Ferrari for Dhoni

India won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 after 28 long years. In 1983, Kapil Dev led the team India through the glory which M S Dhoni repeated after 28 years with wonderful Indian cricket team. Its raining gifts for Indian cricket team after the momentous and giant Victory! In the series of these events, automobile companies of India are coming forward to show their gratitude and a good gesture by announcing gifts for the team.


After Sachin its time now for Dhoni to get a Ferrari. Ferrari has gifted Indian captain Dhoni with a Ferrari 599 GTO India edition as a token of appreciation. The 599 boasts of a V12 engine with a 670 HP of max power and 620 Nm of torque. This is a dream machine for most automobile enthusiasts who dream of running one of the most powerful and sporty cars on the planet.



Yuvraj Singh will also be gifted with an Audi car. Audi has not revealed which car model they will be gifting Yuvraj as yet, but “The Man Of The Series” Yuvraj Singh has displayed a wonderful performance on field during the ICC World cup 2011 and deservers the best of the lot. As per the official announcement from Audi India:

Chennai to host IPL opening game and final

The 2011 season of the IPL will begin with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The preliminary schedule released by the BCCI has the ten franchises playing at 13 venues over 51 days. The schedule may undergo changes keeping in view the state assembly elections to be held in a number of the host venues.

The board has also said that the four playoff games after the league stage - as per the revised format announced last year - will be split evenly between the Wankhede Stadium and the Chidambaram Stadium, with Chennai hosting the final on May 28.
The finalists and the losing team from the third playoff match will qualify for the Champions League Twenty20 2011.

Meanwhile, the new Kochi franchise has announced that the side will be called "Indi Commandos."

Flintoff named in CSK squad

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is one step closer to a return to top-flight cricket after being named in the Chennai Super Kings’ preliminary squad for the Airtel Champions League Twenty20.

The 32-year-old, who has not played first-class cricket since the Ashes series in England last year, has been named in a star-studded 20-player CSK squad for the second edition of the 10-team tournament which will be played in South Africa from 10-26 September.

With eight of the nine confirmed teams for the tournament having named their preliminary squads – with the exception of Wayamba – just three weeks remain before the final squads of 15 are selected on 9 August.

A number of players have been named by more than one team, making each of the final selections an important strategic and financial decision for the teams. As was the case in 2009, if a player is selected to play for an ‘away’ team rather than his ‘home’ team (the team from the country he is eligible to represent in international cricket), the ‘away’ team must pay US$200,000 compensation to the ‘home’ team.

Flintoff is among world cricket’s biggest names who have been named in the preliminary squads, including:

Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians - MI),

MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings - CSK),

Mahela Jayawardene (Wayamba Elevens),

Dale Steyn (Royal Challengers Bangalore - RCB),

Rahul Dravid (RCB), JP Duminy (MI),

Matthew Hayden (CSK),

Ross Taylor (Central Stags/Victorian Bushrangers/RCB),

Muttiah Muralidaran (CSK),

Kieron Pollard (South Australian Redbacks/MI),

Harbhajan Singh (MI) and Mike Hussey (CSK).

Sahara to continue as Indian team sponsor

The Sahara logo will stay on India jerseys until 2013. The Sahara Group will continue as sponsors of the Indian team after they won the contract by bidding Rs. 3.34 crores ($719,000) per match. The current sponsorship contract ends on June 30 and the new one runs until December 31, 2013. A top Sahara official also confirmed the development. Bharti Airtel, the only other company in the fray, put in a bid for Rs 2.89 crore ($628, 260) per match.

"We take pride in sponsoring the Indian national team," Abhijit Sarkar, corporate affairs head at Sahara, said.

Sahara's winning bid comes as something of a surprise as chairman Subrata Roy had said the company would re-evaluate its sponsorship of the Indian team after it bagged the Pune IPL franchise. According to market sources, Sahara decided to bid again because an analysis of the numbers turned out positive. It paid Rs 407 crores ($88 million) over the last four years, so the new deal requires roughly Rs 85 crores ($18.5 million) more, which doesn't hurt the group much.

Sahara waited until the last minute before entering the bidding because it was worried about the response from its competitors. It feared the price of deal could rise over Rs 500 crores if its interest was publically known. The deal is solely to sponsor the Indian men's team, as the group was not interested in spending an extra Rs 10-15 crore on the other three squads (women's, India A and Under-19).

