Association

Twenty20 World Cup 2009 Live on ESPN and Star Cricket TV Channels

Twenty20 world cup 2009 starts from 5 June in England with 12 teams participating in the tournament. After the success of twenty20 world cup 2007, cricket fans are now expecting another highly competitive tournament this time. The good news for South Asian cricket fans is that all the 27 matches of the tournament will be shown live on Star Cricket television channel.

Star Cricket is a 24-hour cricket channel operated by ESPN Star Sports in South Asia. It mainly covers major cricket tournaments like twenty20 world cup, ICC world cup and many others. ESPN Star Sports holds the official television rights of International Cricket Council (ICC) by which they are allowed to cover all the cricket tournament organized by ICC.

Well, Star Cricket will telecast the matches with Hindi commentary for the Indian cricket fans, while all the matches will be live on ESPN television channel with English commentary in South Asia. A 13-member team of quality commentators like Ian Chappell, Sanjay Manjrekar, Kepler Wessels, Wasim Akram, David Lloyd, Nasser Hussain, Jeremy Coney and Ian Bishop will provide you with their commentary in ESPN and Star Cricket.

ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2009: Netherlands Squad

It has been more than a decade Netherlands has come into international arena through the 1996 ICC World Cup. However, Dutch side could not make any giant leap in world cricket yet, but they remained as one of the striking force outside top ten test playing nations. Netherlands was one of the finalists of the qualifying tournament of ICC twenty20 world cup alongside Ireland, but the main did not take place due to rain, but both teams got the tickets of ICC Twenty20 world cup 2009 which will start from 5 June 2009 in England.

Netherlands announced their 15-member twenty20 squad for the tournament on 4 May. The squad includes a number of players who plays in county cricket in England. There are a number of quality players like left arm pacer Dirk Nannes, who currently plays for Victoria and Delhi Daredevils of IPL. Opener Darron Reekers is a hard hitting batsman, while all rounder Mudassar Bukhari is another batsman who can hit the ball hard among the Netherlands cricketers.

Ryan ten Doeschate is perhaps the most important batsman who plays for Essex. No doubt, he has to play a big role if the Dutch wants to show some impressive performance in the upcoming tournament. The squad features some other batsmen including Captain Jeroen Smits, Eric Szwarczynski, Alexie Kervezee, who is the youngest member of the squad, Bas Zuiderent and Tom de Grooth.

Netherlands pace attack includes Nannes, Edgar Schiferli, Maurits Jonkman, Ruud Nijman and Peter Borren, while their spin attack features leg spinner Daan van Bunge and left arm spinner Pieter Seelaar. Jeroen Smits will keep the wicket, but there is a reserve keeper in Zuiderent.

Netherlands is in Group B alongside England and Pakistan. Their twenty20 world cup mission starts on 5 June with the match against England. The Dutch will face Pakistan on 9 June.

Netherlands Squad for ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2009

Jeroen Smits (c), Ryan ten Doeschate, Darron Reekers, Eric Szwarczynski, Alexie Kervezee, Bas Zuiderent, Tom de Grooth, Dirk Nannes, Edgar Schiferli, Pieter Seelaar, Maurits Jonkman, Ruud Nijman, Peter Borren, Mudassar Bukhari and Daan van Bunge

Practice Matches Schedule of T20 World Cup 2009

Get the live updates of India vs New Zealand T20 World Cup 2009 Practice Match

Get the updated score of Pakistan vs South Africa T20 World Cup 2009

Twenty20 (t20) world cup is going to start from June 5 2009. This is the second edition of this event. In fact, now, we have 3 world cup cricket events: ICC World Cup (ODI matches and consisting of 16 countries), Champions Trophy (Consisting of just 8 countries) and Twenty20 World Cup (12 countries). It is needless to say that cricket is far behind than football in popularity but I think that after World Cup football, world cup cricket has largest TV viewership in terms of number. So, you cannot ignore the importance of this event.

