Dravid, Jayawardena Appointed to ICC Cricket Committee

Former India captain Rahul Dravid and ex-Sri Lanka captain    Mahela Jayawardena have been appointed to the ICC Cricket Committee, adding even more cricketing experience to the list of eminent people already on the committee.

Dravid and Jayawardena have played 1,161 international matches between them from 1996 to 2015, and each has been appointed for a three-year term. They will attend their first meeting at Lord’s on 31 May and 1 June, three weeks before the ICC Annual Conference takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Dravid, along with former Australia off-spinner and ex-Chief Executive of Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA), Tim May, have been elected by the current Test captains as current player representatives, replacing former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, who has completed his final three-year term, and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, who has completed his three-year term. Jayawardena has been appointed as a past player representative and takes over from former Australia captain Mark Taylor, who has also completed his final three-year term.

Richard Kettleborough, three-time ICC Umpire of the Year, has been appointed as umpires’ representative in the committee and replaces Steve Davis, who retired last year.

Meanwhile, Anil Kumble has been re-appointed as the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee for a three-year term. The former India captain was appointed as the Chair in 2012 and will now continue to head the group until 2018.

ICC General Manager – Cricket, Geoff Allardice, who also administers the ICC Cricket Committee meeting, said: "I want to thank Mark Taylor, Kumar Sangakkara, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Steve Davis for their significant contribution to this committee."

“I welcome Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardena, Tim May and Richard Kettleborough, and I am confident that these highly credentialed individuals will carry on the good work of their predecessors to make the sport even more competitive and attractive.”

KOHLI SUGGESTED NEW COACH FOR INDIA...!

Former New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori, who is currently the head coach of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore and Big Bash side Brisbane Heat, could find himself in the running for the position of "India's National Coach".

India and RCB skipper Virat Kohli, who took over the reins of the Test side from MS Dhoni after the latter's retirement from the game's longest format in December 2014, has suggested Vettori's name for the high-profile job.

In line with the trend of international captains getting to have a say in the appointment of a coach ­ considering the way Greg Chappell and Gary Kirsten were handed the responsibilities in the past ­ Kohli seems to be convinced that Vettori is the right man for the job.

Vettori's name has indeed been suggested by Kohli but there was no confirmation yet if the BCCI is giving the New Zealander a serious thought yet.

With India scheduled to play 18 Test matches between June 2016 and March 2017, the appointment of a national coach could come around any time soon.

Vettori announced his retirement from international cricket in March last year after New Zealand suffered a heartbreak in the final of the ICC World Cup in Melbourne against Australia.
He had already been coaching the Royal Challengers in the IPL since 2014 and is therefore two years into the role of a coach, a job that he seems to be enjoying thoroughly .

Vettori replaced the experienced Stuart Law at Brisbane, signing a three-year contract. It is to be seen if India do go by Kohli's suggestion and hand Vettori an offer letter, and if he will be able to wriggle out of his Big Bash duties.

The Kiwi has been full of praise for Kohli too in his last few years at the RCB, first as skipper and then coach. Incidentally, when he took over as the RCB captain in 2013, Kohli had replaced Vettori for the role.

TOI had reported last month about BCCI approaching Rahul Dravid for the role of the head coach but the former India captain later said he would have to weigh the decision with a lot of consideration. "Any decision that I make at this stage of my life would depend on whether I have the bandwidth to do all of these things," Dravid was quoted as saying in early April, after which he got busy coaching the Delhi Daredevils.

While the details are not out yet on what the BCCI is thinking, it seems to be clear now that barring the role of the chief coach, there won't be any other new appointments for now. Assistant coaches Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun and R Sridhar are likely to continue with their jobs.

MICKEY ARTHUR AS PAKISTAN COACH

Mickey Arthur, has been appointed the head coach of the Pakistan, A 47-year-old South African takes over from Waqar Younis, who stepped down from the post following Pakistan's lacklustre show at the recently concluded ICC World Twenty20.
Arthur's appointment comes after several deliberations within the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which embarked on a carefully regimented policy to find a suitable coach before the national team's tour of England in July. Stuart Law, Dean Jones and Andy Moles were said to be other candidates considered for the job before the board narrowed down on Arthur.
Arthur played 110 first-class games between 1987 and 2001 before taking over as the head coach of the South African national side in 2005. He forged a successful partnership with captain Graeme Smith leading South Africa to various Test honours, including a series win in England after 43 years.
Arthur coached many T20 franchise sides across the world – Dhaka Dynamites in Bangladesh Premier League, Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League, and going to be coach for Karachi Kings in Pakistan Super League in 2016.

SANIA'S LIFE ON TO BOOKS NOW

Indian tennis star SANIA MIRZA has documented her journey to become the Worlds No-1 in womens double rankings in an auto biography set  for release for this july.sania has written this book with her  father IMRAN MIRZA.
The book has titled a name with "ACE AGAINST ODDS", in this book they are going to explain about how sania achieved her goals to stand up No-1 position in world and her auto biography.
Karthikya V K,publisher and chief editor of HARPER COLLINS has said it is very privileged to work with sania mirza ,and to publish this book.

“I hope the book is a useful roadmap to guide the next generation of tennis players from India. If my story can inspire even one youngster to the heights of winning a Grand Slam in the future, I will feel blessed,” says Mirza. - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/tennis/sania-mirza-autobiography-ace-against-odds-to-hit-stands-in-july-tennis-2783871/#sthash.dsRaEhzA.dpuf

“I hope the book is a useful roadmap to guide the next generation of tennis players from India. If my story can inspire even one youngster to the heights of winning a Grand Slam in the future, I will feel blessed,” says Mirza. - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/tennis/sania-mirza-autobiography-ace-against-odds-to-hit-stands-in-july-tennis-2783871/#sthash.dsRaEhzA.dpuf

"I hope the book is useful road map to guide next generation tennis players from India. if my story can inspire even one young star to the heights of winning a grand slam in the future",I will feel blessed,says  MIRZA.
In this book she explains some memorable encounters of the players on and off the court and relation ships that have contributed to her growth her a person and a sports person.