The BCCI had set a base price of Rs 2.5 crores ($ 541,000) per match for the three-and-a-half-year period, during which India will play between 144 and 167 matches, depending on how far the team progresses in ICC tournaments. At Rs 3.34 crores a match, the Sahara deal is worth between Rs 481 crores ($104 million) and Rs 558 crores ($121 million).

Under the terms of the previous deal, Sahara paid Rs 1.91 crores ($ 412,000) per Test, Rs 2.09 crores ($ 455,000) per ODI and Rs 1.57 crores ($ 340,000) per Twenty20. The new price is the same across all three formats, and more than doubles the price of a Twenty20 game, highlighting its appeal and popularity.

The board had originally issued a tender late last year with a base price of Rs 3 crores ($ 650,000) per match, but failed to attract a single bid. As a stop gap measure, the Sahara Group agreed to extend its sponsorship of the Indian team for a further six months.

The Indian board issued the tender on Monday inviting companies to bid for the rights and the bidding period closed on Saturday.

Source : Cricinfo

Yusuf accuses Symonds of sledging

Rajasthan Royals batsman Yusuf Pathan accused Andrew Symonds of sledging him during an Indian Premier League match here and said the Australian's behaviour made him more determined to go for big shots against Deccan Chargers bowlers here on Friday.

Yusuf smashed Deccan bowlers to all parts of the ground to score a quickfire unbeaten 74 to power Rajasthan to a eight-wicket win over the Hyderabad side.

Soon after guiding his side home, Yusuf said Deccan Chargers' all-rounder Symonds sledged him while he came out to bat.

"It inspires you makes you more determined when a opposition player sledges you. When I went in to bat today, Symonds exchanged a few words and and it made me more determined to score runs," Yusuf said after the match.

During his 34-ball unbeaten innings, Yusuf big hitting skills were on full display as he hit as many as eight sixes and two fours.

"I batted well. My mummy papa (mom-father) have been coming for the last two games and I am happy that I scored some runs for them today. The ball was coming nicely on to the bat," the dangerous right-hander, who was selected in India's Twenty20 World Cup squad, said.

Tendulkar rules out playing Twenty20 World Cup

Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday ruled out playing in this year's Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies, saying he sticks to his stance of not playing Twenty20 Internationals anymore.

Even though Tendulkar is not among the 30 probables already selected for the April 30-May 16 event, former captain Sunil Gavaskar led the chorus, asking Tendulkar, who is in sensational form, to change his stance and play in the Twenty20 World Cup.

Tendulkar, however, dismissed the possibility. "I will not be playing the ICC World Twenty20. I have not played Twenty20 Internationals from 2007 onwards and I don't think it should become an issue now," Tendulkar said.

Tendulkar, along with senior players Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, had opted out of the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup, which Indian won under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy.

Since then, Tendulkar has kept himself out of Twenty20 Internationals, saying he did not want to upset the team which had won the 2007 World Cup.

Sachin 200 Not Out

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar added another feather to his cap when he became the first batsman to cross the 200-run mark in an one-day international at Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior on Wednesday.

Tendulkar achieved the unique landmark when he run a single off Langeveldt against South Africa in the second one-dayer of the ongoing three-match series. Sachin's 200 came off 147 balls, which include 25 fours and 3 sixes.

The master surpassed the previous highest individual score made by Pakistan's Saeed Anwar (194 against India in 1997) and Charles Coventry of Zimbabwe (194 not out against Bangladesh in 1999).

Tendulkar started his innings aggressively and made a quick-fire 37-ball fifty before finally completing his century in 90 balls. Sachin extended his lead for the record of most number of centuries to 17 as Ricky Ponting lies in the second place with 29 centuries. Tendulkar continued his record breaking form as he had slammed his 46th Test ton in the final match of the longer version of the game against the Proteas earlier.

ICC Champions Trophy

Facts and Figures about the ICC Champions Trophy

The ICC Champions Trophy was made by Asprey. It took 60 hours to manufacture and is made of sterling silver with silver gilt cricket ball at the top. The ICC Champions Trophy weighs 3.1kgs. The trophy is 46cm high, while at the base its circumference is 47cm and at the top its circumference is 48cm

2011 World Cup Final in India

India will host the final and one semi-final of the 2011 World Cup while Sri Lanka will stage the other semi-final, the tournament's organising committee decided in Mumbai on Tuesday. India will host 29 of the 49 matches across eight venues, Sri Lanka will host 12 in three venues while Bangladesh will stage eight at two grounds as well as the opening ceremony on February 18, 2011.