T20 World Cup 2009 is taking place in England and this time, the fans expect to see a lot of fours and sixes. The first edition took place in 2007 and in the final, India and Pakistan played. It was indeed a dream final for most fans in South Asia. This time, the fans of South Asia have same wanted- another India Pakistan classic final. I still remember the final match of 2007 and in fact, we gave live score in this blog. That day, nearly 40,000 people came to enjoy our live coverage. From this, you can understand the popularity of T20 cricket.

Now, it is the time of practice matches for T20 World Cup 2009. Today, Bangladesh played against New Zealand and NZ won the match by 4 wickets. Tomorrow, Ireland will play against New Zealand. Then, there are some other matches too and the practice matches will continue until 3 June 2009. In the last day, India will play against Pakistan. So, it will be like a final before final as millions of people will enjoy this match around the world although it is just a practice match.

Here, I am giving the schedule for you of the practice matches of Twenty20 World Cup 2009:

May 26 Tuesday: Bangladesh v New Zealand

May 27 Wednesday: 13:00 GMT Ireland v New Zealand

May 28 Thursday: 12:30 GMT Bangladesh vs Netherlands

May 29 Friday: Bangladesh vs Scotland

June 2009

June 1 Monday

12:30 GMT Australia v Bangladesh

12:30 GMT Ireland v Netherlands

16:30 GMT India v New Zealand

16:30 GMT Pakistan v South Africa

2 June Tuesday

12:30 GMT Ireland v West Indies

12:30 GMT Bangladesh v Sri Lanka

16:30 GMT Australia v New Zealand

16:30 GMT England v Bridge, Nottingham

3 June Wednesday

12:30 GMT South Africa v Sri Lanka

2:30 GMT Netherlands v Scotland

16:30 GMT England v West Indies

16:30 GMT India v Pakistan

For detailed information, visit the schedule page of Cricinfo: http://content.cricinfo.com/wt202009/content/series/393527.html?template=schedule

So, now you have the full schedule. So, enjoy the matches.

Twenty20 World Cup 2009: West Indies Squad

West Indies squad for ICC Twenty20 world cup 2009 has been announced on 7 May 2009. The 15-member squad, led by batsman Chris Gayle, includes twenty20 specialists like Kieron Pollard. The squad has a number of hard hitters like Captain Chris Gayle, Xavier Marshall, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard. Moreover, there are some other quality batsmen like veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Lendl Simmons and Denesh Ramdin. Ramdin in their main wicketkeeper, but the selectors named Andre Fletcher as reserve wicketkeeper.

However, the main strength of the West Indies squad is the number of all rounders it features. There are at least 5 all rounders including David Bernard, Pollard, Sulieman Benn, Bravo and Darren Sammy. However, there is one weakness in the side and that is lack of quality spinner. Left arm spinner Sulieman Benn is the only specialist spinners alongside the occasion spinner like Chris Gayle. Let us now focus on the pace department of West Indies squad.

To be honest, West Indies squad perhaps features the most number of pacers among the competing teams of the tournament. In fact, there are seven pacers in the squad: Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards, Lionel Baker, Dwayne Bravo, Bernard, Pollard and Sammy. Overall, I do not think it is a balanced squad. West Indies selectors should have included a few more spinners or spinner all rounders.

The tournament kicks off on 5 June 2009. West Indies was drawn into Group C where they will face Australia and Sri Lanka. Their twenty20 world cup mission starts on 6 June when they take on Australia, before meeting Sri Lanka on 10 June. Last year, West Indies failed to reach the super eight after losing to Bangladesh. So, West Indies cricket fans are expecting something better from their favorite team in the upcoming twenty20 world cup.

