Source: PTI
Sachin recovering well: BCCI
New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar was recovering well and his rehabilitation process after a shoulder operation was on as per schedule, the Cricket Board (BCCI) said on Sunday.
"Sachin continues to improve and has advanced to this point of his recovery period with no setbacks," BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement.
"The overall management of his problem has progressed as planned with improvements in all the areas assessed (ranges of movement, pain levels and dysfunction)," Shah said.
Tendulkar underwent the operation on his right shoulder last month in London.
His rehabilitation programme consists of three phases, the first of which ended today.
He would be reassessed again on April 21 when the second phase ends, the BCCI statement said.
The third and final phase runs upto May 1, after which the Mumbaikar was expected to begin batting practice with a light bat.
The eight-week recovery schedule is most likely to put him out of the one-day segment of India's tour of the West Indies which commences on May 12.
Whether he would be fit in time for the four-Test series, starting with the first encounter at Antigua on June 2, remains to be seen.
The team for the series is to be announced towards the end of this month. PTI
British media all praise for Uthappa
London: Citing the success of debutant opener Robin Uthappa, the British media on Sunday said India had used the loss of key players as an opportunity while England made it an excuse for their flop show in the recent one-day series.
"Inexperience can be used as an excuse or an opportunity. It is as an excuse that it is most often trotted out England's management ... India, throughout, this series, have used it as an opportunity," former England captain Michael Atherton wrote in his column in 'The Sunday Telegraph'.
India overhauled England's stiff target of 289 by seven wickets in the final one-dayer at Indore to clinch the seven-match series 5-1.
Uthappa hit a 96-ball 86 and forged a 166-run opening stand with skipper Rahul Dravid to lay the foundation for India's win.
"Dravid is all neat wristiness, Uthappa blunt power. Playing his first match, Uthappa showed that inexperience is no bar to excellence," Atherton wrote.
"But for a calamitous run out, Uthappa might have celebrated his debut with a century." India had rested senior players including vice-captain Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif, both of whom had struggled to make runs in the series, and the in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
India climbs to 3rd spot in ODI chart
Dubai: India's 5-1 demolition of England has taken them to third place in the ICC one-day rankings, their highest position ever, while Mahendra Singh Dhoni's excellent form propelled him to second spot among ODI batsmen.
India's stupendous run in the shorter version of the game, that has seen them win 17 of their last 22 matches, has resulted in their surpassing New Zealand and Pakistan on the charts.
Rahul Dravid's team is now just three points behind second-placed South Africa. If India win both their upcoming ODIs against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, they will reduce that margin to a single point.
Australia is perched at the top with a lead of 13 points.
This is India's highest position since the rankings were launched in October 2002. A year ago, they were languishing at the eighth spot.
Dhoni, who was fifth in the rankings before the England series, accumulated 177 runs at an average of 59 to gain three places on the charts and is now behind Australian captain Ricky Ponting.
Yuvraj Singh (9th), Dravid (11th) and Sachin Tendulkar (18th), who missed the series through injury, are the other Indians in the top 20.
Dhoni jumps to second in rankings
Dubai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni's swashbuckling efforts with the bat against England have seen him move up to second place in the latest LG ICC ODI Player Rankings.
Dhoni began the series in fifth position in the listings but 177 runs at an average of 59, including 96 in Jamshedpur, has pushed him up the list and he is now just seven points behind Australia's Ricky Ponting, who tops the rankings.
And Rahul Dravid's side, which completed a 5-1 ODI series win over England in Indore on Saturday, has jumped two spots to third in the ODI Championship table, their highest-ever placing.
India's triumph, which means they have won 17 of their last 22 ODIs, has seen them leapfrog New Zealand and Pakistan in the ODI Championship table and they are now just three rating points behind second-placed South Africa.
If India can win both their upcoming ODIs against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday and Wednesday, they will reduce that margin to just one point. Australia is 13 points clear of South Africa at the top of the table.
Apart from Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh (ninth), Dravid (11th) and Sachin Tendulkar (18th) are the other Indians on the list of top-20 batsmen.
Virender Sehwag, who scored 78 runs in five innings during the ODI series, has dropped seven places in the rankings and is now 28th in the batting list.
All-rounder Irfan Pathan, like Dhoni, is another India player who has made progress up the LG ICC Player Rankings.
The left-armer is now fourth in the bowling list, behind Shaun Pollock of South Africa, Australia's Glenn McGrath and Shane Bond of New Zealand and he has eased up to third in the ODI all-rounder's table behind Pollock and England's Andrew Flintoff.
Harbhajan Singh, the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series, is up six places to seventh in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers while, further down that list, S Sreesanth, who took six for 55 in Indore, has moved up 32 places to joint 66th (alongside New Zealand's James Franklin) with his best-ever haul of rating points.
England can at least draw a crumb of comfort from their series loss as, although they ended it in seventh place in the LG ICC ODI Championship table, they were sixth on April 1 and that means they have qualified for the second stage of the ICC Champions Trophy in India.
The top six sides in the table on that date go through to that second stage while sides 7 – 10 (Sri Lanka, the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh) will play in a preliminary, round-robin stage with the top two sides going forward.
The itinerary for the ICC Champions Trophy will be announced in due course.
Pakistan can overtake India and move into third place if they win both ODIs in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday. Two victories would give them 116 rating points and drop India to 114.