The 14 matches originally scheduled to take place in Pakistan have been redistributed with eight going to India, four to Sri Lanka and two to Bangladesh. The quarter-finals will be shared among the three neighbours, with Bangladesh hosting two.

The committee also decided to shift the tournament secretariat from Lahore to Mumbai. BCCI's chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty was appointed the event's managing director in place of Pakistani banker Salman Butt. The organising committee, headed by ICC vice-president Sharad Pawar, will include an operations and planning group comprising the Bangladesh Cricket Board senior vice-president Mahbubul Anam, Indian board secretary N Srinivasan, Sri Lanka's Duleep Mendis and Shetty. Haroon Lorgat, the ICC's chief executive, said IS Bindra, the special adviser to the ICC, would be a key person in the management of the World Cup.

He swept aside questions on whether Pakistan would boycott the World Cup in protest at being denied hosting rights, saying "we will cross the bridge when we come to it." The ICC had to decide on the redistribution of Pakistan's 14 matches after it removed the countryfrom the list of hosts because the "uncertain political situation" would have made it difficult to "deliver a safe, secure and successful event" in Pakistan.

Lorgat said the security concerns of the various ICC members and the players would be addressed with the formation of a special committee headed by Shashank Manohar, the BCCI chief, to oversee security details. "The security arrangements are very important and a special committee... would put together security plans for the successful conduct of the World Cup in 2011," he said.

"We are confident of organising a very successful World Cup," Lorgat said.

The subcontinent last hosted a World Cup in 1996, when India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka shared the games. The final was in Lahore, where Sri Lanka beat favourites Australia in a famous win.

Sachin's 36th Birthday Photos - April 24, 2009

IPL Season - 2 with 15 mins more

Fans who have become accustomed to Twenty20 matches lasting just three hours are in for a surprise during the second season of the IPL - they will now last three-and-a-quarter hours. Part of the appeal of the shortest form of the game is the non-stop action but IPL games will now take longer and there will be no action at all during the added time.

The IPL are planning to market the added time as an 'innovation' by calling it a tactical 'time out' but the fact that each innings will now come to a halt for seven-and-a-half minutes after exactly 10 overs makes it neither tactical nor, indeed, practical.

"It is a move that is driven completely and totally by commercial objectives," a senior production official told. "It is designed purely to make even more money by selling airtime. Nobody could argue that this adds any cricketing value to the tournament or that it can be in the viewers' interest, either in the stadium or watching at home," the official said.

The seven-and-a-half minute break will see the stadium crowd entertained by a live band while television audiences will watch three, separate two-and-a-half minute segments, two of which will be sold commercially. The third will show the teams taking drinks and discussing 'tactics' to add some validity to the argument for the 'time out.'

While one section will be compulsory, mainstream advertising, the other will be set aside for 'special projects'. Queen Rania of Jordan, well known for her agenda of social reform and progression, will lead the way with a series of short films aimed at African children expounding the importance of education.

The IPL can justifiably claim that the project is well intentioned and for a good cause. And at approximately $1million per episode, it's also very lucrative. There are 118 two-and-half minute slots for sale.

Production teams have also been told that they need to fit 2000 seconds (around 33 minutes) of advertising into every match, a task described by a different member of the production team as "virtually impossible."

"It means taking about 40 seconds of advertising between every over and close to a minute at the fall of every wicket. It's OK in theory but it hardly ever works like that. If a team only loses two or three wickets, or the match finishes in 15 overs, we are in trouble," the same production official said.

In March, the IPL signed a fresh US $1.8 billion broadcast-rights deal for 10 years with Multi Screen Media (MSM), which operates under the Sony umbrella, and World Sports Group (WSG). The matches are being telecast by Supersport, the South African broadcaster which holds the tournament rights in that country.