West Indies Squad for ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2009

Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Xavier Marshall, Lendl Simmons, Ramnaresh Sarwan, David Bernard, Kieron Pollard, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Fletcher, Lionel Baker, Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards

T20 World Cup Practice Match: New Zealand Defeat Bangladesh by 4 Wickets

In the end, it was a good match for Bangladesh team because they did not lose by a use margin. England is a very tough place for any Cricket team of South Asia and I’m happy that Bangladesh could have a good practice match against New Zealand. The tigers batted first and could score 146/6 from there allotted 20 overs. It was not a huge total and New Zealand has a good batting lineup. Guptil scored the highest 61 runs for the kiwi. In the end, they could reach the target with almost five overs to spare. It is a good to win For the kiwis. They are hoping that they can cause some big upsets in Twenty20 world cup cricket 2009.

Barcelona vs Manchester United: Different Business Models

It is that clash of two of the largest clubs in Europe and whoever will win tomorrow will take away the coveted prize of championship of champions league. They are from two different countries: England and Spain. Manchester united Is the top level of England football and this season, they have on the title of the English premier league very easily. On the other hand, Barcelona is one of the top two teams of Spain and they have achieved a similar success in Spanish league football this season. There is no doubt that some of the greatest players of our time to play in these two clubs. However, despite all the similarities there is one big difference in the way they do business.

Guardian has written a very excellent report about it:

The contrasts appear so clear as to be blinding. Barça, who cannot be bought and whose president must stand for election by the fans; United, taken over against the wishes of the fans and the board itself by the Glazer family, who have loaded the club with around £700m of debt and own it, via a thicket of companies, in the low-tax US state of Nevada. Barça, flagbearers for the idea that a football club is a home of belonging; United, epitomising the English belief that the free market, and billionaires, must rule even sport.

So, Tomorrow we will see the conflict of to business models and two business cultures. We will have to wait another 24 hours to know the result.

Barcelona vs Manchester United CL Final 2009: Live Score and Analysis

If you want to get the live score and updates of Champions league final 2009 between Barcelona and Manchester United, then visit the following link:

Barcelona vs Manchester United UEFA Champions League 2009 Final Live Updates

In the much-awaited final match of Champions league 2008-09 will see defending champion Manchester United and Spanish giant Barcelona facing each other at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy on 27 May 2009. This is the match for which millions of football fans are now eagerly waiting. No doubt, both the sides have been in excellent form so far this season and already clinched their domestic league title. Defending champion Manchester United is looking to make history by successfully defending Champions league title this season, while Barcelona is gearing up to take revenge of last season’s semi final defeat to Manchester United in Champions league and repeat their European success in 2006 when they clinched their second ever Champions league title.

Match: Barcelona vs Manchester United; UEFA Champions League Final 2009;

Date: 27 May 2009, Wednesday

Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy

Kick off: 19:45 BST (British Standard Time)

Manchester United ensured their hat-trick of premier league title last week and is now looking for their fourth title this season. They have already won FIFA Club World Cup, Carling Cup and Premier League titles so far this season. Naturally, you do not need to think twice regarding the strength of the Red Devils. The only tournament they failed to win so far is FA Cup where they were knocked out by Everton at the semi final. So, Ferguson boys are now full of confident going into the upcoming showdown against Barcelona.

Catalan club Barcelona also has some tremendous success this season. They have already won Spanish Cup and League titles as some of their star players like Henry, Eto’o are playing at their top. Barcelona is now hoping to win treble this season in what would be an extraordinary debut season for coach Pep Guardiola. Barcelona might have lost their recent league game to Osasuna at home, but they are less likely to be short of confidence while taking on Manchester United in Rome’s final.

Road to Final

Manchester United was drawn into Group E alongside Villarreal, Denmark’s Aalborg BK and Scottish club Celtic. The Red Devils reached the first round of knock out stage as the group champion with 10 points from 6 games. Here, it is noteworthy that Manchester United did not lose any game in the tournament so far. In the first round of knock out stage, Ferguson boys outperformed Italian giants Inter Milan 2-0 on aggregate, before defeating FC Porto 3-2 on aggregate in the quarter final. A semi final with Arsenal was considered to be a highly competitive, but Manchester United thrashed Arsenal 4-1 on aggregate in the semi final, and thus, reaching the final of the tournament. Overall, Manchester United did not have to struggle to reach the final.

