Farveez Maharoof – “The Speedy Daredevil”? (file photo) © AFP

A case of mistaken identity:
One of the posters outside the FerozShah Kotla introduces you to “The Speedy Daredevil”. You may call FarveezMaharoof a lot of things, including a Glenn McGrath wannabe, but speedy?Dale Steyn was playing for the opposition.Lights, camera, no action:
The started was delayed by 10 minutes asa result of a glitch in the TV transmission. Were it not for the crowdgetting restive, the pause might have gone on longer. Steyn filled thetime with rolls and stretches on the outfield, and it wasn’t until theseventh over that pictures were available.No country for old men:
Sunil Joshi is even older than McGrath, andlooks a stranger to this format. His only over was pounded for 19 byGautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan, and when Jacques Kallis was flayed inthe next over, Bangalore’s reliance on experience wasn’t looking thatclever.Are you watching, Jens Lehmann?:
When Dhawan powered one in thedirection of midwicket, most eyes went to the boundary rope. But wait. Whowas that diving full length to his right to pouch a stunning catch? RahulDravid may no longer be part of the one-day team, but at this rate, an I-League football club may come calling next season.Not quite perfect:
Most bowlers would bite your hand off if youoffered them figures of 4 for 29 in a T20 game. In his final over, McGrathcame back to claim the wicket of Dravid and tilt the game decisively inDelhi’s favour. His last ball, though, was tucked away for four by MarkBoucher. Cue a frustrated kick at the air. The true champions are neverhappy.

The issue of player payments in the Bangladesh Premier League was brought up at the end of the Comilla Victorians – Sylhet Super Stars game, with Mashrafe Mortaza and Shahid Afridi giving contrasting versions. While Comilla’s Mashrafe indicated that all payments to his team-mates were made on time, Afridi, who plays for Sylhet, said that some players told him about their dues.The BPL’s policy, like the 2013 edition, is to clear 50% of all player payments before the tournament begins, 25% during the tournament, and the rest within one month of the tournament’s final, which in this case will be January 15, 2016.Mashrafe said that the Comilla franchise had made 75% of the player payments before the due date of December 11. “All members of our team were paid 75% of the money,” Mashrafe said. “They were supposed to pay us by December 11, they paid us last night. As far as I know, the foreign players have been paid in full though there might be one or two issues. We have no complaints about payment since we got it last night.”Afridi, however, said that some players, without mentioning their names, had told him that they had not received any payments. Nonetheless, he welcomed the BPL and said that if the payment issues were cleared, the tournament would attract more players.”At the moment some of the other players mentioned they didn’t get paid yet,” Afridi said. “The cricket board this time took a responsibility and I must give credit to the BPL and the Bangladesh Cricket Board. They organized this tournament well, and I personally enjoyed it. If they sorted out the problems with the guys, money-wise, hopefully each and every player will come from anywhere and enjoy the BPL.”

Match facts

December 28, 2015
Start time 1430 local (9am GMT)Gautam Gambhir-led Delhi will be gunning for their second Vijay Hazare Trophy title against plucky Gujarat•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Big Picture

The presence of the big India stars brought some attention to the knockout week of Vijay Hazare Trophy, but it’s the two best teams with those hungry to do well at this level that are left standing. Axar Patel has been Gujarat’s talisman, but he is hardly the established star that would bring newspaper headlines to a tournament. Delhi, on the other hand, have relied mainly on team work in their bowling: Quicks Navdeep Saini and Suboth Bhati have gained massively from a dash of Ishant Sharma. Left-arm spinner Manan Sharma has been the perfect support act with an economy rate of 3.36, and Pawan Negi has had a bit of an X-factor about him.The batting of these two sides have been the opposite. Gujarat have shared around the duties: Parthiv Patel hits at the top, Priyank Pachal, Rujul Bhatt and Chirag Gandhi have been the rocks, and Manpreet Juneja returned to form with a fifty in the semi-final. Delhi are more reliant on Unmukt Chand and Gautam Gambhir. Nitish Rana has shown signs of maturity, and Negi has again provided crucial lower-order quick runs.This has been a good turnaround for both the sides after a disappointing first-class season. Delhi seemed to have put behind administrative controversies when they led the points table in the first half. They fell away in the second half whereas Gujarat failed to recover from a slow start. Only one team will cap it off, though.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Delhi WWWWW
Gujarat WWWWW

In the spotlight

The knockout stage played on tired pitches has been a low-scoring affair. The pitches, especially at Chinnaswamy Stadium, the venue of the final, have been two-paced and generally slow. In the first day-night match of the event, the conditions will be in focus.It might be easy to say Gujarat have been all Axar, but Rujul Bhatt will take exception. He has been a solid middle-order batsman, a good slip fielder and a steady offspinner. He is Gujarat’s highest run-getter with 278 runs, and has given away runs at under 4.5 an over. When Axar was running through Tamil Nadu in the semi-final, Bhatt bowled 10 straight overs for just 34 runs.Chand, meanwhile, is the only one with a realistic chance of unseating Mandeep Singh as the highest run-getter of the tournament. At 308 runs, he is 86 behind Mandeep’s mark of 394. He nearly scored that many in the semi-final, shepherding what could have been a tricky chase on the Chinnaswamy pitch.

