Sachin Tendulkar to play 200th Test at home ground

India legend Sachin Tendulkar has got his wish to play his 200th and final Test at his home ground in Mumbai. The 40-year-old former captain announced his decision to retire from all forms of cricket last week. Tendulkar in numbers Test matches (198) He has scored 15,837 runs at an average of 53.86, hitting 51 tons and 67 half centuries. His top score was an unbeaten 248 against Bangladesh in Dhaka in December 2004 One-day internationals (463) He has scored 18,426 runs at an average of 44.83 and a strike rate of 86.23. He has scored 49 centuries (highest score 200) and 96 fifties Twenty20 internationals He only made one international appearance in the shortest form of the game, scoring 12 from 15 balls against South Africa in December 2006 Tendulkar's full career statistics (Cricinfo) The Wankhede Stadium, where he made his first class debut in 1988, will host the second match of the two-Test series against West Indies from 14 November. His mother, who has never seen her son play an international match during his 24-year career, is expected to attend. Tendulkar is the highest scorer in both Tests and one-day internationals, with 15,837 runs in 198 Tests and 18,426 runs in 463 ODIs. He made his international debut aged 16 in November 1989 and last year became the only batsman in the history of the game to score 100 international centuries. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) squeezed the home series into the schedule to allow Tendulkar to retire in front of his home fans. The first time Tendulkar played at the Wankhede, he became, at the age of 15, the youngest Indian to score a century on his first-class debut. In his last Test against the West Indies at the ground, Ravi Rampaul denied him a century by dismissing him for 94. Eden Gardens in Kolkata will host the opening match of the series from 6-10 November.

Former England paceman Harmison retires

LONDON: Stephen Harmison, the former England paceman who has failed to make a single fist-class appearance in Durham's title-winning year, announced his retirement on Sunday. The 34-year-old, who took 226 Test wickets for his country, told regional newspaper Sunday Sun that he had "known for a while" that he would be calling it a day at the end of the 2013 season. Harmison's retirement follows on from that of Matthew Hoggard last month, meaning all four of England's feared pace attack from the 2005 Ashes have now called time on their careers to some extent. Simon Jones is to remain as a Twenty20 specialist, while Andrew Flintoff retired in 2010. It was while in an England shirt and specifically while bowling with the likes of Flintoff and Hoggard that Harmison made his name. His brilliant seven for 12 in the West Indies in 2004 marked him out as one of the most feared fast bowlers on the planet, and he carried his form through to England's memorable win over Australia a year later. Harmison made his Durham debut in 1996 and has been a one-county man short of a loan spell with Yorkshire when his body had started to fail him. While Harmison is proud of his work with Durham, the wider cricketing community will associate him with one of England's golden periods, during which he reached the top of the Test bowling rankings. (AFP)

T&T beat Chennai, through to semis

Trinidad and Tobago achieved their first objective as they bowled out Chennai Super Kings for 118 in 19.4 overs after putting them in to bat. In response, they chased down the target in 15.1 overs. The Caribbean side will now face Mumbai Indians in the second semifinal here Saturday while CSK take on Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur Friday. Openers Lendl Simmons (63) and Evin Lewis (38) gave a solid start to their chase, striking a 79-run partnership. After the in-form Lewis was caught in front of the stumps by part time bowler Suresh Raina, Simmons continued his onslaught. The right hand bat Simmons anchored the innings with his 41-ball knock which included five fours and four sixes while Darren Bravo (11 not out) saw the team home. There was not much to talk about the Super Kings' bowling as only Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin managed to clinch a wicket each. Earlier, the Super Kings batsmen were really not in their elements as they collapsed for a measly 118 with only three of their batsman getting into double figures. It was more of dismal batting from the two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions than a good bowling performance of T&T, which led to the result. Only opener Murali Vijay (27), skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (25) and Raina (38) showed some potential in the otherwise drab batting show by the 2010 CLT20 champions. Pacers Ravi Rampaul and Lendl Simmons clinched two wickets each as all-rounder Rayad Emrit took three with his medium pace. Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 118 all out in 19.4 overs (Suresh Raina 38, Murali Vijay 27, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 25; Rayad Emrit 3/21, Lendl Simmons 2/10, Ravi Rampaul 2/31) lost to Trinidad and Tobago 119/2 in 15.1 overs (Lendl Simmons 63, Evin Lewis 38, Darren Bravo 11 not out; Suresh Raina 1/16, Ravichandran Ashwin 1/24).

