BCCI OFFICIALS PRESENT INDIAN PM WITH ICC WORLD CUP 2011 SOUVENIR

Officials from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) met Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, and presented him with an autographed cricket bat bearing signatures of all the members of India's ICC World Cup 2011 winning squad.

The officials included, BCCI President Shashank Manohar, Secretary N Srinivasan and Vice President Rajiv Shukla. They presented a cricket bat autographed by the national cricket team to the PM in the meeting held in New Delhi.

According to sources, this is the BCCI’s first official meeting with the Indian PM after India’s glorious win in the coveted tournament. During the meeting with the PM, the BCCI officials expressed their desire to improve other sports of the country as well. They discussed different plans and strategies with the Manmohan Singh for building new sports arenas and stadiums for different sports in India. The officials also requested the PM to help the board with financial support and assistance.

The vice-president of the BCCI Rajiv Shukla stated, “It was a courtesy meeting with the Prime Minister and we gifted him with a bat signed by all the members of the World Cup winning team.”

Indian President Pratibha Patil witnessed the final of the ICC World Cup 2011 between India and Sri Lanka along with Sri Lanka President, Mahinda Rajapaksa. She then invited the victorious India team to a tea party the next day in Mumbai and took group photos with the successful Men in Blue.

The BCCI members also conveyed their heartiest gratitude to the PM for visiting Mohali to watch the Indo-Pak semi-final played on March 30, 2011.

They also expressed their appreciation for Dr. Manmohan for inviting the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Yousuf Raza Gilani to India to watch the Indo-Pak semi-final with him. They said that this would be helpful in building friendly relations between the two countries.

Pak-India cricket ties, which were hampered after the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed 164 people, seem to be back on track after the two countries played each other in the semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2011 in Mohali. Both the leaders vowed to resume cricketing ties between the countries and saw the sport as a means to normalise relations between the neighbours.

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Coaching 2011 Champions is a big challenge for Duncan Fletcher

India’s bowling coach, Eric Simons, claimed that he is looking forward to join Duncan Fletcher in the upcoming tour of West Indies and believed that it will be a big challenge for Fletcher to coach the World Champions.
The 49-year old South African, whose contract was extended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday, expressed that he expected that Fletcher will bring innovation in the Indian team with some new ideas as he did with the England team during his coaching period with them.
The England team was in great form in 2004, by winning eight consecutive Test matches including the Ashes series of 2005 under Fletcher’s guidance.
Simons and Fletcher will both join the Indian team from the next month on the tour of West Indies.
While talking to the media, Simons said, "I have never worked with Duncan, so I am looking forward to working with him. I am sure he will bring in some fresh ideas to the team like he did during his English stint. But I think coaching the No.1 team in the world will be a real challenge for Fletcher".
Simons and his compatriot, the former Indian coach, Gary Kirsten, both played an important role in the Indian cricket team’s win in the 2011 World Cup after 28 years.
Simons also guided his players well in the recent tour of South Africa where the Indian team was successful to draw the Test series for the first time.
On the renewal of his contract, Simons said, “I had agreed in principle to continue as the bowling coach. Now that they have agreed to give me an extension, I have to sit down with them and discuss the nature of the contract and the tenure".
Simons also claimed that according to India’s structure in the world of cricket, his job is getting difficult.
"These are exciting and tough times for me. The last one year has been great for me and now the job has become tougher. The challenge will be to keep the team on top. The expectations are always high from World champions and living up to them will be a challenge for this Indian team", Simons explained.
Talking about the Indian bowling line up, Simons said that it is the Indian selector’s duty to decide which bowlers would be consistent in their performance. He explained that his job is to give confidence to the bowlers and further described that when one is confident one can run in and bowl quickly in good areas. He added that those bowlers who are performing well are consistent with their performance throughout the match or series.

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