England must prove themselves in India and Sri Lanka before laying claim to No1 spot says Muttiah Muralitharan

England return to the five-day game for the first time since their glorious Ashes tour, determined to earn the right to be called the best Test-playing nation on the planet.

But Muralitharan, who took 800 Test wickets before his retirement last year - and removed an English batsman 112 times - believes Andrew Strauss' men need to prove themselves in countries such as Sri Lanka and India before they can claim to be the best.

''I think they are good in England, but on the sub-continent they are not that good,'' he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

''They had a brilliant win in the Ashes but other than that they haven't done many great things in the sub-continent.

''They have to improve on the sub-continent, beating sides from the sub-continent in the sub-continent. They have to beat Sri Lanka and India in their conditions.''

Muralitharan has acknowledged the brilliance of England spinner Graeme Swann, but feels they will be unable to conquer the Asian sides on their own patch unless they can find a spin twin to go alongside the Nottinghamshire man.

''At the moment they have a lovely spinner in Graeme Swann, but they need one more spinner to be fighting in the sub-continent because it's difficult with one,'' he said.

''In the sub-continent you need two good spinners. I think Graeme Swann is world class but they need another one.''

Sri Lanka's attack is somewhat different to the one that last toured England in 2006, with Muralitharan having retired completely, and the dangerous Lasith Malinga also calling time on his Test career.

Malinga cited a need to preserve his fitness as the reason why he will only play one-day cricket in future, and Muralitharan has backed his former team-mate's decision.

He said: ''I think he was struggling for the last two or three years with his knee. He only played one match last year.

''He thinks his career is over in Test cricket and he can play one-day cricket until the next World Cup and I feel it's a wise choice for him to do that.

''I think his body would not take it because he had a very bad knee.''

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Duncan Fletcher's last hurrah with India will be a different challenge | Mike Selvey

It looks as if the succession was in hand all along. Gary Kirsten had an enduring relationship with Duncan Fletcher as a young player for Western Province so is as familiar with his ethos and methods as any and, of course, in the primary position to make a judgment on who may be most suited to take on the unique task of coaching India, perhaps the most challenging role in the game outside actually playing.

Kirsten's success as national coach gave him absolute credibility with the players, administrators and supporters alike and his recommendation, which Fletcher's appointment appears to be, would carry consequent weight.

For Fletcher, this will be one last grand coaching hurrah. His failings with the England side in Australia in 2006-07 and in the 2007 World Cup, disasters both, should in no way camouflage the debt owed by England cricket, which even now is reaping the benefits of the structures he put in place.

His success in regaining the Ashes in 2005 from one of the most powerful teams ever to take the field remains one of the outstanding England achievements in any era. But there was success in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in the sort of conditions in which England traditionally struggled to compete, and in South Africa, too. He also drew a Test series in India. So he brings with him a considerable CV, more substantial in fact than that of the man he succeeds.

Why he feels he needs the challenge at 62 is another matter. Since leaving the England job he has filled his time with consultancy positions, at Hampshire, and with the South Africa and New Zealand sides. It has helped to keep him in the loop. Has he missed the more permanent contact and influence that he could bring to bear?

Presumably the Indian authorities made him a financial offer he would find hard to refuse, although clearly he took the job strictly on his terms rather than be required to fit into a system that did not meet with his approval. The retention of Eric Simons, the bowling coach who also worked with Fletcher at Western Province, is testament to that.

Fletcher may give the impression of being a curmudgeon, and at times an autocrat, but Kirsten and of course MS Dhoni will recognise and appreciate someone whose qualities tend to involve working in the background. He has never craved attention, believing that as it is the players ultimately who win or lose games, then it should be they who have the profile.

He was always keen to set up a business-style structure – whether it was at England or Western Province, or Glamorgan before that – in which the captain was viewed as the chief executive and himself as managing director. If there were ever any doubts that whoever was appointed it would be Dhoni, along with Sachin Tendulkar, who ran the show, then they have been dispelled by Fletcher's advancement.

His first task will be to form a relationship with Dhoni. With England his bond with Nasser Hussain was immense, but those who believed that Hussain's departure would preclude a similar relationship in the future, underestimated Fletcher's pragmatism: that with Hussain was seamlessly replaced with an equally strong relationship, with Michael Vaughan.

Whatever it was to the two England captains, to Fletcher it was always business. He will, no doubt, operate on a similar basis to Kirsten which, given the nature and stature of the players he had, was consultative. He did not reside in India for any length of time, but commuted as and when necessary. It is unlikely, then, that Fletcher will uproot from his Cape Town home.

Now he faces a challenge of a different kind to that he faced when he took over England more than a decade ago. They had reached the bottom of the heap and it was by instilling the team values, with the aid of a determined captain who sought respect before popularity, that he gradually helped drag them up. This is different for, as it stands, India are the top-ranked Test side and World Cup holders.

There is an analogy, of sorts, with the situation in Australia when Steve Waugh handed on the captaincy to Ricky Ponting. Waugh chose his moment well for, although Ponting would enjoy great success with an established side, it was always going to fragment. Fletcher will enjoy being associated with one of the finest of all batting line-ups, but will do so in the knowledge that it is rapidly ageing.