Warner dropped from ODI squad

has been dropped from Austalia's squad for the ODIs against Scotland and England, while Mitchell Starc will return to Australia after complaining of lower back soreness. Steven Smith, who was part of the original 18-member limited-overs squad, has already flown back after a thigh injury.

"David has been left out of the Australian ODI squad for this tour purely due to his recent lack of form in this format," Darren Lehmann, the Australia coach, said. "By his own admission, David would acknowledge that unfortunately he hasn't scored the weight of runs that he would like recently in one-day cricket for his country."

Warner was part of Australia's Champions Trophy squad in England, but featured in just one match, scoring 9 against England, but was suspended from the team after a bar incident in Birmingham. He has only played three more ODIs this year, in January against Sri Lanka, and scored 10, 60 and 4. Warner scored a 42-ball 53 on Saturday in the second T20 against England, but that wasn't enough to sway the selectors.

"Like all selection matters, it was a tough decision, but like all players he understands the situation and knows he needs to get back to playing Ryobi Cup and making a heap of runs that we can't ignore," Lehmann said. "I spoke with David at length about what he needs to do and I've been impressed with his attitude since I've come into the Australian setup."

Australia kickstart the ODI leg of the tour with a one-off match against Scotland in Edinburgh on September 3 before taking on England for a five-match series that starts on September 6 in Leeds.

Squad: Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, Fawad Ahmed, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Phillip Hughes, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Adam Voges, Matthew Wade (wk), Shane Watson.

virat kohli recieving arjuna award

Weakened bowling a concern for Zimbabwe

must have more on his mind than the average coach ahead of Zimbabwe's two-Test series against Pakistan. For a start, he will be wondering if the series will even go ahead.

Zimbabwe's newly-formed players' union may yet boycott the matches, as they have been threatening to do since Pakistan arrived in the country more than two weeks' ago, because of non-payment of salaries. The players have not received their July or August remuneration or the match fees they negotiated with ZC, despite being promised the monies would be transferred into their accounts last Thursday. They have given ZC until Monday to pay up or they will not take the field in whites on Tuesday.

Earlier, the players had also said that they would not take part in the T20s or the third ODI, but they reached an agreement with ZC at the 11th hour. An insider believes this will not happen again. The source told ESPNcricinfo the players are likely to stop crying wolf and follow through with their ultimatum this time. Even Waller seems to think the payments issue will have an effect on the Tests.

"I think the unhappiness over payments will spill into the series, unfortunately. I don't think it has been solved yet," he said. "I am not a 100% sure exactly, but I am under the impression that nothing's definite yet."

Waller, like the rest of us, will have to wait to hear their final decision, but he will also contemplate how to get the best of a clearly disgruntled group if they opt to compete. Even though Zimbabwe found it in themselves to win the first ODI against Pakistan, they have not fared well recently and were defeated in all nine matches - five ODIs against India, two T20s and two ODIs against Pakistan - in which Waller has been in charge.

He has not coached them in a Test yet, but has already seen enough to know what Zimbabwe's biggest challenge will be. "The main concern I have is probably on the bowling side: how are we going to get 20 wickets?," he asked after the third ODI. Zimbabwe have not bowled a team out once since Waller took over so to expect them to do it twice will be a tough ask. To ask them to do it twice without two of the most attacking bowlers may well be a bridge too far.

"I am not saying our bowlers aren't good but we've lost someone like Kyle Jarvis, who could bowl with a bit of pace and swing the ball, and Graeme Cremer, who's a quality legspinner," he said.