For Barcelona, the journey was not as easier as Manchester United. They reached the last 16 as the champion of Group C where Portuguese club Sporting CP, Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk and Basel from Switzerland were the other competitors, but Barcelona lost a match to Shakhtar on the road. However, Barcelona showed their attacking strength when they thrashed French giants Olympique Lyon 6-3 on aggregate in the first knock out round of Champions league. They continued their dominance in the quarter final too where they clinched a 5-1 aggregate victory over German club Bayern Munich. However, the Catalan side faced huge challenge against English club Chelsea in the semi final. The first leg was finished in goalless, but an injury time equalizer from Andrés Iniesta in the second leg earned Barcelona a place in the final.

Injury News

The good news for Manchester United fans is that star defender Rio Ferdinand is now available for the Champions league showdown with Barcelona. Ferdinand picked up a calf injury during Manchester United’s second leg Champions league semi final victory over Arsenal on 5 May. Since then the defender was sidelined and even missed the recent 1-0 victory over Hull City in the last match of premier league season. However, the English international took part in the training session at the weekend and is expected to be fit enough to feature against Barcelona. Moreover, Wes Brown made a come back to United’s first team in the match against Hull City alongside Captain Garry Neville. However, midfielder Darren Fletcher will not be bale to play the final match due to suspension.

Barcelona also has a number of reasons to be happy ahead of Manchester United clash in Rome. First of all, two of their key players: Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta- seem to have recovered from their respective injuries and are now ready to come back in action against Manchester United. Striker Henry was sidelined with a ligament injury during Barcelona’s 6-2 mauling of Real Madrid. Iniesta, who scored the injury time equalizer at Chelsea in the second leg semi final, also shook off his thigh injury. Both the players took part in the training session on Monday, before leaving for Rome. There are two suspension problems for Barcelona as right back Dani Alves and left back Eric Abidal both will miss the Champions league final due to suspension. Barcelona’s worry for the back line extends in the absence of centre back Rafael Márquez who is currently suffering from injury.

Manchester United Probable XI and Formation

Manchester United has a long squad in which they have a number of quality players in each and every position on the field. Let us first focus on their defense line up. No doubt, Manchester United’s back line would be boost up, if Rio Ferdinand comes back after recovering from calf injury. Ferdinand would pair up with Nemanja Vidic at the heart of United defense. However, if he can not make it to the final eleven, then Jonny Evans is most likely to play alongside Vidic in the central defense. Ferguson will have to choose between captain Garry Neville, who returned to action in the last premier league victory over Hull City, and John O'Shea. Ferguson also has a fit Wes Brown who returned in action against Hull City, and thus, making it a tough decision for Ferguson to choose the right back. I think, John O'Shea should be in the first eleven because Neville was sidelined most of the season due to injury and did not have enough first team football.

Let us come to Manchester United midfield which boasts of a number of quality players and Ferguson might have some tough time to pick up his midfield general. Michael Carrick will be deployed as a holding midfielder, while Paul Scholes will partner with Carrick in the central midfield as Darren Fletcher is suspended for the final. Anderson is another quality player for central midfield.

In the left wing, there are Ryan Giggs and Nani, but I think, Giggs should come into the first eleven on the back of his experience and excellent form of recent. Left winger Cristiano Ronaldo played as striker on a number of occasions this season with Korean international Park Ji-Sung taking up the role of left winger. However, for the Champions league final, I think, it would be better to play Ronaldo in the left wing position, even though Park Ji-Sung is an excellent left winger who can run all the time and is ready to take up any role given to him. I think, Dimitar Berbatov or Carlos Tévez would be deployed in the up front with creative striker Wayne Rooney playing just a bit behind. I prefer Tevez to Berbatov in the main striker’s role. There is no doubt that Edwin van der Sar would be in United goal as usual.