Team news

Neither of the teams might have pressing reasons to change their winning combinations.Delhi (probable) 1 Rishabh Pant (wk), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Unmukt Chand, 4 Gautam Gambhir (capt.), 5 Milind Kumar, 6 Nitish Rana, 7 Manan Sharma, 8 Pawan Negi, 9 Suboth Bhati, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Ishant Sharma.Gujarat (probable) 1 Parthiv Patel (capt. & wk), 2 Priyank Panchal, 3 Bhargav Merai, 4 Rujul Bhatt, 5 Chirag Gandhi, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Manpreet Juneja, 8 Rohit Dahiya, 9 Rush Kalaria, 10 Hardik Patel, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.

Stats and trivia

• This is only the second time these two teams are facing each other in a one-day match. The last encounter was a romp for Delhi, in the quarter-final of 2012-13.
• Axar Patel is the joint highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with 19 of them. He is tied with Punjab’s Siddarth Kaul.
• Delhi have won the Vijay Hazare Trophy once in 2013. Gujarat are looking for their first title.

Quotes

“We can’t take any opposition lightly. We were beaten by Assam in the days and that cost us the knockout berth. We lost against Vidarbha, a very close match. We could not chase 163. We have got enough instances for the fact that we can’t take any opposition lightly. Of course it being a final, we have to raise the bar in all the three departments and make sure that we put in a 100%, do our best so that we win the finals as well.”
“It is great the way preparation for Australia is going. Have batted and bowled well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. But I am taking it step by step. Right now thinking of the final only. Will think of Australia after that.”

Cricket has lost one of its greatest friends with the death of former Warwickshire player Jack Bannister. He was 85.Bannister enjoyed a fine career as a player and journalist, but it was perhaps his role in establishing the Professional Cricketers’ Association – the players’ union in England – that will prove to have the greatest ramifications.He attended the organisation’s inaugural meeting and went on to serve it for 20 years as secretary and then as chairman and president. Having helped establish a standard employment contract and minimum wage for cricketers, he then set to work establishing their first pension system. Later he helped negotiate a solution when some counties were keen to ban players who had appeared in Packer’s World Series.The roots of better salaries, freedom of movement and more equitable terms and conditions for players all grew from those roots. The players of today owe Bannister and his colleagues a great deal.A medium-fast seamer, Bannister was a good enough player to take 1,198 first-class wickets over a 20-year career at an average of 21.91. His figures of 10 for 41, taken against Combined Services in 1959, remain the best innings figures taken by a Warwickshire bowler, while he also claimed 9 for 35 against Yorkshire in 1955. He featured in the Warwickshire sides that won the County Championship in 1951 and the Gillette Cup in 1966. He retired at the end of the 1969 season; the year in which the Sunday League was introduced.He established a successful chain of bookmakers during the later years of his playing career but, once his broadcasting career blossomed, relinquished control of the business to his daughter.He had started to write for the during the latter years of his playing career – a relationship that was to endure for 40 years – and subsequently enjoyed a distinguished career as broadcaster and writer with the BBC and TalkSPORT. He was chairman of The Cricket Writers’ Club between 1994 and 1996.He referred to Richie Benaud as his “best friend in life” and, every week from 1987 – when Bannister joined Benaud in the BBC TV commentary box – to three-weeks before Benaud’s death in April 2015, the pair exchanged racing tips. Golf was another great passion they shared.”There is no denying that every cricketer owes Jack a huge debt of gratitude because he was one of the pioneers who were responsible for laying the foundations for the organisation we have now,” Jason Ratcliffe, the assistant chief executive of the PCA and chairman of the Warwickshire Old County Cricketers’ Association, said.”Jack was always a players’ man and he worked tirelessly to improve pay and conditions for players during his long association with the PCA.”He was a fantastic cricketer with an outstanding record for Warwickshire. After he retired from playing, Jack became an influential figure in the broadcasting box from where he continued to promote the game he loved. Everyone at the PCA is very saddened to hear the news of Jack’s death and our thoughts go to his family, many friends and colleagues.”Wolverhampton born, Bannister’s family moved to Birmingham and he gained entry to King Edward’s School Five Ways through the 11+.