England wants Commando Protection

England's tour of India looks set to go ahead according to Sky Sports, with the likelihood of a warm-up match taking place in Abu-Dhabi. The ECB has sent their security advisor Reg Dickason to Chennai, the venue of the first Test against India starting December 11, to prepare a report on the safety situation in the country and how best to implement it for the touring team.

However, BCCI officials said Dickason is not expected to conduct his security audit until Wednesday at the earliest, and therefore any final decision on the tour will have to wait until then. "He had sent us a set of conditions before his arrival and during the inspection, these things will be discussed," board sources told .

These conditions are believed to involve blanket security from the same Indian special forces who stormed the Taj Mahal Hotel to end last week's siege in Mumbai. The Hindustan Times reported that the ECB had asked the BCCI for a group of commandos to accompany the team at all times, an emergency evacuation plan in case of a terrorist strike and a security blanket over England's dressing rooms.

The ECB, who have been in close consultation with the Foreign Office ever since the team returned to England, have reiterated that the entire tour decision rests on the outcome of the security report, and will not be rushed into making a final announcement. According to Sky Sports, however, the team has been told that the decision to tour now rests with the players themselves.

Sean Morris, the England players' association (PCA) chief, is believed to have attended a Foreign Office briefing on Tuesday, along with the ECB's England director, Hugh Morris, and was due to meet with the players later in the day to discuss the issues that arose. However, the PCA's "No. 1 consideration" remains the security report that is still awaited from Dickason.

The Indian board shifted the two Tests from their original venues - Ahmedabad and Mumbai - to Chennai and Mohali following the terrorist strikes in Mumbai. Despite the itinerary changes, the ECB could send a weakened squad to return to India with three senior players - Andrew Flintoff, who also suffered an ankle injury during last week's fifth ODI, James Anderson, whose wife is pregnant, and Steve Harmison - believed to be disinclined towards touring.

"I'm delighted to hear the news that the BCCI are willing to accommodate concerns over the venues but primarily we must focus on what the security reports say," Morris was quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph. "But we will not make our decision until security and duty of care towards the players is assured." The paper also reported that while the warm-up game in Vadodara, scheduled to start on Friday, had been cancelled, an alternative venue could host it and that the ECB was also considering a short training stint in the Middle East.

The prospect of England returning to India was not welcomed by everyone, however. Speaking to BBC Radio Four, the former ECB chairman, Lord MacLaurin, spoke out against a resumption of the tour. "I think the ECB will probably say yes and I think it will be very sad," he said. "I don't think any security people can actually say it's going to be safe. If it was left to me, I wouldn't go."

However, Nasser Hussain, who captained England's tour of India in 2001-02 shortly after the September 11 attacks in New York, wrote in the Daily Mail that the team had an obligation to get back out there and make a statement. "The country is so important to cricket and to the Indian people that we owe it to them to go back and play, as long as every possible precaution has been taken."

Justin Vaughan, New Zealand Cricket's chief executive, sounded an optimistic note on future tours to the subcontinent and said it would be impossible to constantly sideline Asian teams based on security concerns.

"It's a pretty scary future for the game if you think (listed events) are not going to go ahead," Vaughan told the New Zealand Herald. "India and Pakistan are core countries in terms of international cricket and it seems bizarre if we couldn't tour there".

New Zealand are set to tour Pakistan and India in 2009 and 2010 respectively and Vaughan said those tours will be crucial to their preparations for the World Cup in the subcontinent.

World Cup Twenty20 '09

Guys its time for World Cup T20 '09.

ICC have released the fixtures for the ICC TWENTY20 World Cup '09. Lets see whether Dhoni and his men can grab the cup for the second time.

Click here for the Fixtures.....

Champions League in Chennai

India's three leading cricket centres, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai, will host the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League in December, organisers said on Thursday.

The six-million dollar tournament, featuring eight T20 club sides from India, Australia, South Africa, England and Pakistan, will be held from December 3-10, League chairman Lalit Modi told reporters here. Modi, who organised the hugely successful Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 competition earlier this year, said the match schedule will be announced later. But he confirmed Mumbai as the venue of the final on December 10.

The eight teams are IPL finalists Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, Western Australia and Victoria (Australia), Titans and Dolphins (South Africa), Middlesex (England) and the winners of Pakistan's Twenty20 League to be held next month.