To me, Manchester United should play in 4-4-1-1 formation. In this formation, they will be bale to make the best use of two wings, creating enough space but without exposing the defense. Rooney will connect United midfield with striker Tevez in this formation. You can see here how the formation would look like:

---------------------------Tevez--------------------------

---------------------------Rooney-------------------------

--Giggs------Carrick--------------Scholes---------Ronaldo--

--Evra------Ferdinand-------------Vidic------------O'Shea--

-----------------------Edwin van der SAR-------------------

The 4-4-1-1 formation could be turned into a 4-2-3-1 formation as well without bringing any big change whenever it is needed. In the 4-2-3-1 formation, there will be no change in the back line, but Carrick and Scholes will be deployed with deeper role. That means, Carrick and Scholes will be playing with more defensive intent in this formation and two wingers: Ronaldo and Giggs will be playing with more attacking intent and both the wingers will be playing in the same line alongside Rooney who will be playing in the middle. Tevez will have to play a busy role in this formation as cross and passes from the two flanks should come in a flurry, and thus, Rooney could create more scoring chances, because Barcelona defenders will spend a busy time to restrict the United wingers. However, I think, Manchester United should start with 4-4-1-1 formation initially, but they could turn it into 4-2-3-1 later on. Here, you can see how 4-2-3-1 formation would look like:

---------------------------Tevez------------------------

--Giggs------------------Rooney----------------Ronaldo--

-----------------Carrick-----------Scholes----------------

--Evra--------Ferdinand-----------Vidic---------O'Shea--

-------------------Edwin van der SAR--------------------

Probable XI (Manchester United)

Edwin van der SAR, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, John O'Shea, Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.

Barcelona Probable XI and Formation

As I earlier mentioned that Barcelona is suffering a lot in their defense due to suspension and injury. No doubt, manager Pep Guardiola will face tough challenge to form his back line in the absence of three regular defenders. There is little doubt over the two central defenders: Gerard Pique and Captain Carles Puyol. Sylvinho seems to be the most likely replacement of Abidal, while it will be interesting to see whom between Víctor Sanchez and Martin Caceres will be picked up for the right back position by manager Guardiola. I think, Sanchez should be given priority here because of his versatility.

Barcelona has a very strong midfield, though it is not as big as Manchester United. Yaya Toure will be deployed as a holding midfielder, while Xavi Hernandez will be there with his creativity in the central midfield. Xavi has the ability to control the midfield which will be very important for the encounter against defending champions. Andrés Iniesta is a good dribbler and he could be a threat for Manchester United defense in the left wing. Lionel Messi is a player who could play both in the right wing as well as a second striker or attacking midfielder behind the striker/s deployed up front. I would prefer Messi playing as an attacking midfielder just behind strikers Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o. Víctor Valdes will be in the Barcelona goal.

I think, Barcelona should play in 4-2-2-2 formation. After the back four, Toure and Xavi will be playing as defensive midfielder, while Iniesta and Messi will be deployed a bit ahead of the two defensive midfielders. Then Henry and Eto’o will be the two strikers up front. However, you can also consider it as conventional 4-4-2, but I think, both Xavi and Toure will play with defensive intent, while Iniesta and Messi will have attacking intent. Here, you can see what the formation would look like:

------------------------------Eto’o---------------------Henry-------------------------

---Iniesta-----------------------------------------------------------------Messi-------

-------------------------------Xavi------------------Toure----------------------------

--Sanchez---------------------Pique-----------Puyol----------------Sanchez------

--------------------------------------Víctor Valdes-----------------------------------

Probable XI (Barcelona)

Víctor Valdes, Víctor Sanchez, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry

Online Live Score and Updates

The match will be live on Sky Sports television channel in England and Ten Sports television channel in Asia. However, if you can not manage your time to watch the match live on television, then you can get the live score and updates of the match from the following websites:

Live Score

Goalzz

Live Football Scores

Goal.com

Footie Scorez

Overall, I think, both sides have enough chances to win the match as both teams include some of the match winners who can single-handedly steal the show in favor of their teams. I do not think it is going to be a one-sided affair. Rather, I think, there is every possibility to see a classic match between Barcelona and Manchester United.