Karnataka were in line for a bonus-point win over Assam as K Gowtham triggered another second-innings meltdown courtesy three wickets to take his match tally to seven, in addition to a maiden first-class century. Assam, made to follow-on, were tottering at 169 for 6, still needing 155 to avoid an innings defeat in Mysore.Gowtham was complemented by fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun, who picked up two wickets. The only semblance of resistance from Assam came courtesy a 56-run fourth-wicket stand between Gokul Sharma and Sibsankar Roy, who made 44. Gokul, the captain, was unbeaten on 62.Delhi, denied victory courtesy bad light in their season opener, were in closing distance of seven straight points at the Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi. Following on, Railways, were reduced to 157 for 6, requiring another 154 to avoid an innings defeat. Pulkit Narang, Vikas Mishra and Manan Sharma picked up two wickets each, while Ishant Sharma, the Delhi captain, sent down 10 overs for 19 runs and no wickets. Nitin Bhille, the top-scorer for Railways in the match, remained unbeaten on 54 at the close of play on the third day.Hyderabad’s frustration continued as they couldn’t step out onto the field for a seventh consecutive day this season. Their second game, at Gymkhana Grounds in Hyderabad, is set to face similar fate as the first one: abandoned without a ball bowled. Torrential rain in Hyderabad had earlier rendered the outfield at Rajiv Gandhi International stadium unsuitable for the T20I between India and Australia last week. Uttar Pradesh, their opponents, are also in desperate need for game time, particularly after a loss to Railways in their tournament opener.

Germany national team head coach Joachim Low has backed Michael Ballack to play on at the highest level for another two or three years, after the midfielder was released by Chelsea.

The 33-year-old has not been offered a new contract by the Blues and will leave Stamford Bridge after scoring 25 goals in 167 appearances in a four-year stay.

Ballack will miss the upcoming World Cup finals due to an ankle injury, but has joined the rest of the squad at a training base in Italy.

From there, Low commented:"I am certain that Ballack will play two or three more years at the top level, so he will certainly not be thinking of ending his career.

"He has lots of opportunities and he told me this in Sicily. He even has some concrete offers from different clubs in different leagues.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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"I think when you see what condition he was in recent months for Chelsea, then it is clear he will play at the highest level for two to three more years."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

After a slow start the 2010 World Cup in South Africa has been full of thrills and spills. Portugal netted seven against North Korea and both Brazil and Spain showed their class against the Ivory Coast and Honduras respectively, and the tournament is now moving through the gears. As the group stage of the tournament nears its conclusion and the straight knockout format is due to kick in, expect to see more thrills as there are no second chances. Only then will the battle to be crowned World Cup winners really hot up, with the experience of the final almost unrivalled.

The adrenaline and sense of anticipation that surrounds the World Cup final is something to behold. The thrills that is provides for the players involved, the supporters in the stadium and football fans around the world watching at home will be remembered for a very long time, especially if it’s a classic in the vein of England v West Germany at Wembley in 1966. That is one of those special occasions that go down in history, but something completely different that will give you an adrenaline rush can be enjoyed everyday.

The World Cup final is something that you have to wait a long time for, four years in fact, but you’ll only have to wait until work finishes to drive your Mazda MX-5, although that’s long enough! Getting behind the wheel is a thrilling experience in a car that offers unadulterated driving pleasure. From the feeling of putting your foot to the floor to that of having the roof down and the wind in your hair, driving the MX-5 will give you a buzz from start to finish. That’s something you can’t say about most football matches, apart from a select few.

Hopefully we’ll be graced with a classic or two in the 2010 World Cup that will come close to meeting the needs of thrill seekers around the world. Condor Hang Gliding in the Andes, somersaulting from the nose of a 40 ton whale and racing your friends in a buffalo stampede just aren’t exciting enough. Watching the 2010 World Cup final might just be the only thing that you delay the thrill of getting behind the wheel of a Mazda MX-5 for!

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Brought to you by Mazda Thrillseekers, for more information, visit www.mazda.co.uk/thrillseekers

Spain international Cesc Fabregas looks set to stay at Arsenal for at least one more season after new Barcelona president Sandro Rosell admitted his club may not have the funds to afford him this summer.

Rosell has confirmed that there are currently no talks between the two sides over a deal for the Gunners captain, who left the Camp Nou for north London when he was only 16.

Barca had a reported Euros 29million bid for Fabregas turned down by the Gunners earlier this summer while it was suggested that the player's failure to oust Xavi and Andres Iniesta from the Spain side at this summer's World Cup finals, prompted him to have a change of heart about leaving Arsenal.

"Arsenal feels very hurt by Barca," Rosell told Catalan TV3."They don't want to listen to offers or sell and they are not putting the player (Fabregas) on the market.

"There was a strong dispute a few months ago and they have not forgotten it. He (Fabregas) will arrive, even if it is not now, it will be next year. We will see.

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"One thing that is certain is that we will not go mad trying to sign him. No shareholder would pay Euros 60 or 70million for him. We will not go all out for him. We would only pay his value in the transfer market."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email