The teams will be divided into two groups for a preliminary league, with the top two advancing to the semi-finals. "I believe we have a concept that will inspire and motivate the future generations of club, state and county cricketers, while accelerating the development of the game globally," said Modi. "I am confident that this will be a true global event, the scale of which the cricketing world has not seen outside of the World Cups."

The tournament has been sandwiched in the eight-day break between England's one-day series in India which ends on December 2 and the first Test which starts in Ahmedabad on December 11.

The pan-Asian ESPN-Star network secured the 10-year commercial rights for the tournament for a whopping 900 million dollars earlier this month, paying an additional 75 million dollars as marketing costs.

The second edition of the Champions League will be enlarged to 12 teams and will take place between September 25 and October 10 next year, said Modi. The recent boom in Twenty20 cricket, sparked by the lucrative IPL, has led to growing concerns about the future of traditional Test and one-day cricket.

ICC to decide on ICL

International Cricket Council (ICC) has formed a committee to end the issues regarding 'unauthorized cricket' like Indian Cricket League (ICL).

"The ICC committee will discuss a whole range of issues including various legal aspects," said the ICC spokesperson on Thursday.

This issue of ICL's status has been brought to the committee when cricket authorities from England, Australia, India and South Africa met on sidelines of the ICC meeting to discuss about the proposed Twenty20 Champions League in Dubai. The committee includes Lalit Modi(IPL chairman), ECB chairman Giles Clarke, CSA President Norman Arendse and ICC's David Becker.

The spokesperson also said "whatever conclusion is reached is in the best interests of the game"

The rebel ICL has informed ICC that it has moved legally to the world governing body, in London high court. The league is getting prepared for more than just next years game, it feels that the league ha been discriminated just because it has'n been recognized by ICC.

Many of the grounds in India have refused to conduct matches of ICL, as it has been stated as 'unauthorized cricket' by ICC. Also, the cricket playing nation's boards have refused to take the players playing in ICL. ICL has also filed a petition against BCCI, in delhi high court.

Mendis gains Army promotion

Sri Lanka's unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis has been promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in the army after his match-winning exploits in the six-nation Asia Cup.

Mendis helped his country win Sunday's final by taking six wickets for 13 as India were bowled out for 173.

The 23-year-old soldier, who has a unique bowling style, was promoted five ranks in the army by the island's President Mahinda Rajapakse in recognition of his performance.

Dhoni pulls out of Srilankan series

Non-stop cricket for the past one year has taken its toll on the Indian ODI skipper who pulled out of the upcoming test series in Sri Lanka starting on the 23rd of July.

Dhoni, who turned 27 on Monday, said he was exhausted due to the hectic schedule and wished to take a break after the Asia Cup to recharge his batteries.

"Dhoni met BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah and expressed his wish to take a break. He wants to opt out of the Test series," BCCI sources told PTI.

Dhoni has been playing non-stop for more than an year now. It started with India's 80-day tour of England in July last year followed by the Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa, an ODI series against Australia and a Test and ODI series against Pakistan at home, an acrimonious and arduous tour of Australia which stretched over two months, a Test series against South Africa at home, and then the the Indian Premier League (IPL).

And soon after the 44-day IPL ended where the Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings reached the final, India played a tri-series in Bangladesh and then took part in the Asia Cup, both times India were the runners-up.

Dhoni had criticised the hectic scheduling of games during the Asia Cup, in which India had to play back-to-back games twice.

Virender Sehwag is the latest to join India's long injury list after he sustained a groin injury. The Indian team physion has advised him 10 days rest. The selectors will choose the squad for Sri Lanka today and it is unclear whether Sehwag will be included though they will have to take his injury under consideration.

It is also learned that the selectors won't be considering S Sreesanth for the tour, since he is still on the injured list.

Pakistan court suspends Akhtar cricket ban

Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is free to play cricket after his 18-month ban for indiscipline was suspended by a Lahore High Court.

Shoaib, 32, lodged an appeal on Tuesday and his appeal against the ban will now be heard by the court in September. "The court has allowed Shoaib Akhtar to play cricket and the petition will be heard after the summer vacation," said Judge Zahid Hussain.

Shoaib must still pay the £57,000 fine imposed on him in April.

"Shoaib is temporarily allowed to play until the petition is heard, but he will have to give the fine," said Pakistan Cricket Board lawyer Taffazul Rizvi.

