Younis Khan To Lead ICC World T20 Squad
Four Pakistan cricketers have been named in an International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 squad. The ICC has announced the team of the tournament for the Twenty20 World Cup 2009.
The Pakistan players are Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul and Kamran Akmal.
“The team was chosen by a selected group of experts who were given the task of picking a balanced side for all conditions on the basis of performances in the world tournament,” a spokesman for the ICC said.
“Statistics were used but they were not the sole basis for selections,” he added. The men’s team, including the 12th man, also included three players from South Africa, three from Sri Lanka and two from the West Indies.
The selectors chose Younis as captain of the men’s side. The selection panel for the team was: Jonathan Agnew (former England fast bowler), Ian Bishop (commentator and member of the ICC Cricket Committee), Steve Elworthy (tournament director), Alan Hurst (ICC match referee and former Australian fast bowler) and Sharda Ugra (deputy editor of an Indian magazine).
Federer Opens With Easy Victory
Roger Federer got his bid for a sixth Wimbledon title off to a solid start with a straight-sets first-round win over Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei.
The Swiss star opened proceedings on Centre Court in the absence of injured defending champion Rafael Nadal. Despite dropping serve early on, the world number two came through 7-5 6-3 6-2 in one hour 44 minutes.
Fourth seed Novak Djokovic had a much tougher time against Julien Bennteau, winning 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 (6-4).
Federer, who is trying to win a record 15th Grand Slam title, will play Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in round two. With the disappointment of Nadal's withdrawal still fresh, it was down to second seed Federer to take on the job traditionally reserved for the defending men's champion and open play on Centre Court. It is not an unfamiliar role for the 27-year-old, who dominated at the All England Club with five successive titles from 2003 before his run ended in last year's dramatic five-set final against Nadal.
On his first return to the scene of that defeat, the newly-crowned French Open champion made a surprisingly edgy start, missing a couple of break-point chances in game four and then netting a forehand to slip a break down in game five.
There was little time for the world number 127 to enjoy his lead though, as Federer broke back immediately before taking the set in game 12, and breaking to love again for 2-0 in the second. That proved enough to seal the second set for Federer and the Swiss eased through the third with two more breaks as his forehand in particular clicked into gear.