Rain Washed over First T20

The thousands who thronged the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam to watch its first ever Twenty20, and Yuvraj Singh's long-awaited comeback from cancer, had to go home disappointed as rain had the final say. Persistent rain in the evening meant that the toss was itself a non-starter. The match was called off without a ball bowled nearly an hour.

There was some consolation for the crowd, though, as Yuvraj made an appearance to loud cheers when he was felicitated by the local association, despite the drizzle. The rain has been a continuing trend in this tour. The Tests at Hyderabad and Bangalore had weather interruptions, but India managed to secure wins in both. The teams will now head to Chennai for the second and final Twenty20 on Tuesday. From the teams' perspective, the rain couldn't have come at a worse time, given that the World Twenty20 is only a couple of weeks away. They will hope for better weather in Chennai, or risk going to Sri Lanka short on T20 practice

Sachin Is Not Down Yet

Sanjay Manjrekar has felt that Sachin Tendulkar should continue to be a part of the Indian batting line-up at least until the end of the South African tour in late 2013.

The former middle order batsman has said that Sachin is "not finished as yet" and should be a part of the touring party to South Africa.

Tendulkar, 39 was bowled in all the three innings in the recently concluded Test series against New Zealand prompting many to predict an end to his long and illustrious career.

"To me, the way Tendulkar got out in his three innings against New Zealand does not suggest by any stretch of the imagination that he is finished as an international batsman."

"I will stand by what I have said all along about Tendulkar, that his run-making at the international level will stop only when he stops playing. Until then, he may not dominate as he used to but he will still be a good enough batsman to get runs at the highest level, and to add value to the Indian team, especially in Test cricket," Manjrekar wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.

Manjrekar argued that Tendulkar is not the first batsman to struggle against full length deliveries and the fighting instincts in him will help in fixing the problem.

"I have seen with great players as they age that it's the full delivery that seems to bother them more than short ones. Short balls land on the pitch well before full-length ones do, so their mystery is revealed to the batsman earlier."

"Watching a ball from the point of release to almost right under your eyes is not easy to do, great batsmen do it as a matter of habit, but with age they have to remind themselves to keep doing it right through their innings."

Manjrekar added that Tendulkar knows about the problems that an ageing batsman faces and he will soon find answers to it.

"There is an important reason why I think Tendulkar is still relevant in Indian Test cricket: it's because of the fierce competitor within him. No one I have seen hates failure more than Tendulkar does, or can make the sacrifices necessary to overcome it," he concluded.

Yuvraj Is Back

Yuvraj Singh is no stranger to attention. On Saturday, when he walks down the pavilion steps at Visakhapatnam (provided he is picked), he can expect the kind of standing ovation and cheers normally reserved for Sachin Tendulkar at grounds all over the world. His faster-than-expected return from germ cell cancer is an inspiration to millions and even if his contributions turn out to be underwhelming, his team-mates will savour his return to the dressing room.

Yuvraj has had no serious match practice, but those who've watched him train remarked that he was hitting the ball as hard as ever. His inclusion in the squad show that the selectors and team management value his presence, even with strings attached. he has just two games before the World Twenty20 later this month to prove that his selection was inspired. The danger, though, is that the hype will overawe the match itself, and India's captain MS Dhoni made a plea not to let Yuvraj's return distract the team.

India will have had played six Twenty20 games this year before leaving for Sri Lanka. New Zealand on the other hand have been the busiest, having already played seven in 2012. While teams look to stack their calendar with matches in a World T20 year, India's previous bilateral series, in Sri Lanka, included just one Twenty20 (following a five-ODI series). India, curiously, have never been involved in a bilateral series featuring more than two games. This series will only be their fifth bilateral series, out of 14, involving two games. Fortunately for India, most of the players picked for this series and the World T20 are regulars in the one-day squad, so they understand each other's game well.

Despite packing their international schedule with Twenty20s, New Zealand have slumped, and are coming off four consecutive defeats, against South Africa and a resurgent West Indies. It didn't help that their most recent games, in Florida, were heavy losses (56 and 61 runs respectively), with injuries hampering their plans. They will be boosted by the return of Daniel Vettori from injury and he will at least be an asset with his containing role, even if he doesn't pick up wickets. Having run India close in the Bangalore Test, they will begin this series feeling more confident. Now with a fitter squad, they will begin their preparation for the World T20 with games against three tough opponents - India, Australia and South Africa (the last two part of the warm-ups in Sri Lanka).

Team news

While Yuvraj's return appears certain, there are no guarantees yet on Harbhajan Singh's comeback, given the number of part-time spinners in the line-up to fill the fifth bowler's slot.

India (likely): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashok Dinda

Brendon McCullum returns to the T20 squad after being rested for the two T20s against West Indies in Florida.

New Zealand (likey): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (wk), 3 Ross Taylor (capt), 4 Kane Williamson, 5 Rob Nicol, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Daniel Vettori, 8 James Franklin, 9 Doug Bracewell, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Kyle Mills

Pitch and conditions

Heavy rain on Thursday forced the players indoors, cancelling both practice sessions. More rain has been forecast for Saturday, but the officials say that the covers - which can protect most of the outfield - and three super soppers can mop up the ground in case of an interruption. The players by now must be sick of the rain. The Indians, however, managed a nets session on Friday, and a game of soccer.

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Barcelona had a great time against Osasuna. They were lacking behind in the first half and also a lot of time in the second half. Osasna had great start as they were able to score a early goal against the spanish giants. The Giants were trying there best to get back in the game. It was very hard match for them. But thanks to essi they were able to get back in the game. The score was 1-1. And after a little time they were able to increase the lead with another Goal thenks to the magician Messi.It was a terrific match. A total of 7 yellow card were shown in the game. The final score of the game was BARCELONA 2-1 OSASUNA.

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