Shoaib has now set his sights on playing in the Champions Trophy in September - and warming up for that tournament by playing English county cricket.

"I am keeping fit and I'm going to England and try to play some county or league matches there and get in shape for the Champions Trophy," he said.

"I owe my name and fame to Pakistan, so I will never defame my country. I want to win the Champions Trophy for my country and for that I need everyone's support."

Prior to the ban's imposition, Shoaib had been serving a two-year probation for attacking team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat.

The tribunal had temporarily lifted the ban to allow him to participate in the Indian Premier League, where he had a brief stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Zimbabwe to miss World Twenty20

Zimbabwe have been persuaded to pull out of the World Twenty20 in England next summer.

The ICC has been discussing Zimbabwe's future at a board meeting in Dubai after England and South Africa broke off cricketing relations last week. But the sport's governing body has decided Zimbabwe will not be suspended from international cricket.

The ICC's compromise decision should end any doubts about England hosting next year's World Twenty20 tournament.

Zimbabwe Cricket Union president Peter Chingoka told the AFP news agency his country had voluntarily pulled out of the event.

"Zimbabwe has agreed not to participate in the Twenty20 world championships in the wider interest of cricket," Chingoka said.

"But we will continue to be a full member of the ICC and welcome any team that wants to play against us. We voluntarily agreed to back out of the Twenty20 Worlds because we were told we won't get visas to England. We don't want to gate crash where we are not welcome."

The England and Wales Cricket Board stated last week it will not host a tour by Zimbabwe next year because of the close links between Zimbabwe Cricket and the regime of president Robert Mugabe.

This was after Cricket South Africa broke off relations with their near neighbours because of the political situation in the country. There had been calls for the ICC to remove the African country's full member status during a series of executive meetings this week. That would have been a controversial move and would have required at least seven of the 10 full member countries to agree. That appeared unlikely with Zimbabwe gaining support from the sub-continent, with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka throwing their backing behind the African nation.

Although the ICC would not take punitive action against the ECB for preventing Zimbabwe touring in the light of a formal government instruction, refusal to allow a full member to take part in the World Twenty20 could have resulted in the tournament being moved elsewhere.

Such a move would have been a huge financial blow to the ECB, with huge crowds expected at the three grounds chosen to host matches. The tournament schedule has already been published and tickets went on sale at 1000 BST on Monday.

ECB chairman Giles Clarke said he was satisfied with the outcome from the meeting in Dubai. "This matter led to a complex and lengthy series of negotiations," Clarke told BBC Radio 5 Live. "We've had long discussions with our colleagues on the ICC over the last three days and we're grateful they saw the point of view we held."

Pak got their most needed Win

Pakistan 309-2 (45.3 overs) beat India 308-7 (50 overs) by eight wickets.

An unbeaten 123 from Younus Khan helped Pakistan to an eight-wicket win over India in the Asia Cup Super Fours. The former captain hit 11 fours and a six in his 117-ball innings as Pakistan easily overhauled India's total of 308-7 with 19 balls left in Karachi.

Younus shared a 144-run stand with stand-in skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (70 not out), who won the match with a four.

Skipper Mahendra Dhoni (76) lead the way for India, sharing a 112-run partnership with Rohit Sharma (58).

However, Pakistan's hopes of reaching the final hinge on defending champions Sri Lanka - who have already qualified - beating India on Thursday.

The hosts will also need to beat Bangladesh on Friday to reach the final on 6 July.

Younus's innings was his first one-day century in Pakistan, passing the 5,000-run mark as he smashed 11 fours and one six in his match-winning knock. "When he plays like this we usually win," said skipper Misbah, standing in for the dehydrated Shoaib Malik.

India had begun forcefully with Virender Sehwag's pulsating 49 from just 33 balls, along with powerful knocks from Gautam Gambhir (35) and Yuvraj Singh (37). But the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals until Dhoni's stand with Sharma stabilised the innings. Irfan Pathan helped India's total to over 300 with a quick-fire 38 from 25 balls, with fast bowler Rao Ifktihar the pick of the Pakistan bowlers with 3-51.

The home side began confidently with Salman Butt (36) and Nasir Jamshed (53), who was forced to retire hurt with cramp. Mohammad Yousuf's departure for 20 brought Misbah to the crease, who alongside Younus finished the game off in style.