Jarvis retired from international cricket on the eve of the Pakistan series, saying the cash-flow situation had made it impossible for him to continue playing for Zimbabwe, while Cremer made himself unavailable during the Bulawayo leg of the India tour. ESPNcricinfo understands Cremer does not want to be considered for Zimbabwe until he is paid monies owed to him and is assured of financial security going forward.

That leaves the rest with a lot more responsibility and not a lot of experience to bank on. Brian Vitori, who partnered Jarvis and even outshone him on Zimbabwe's Test comeback, will likely have to lead the attack as the one of the most experienced men, with just three caps. He has not played the longest form in 18 months since January last year. Despite a promising start to Test cricket, injuries and a lack of form have hampered his progress.

Shingi Masakadza and Tinashe Panyangara have also played a trio of Tests each - Panyangara more than eight years ago in 2005 - but both have shown fairly good control in the lead-up. Much is expected from young Tendai Chatara, who impressed in West Indies earlier this year, and Zimbabwe will have to take a gamble on the kind of spinner they are going to use.

Without Cremer, their attacking options will be between Natsai Mushangwe and Tinotenda Mutombodzi but they could go for the safety of a containing bowler instead. Prosper Utseya is their leading offspinner and has the experience of years and captaincy behind him to add solidity to an otherwise fragile attack.

All Waller can do is be optimistic. "I still believe our bowlers can go out and do the job," he said, although he confined that to doing it in the first match. "Bulawayo will be difficult because it's a batting paradise down there and we know the quality of the Pakistan batting, so we are going to have to do something exceptional to beat them down there. If we are going to beat them, I think it's going to have to be at Harare, on a wicket that will give us more of a chance."

Efforts have been made at Queens Club - where Pakistan beat Zimbabwe in 2011 - to ensure it is less flat and new clay has been laid on three of the pitches on the square . However, whether Zimbabwe will even get down to Bulawayo to play will depend on how quickly ZC can come up with cash and how seriously the players' union wants to flex its muscles.

India's NZ tour advanced to January

India will tour New Zealand for a month in mid-January for five ODIs and two Tests, with the first one-dayer to be played on January 19 and the second Test ending on February 18. New Zealand Cricket's release came a day after the BCCI's working committee approved the tour. The announcement increased the uncertainty surrounding India's South Africa tour in November, the itinerary of which is yet to be finalised.

The New Zealand tour was scheduled to begin in early February, according to the ICC Future Tours Programme, but will now start around two to three weeks earlier, eating into the time allotted for the South Africa tour. In fact, according to the itinerary announced by Cricket South Africa in July, and objected to by the BCCI, the third and final Test in Johannesburg was to end on January 19, the day on which India will now be thousands of miles away commencing their New Zealand sojourn.

The make-up of the South Africa trip had already been put in doubt after it was left out of a list of upcoming series announced by the BCCI a day ago, which included a freshly-planned home Test series against West Indies in November.

West Indies will then will travel to New Zealand after playing in the subcontinent, for a series that starts on December 3 and ends on January 15, four days before the home team's first game against India.

David White, New Zealand Cricket's chief executive, said he was unaware about the itinerary of India's tour of South Africa but added that NZC had finalised the dates only after discussions with the BCCI. White did not want to speculate on why the BCCI's release on Sunday had not included the dates but confirmed both boards had worked together on the final itinerary. "Those dates have been signed off with the BCCI. We had been in discussions just before the (BCCI) working committee meeting and worked through the dates and that was ratified at the meeting," White told ESPNcricinfo.

He was understandably pleased about the prospects of a tour that is likely to be a money-spinner for his board. "It's brilliant that the Black Caps will be playing five ODIs against the world's top one-day side given the proximity of the World Cup in 2015," White said. While the boards have stuck to the five ODIs as laid out in the FTP, the originally scheduled three Tests have been cut down to two, while the Twenty20 international has been done away with. The venues will be confirmed in a week or so, NZC said.

India last toured New Zealand from February to April 2009 for a longer trip consisting of two T20s followed by five ODIs and ending with three Tests. While New Zealand won both T20s, India took the ODIs 3-1 and the Tests 1-0.