So he may see his main role not as maintaining the performance of the star players, but of bringing on the next generation, not just batsmen but bowlers, where there appears to be a dearth of emerging talent.

He will do so knowing that, as with West Indies fast bowlers, things in all probability will never again be the same. He will also know that a decline during his tenure is almost inevitable.

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India and Pakistan set to resume cricket ties

The decision comes two weeks after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani watched together as their respective teams played in the semi-final of the Cricket World Cup in northwest India.

Several Indian newspapers cited unidentified government sources as saying the question of precisely when and where the first cricket series between the rivals might take place would be decided by the two national cricket boards.

Although the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams have played each other in international and regional tournaments in recent years, the last series was held in 2007-08, when the Pakistani team visited India.

India broke off diplomatic and sporting links after 10 Islamist gunmen launched coordinated attacks on targets in Mumbai, killing 166 people in November 2008. India blamed Pakistan-based militants for the assault.

The Mint newspaper quoted one government source as saying India's cricket team would tour Pakistan next year, with a return series in India the year after.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said it had yet to be formally notified of the decision to resume cricket ties.

"We have not received any government announcement as yet, so the board has not discussed the matter," BCCI chief administrative officer Ratna Karshetty told AFP.

No international cricket team has visited Pakistan to play any match since militants launched a gun and grenade assault on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team on March 3, 2009.

The attack saw Pakistan stripped of its right to co-host the just-concluded 2011 Cricket World Cup.

I.S. Bindra, principal advisor to the International Cricket Council, said the resumption of direct cricket ties was a "welcome step."

"It's a nice thing not only for India, but for world cricket as a whole that Pakistan will come into the mainstream of world cricket," he said.

Former Indian all-rounder Madal Lal also welcomed the move, but said the authorities would have to guarantee the safety of players touring Pakistan.

"It is always good for the game when India and Pakistan play each other," Lal said.

"But the Indian government must be very careful. They must ensure that the situation is conducive for cricket in Pakistan."

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Cricket World Cup 2011: Kumar Sangakkara resigns as Sri Lanka captain after India defeat

Sangakkara said he told the national selectors that he would quit as one-day and Twenty20 captain with immediate effect, but offered to continue as Test captain on an interim basis if required.

"After careful consideration I have concluded that it is in the best long-term interests of the team that I step down now as national captain so that a new leader can be properly groomed for the 2015 World Cup," Sangakkara, 33, wrote to Sri Lanka Cricket.

"This was a decision I made prior to the World Cup. I will be 37 by the next World Cup and I cannot therefore be sure of my place in the team.

"It is better that Sri Lanka is led now by a player who will be at the peak of their career during that tournament."

Sangakkara, a fluent left-hand batsman and wicket-keeper, said he had no plans yet to retire as a player.

"I met with the selectors on Monday and I explained my reasons for my decision and I assured them of my fullest support in helping our new captain settle into the leadership," he wrote.

"In this regard, I have offered to continue as the Test captain for the forthcoming series with England, and possibly Australia, if the selectors believe this would help the new captain and aid the transition.

"I have no plans of retirement from international cricket at this stage and, subject to form and fitness, I would like to be considered for selection in all three formats of the game for the foreseeable future."

Sangakkara has scored 8,244 runs in 94 Tests at an average of 57.25 with 24 centuries. He also has 9,164 runs in 291 one-dayers with 11 hundreds.

Sangakkara said he had enjoyed his two-year stint as captain since taking over from Mahela Jayawardene in March, 2009.

"It has been a true honour and a great privilege to serve my country as captain during the past two years," he said.

"Although bitterly disappointed that we could not win the final, I am very proud of the performances of the team.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank my team-mates and the coaching staff for their hard work and support."

There was no immediate comment from Sri Lanka Cricket or the national selectors on Sangakkara's decision

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India v Pakistan: Cricket World Cup 2011 match report

The Great Game between these feuding neighbours failed to materialise after India won a faltering match to take their place on Saturday against Sri Lanka in the World Cup final, their first for 23 years. They were deserved winners, mostly because a team who squander five chances, as Pakistan did when India batted first, do not deserve to win anything let alone the semi-final of cricket’s biggest tournament.

“We’ve had our struggles in this tournament, but we said it was important to peak at the right time,” said MS Dhoni, India’s captain after his team had won by 29 runs. “Everyone in this side has been tested and I think we’re ready for the final.”

Pakistan have lost all five of their World Cup meetings with India and those misses were instrumental in losing this one, after they allowed India to post 260, a target that was always going to be a tough chase under pressure.

Batting under lights has its challenges too, especially when squadrons of flying insects began to swarm over the ground. In a game that sought to guard itself against most man-made perils this was one the thousands of police and soldiers could do little about and Pakistan went quietly amid a blizzard of beating wings.

The charitable view of their performance is that it was nerves on the day, though when you hand Sachin Tendulkar, one of the best one-day batsmen five innings to make his 85 (he was dropped four times), there is a masochistic streak that deserves the opprobrium of its supporters, who in time-honoured fashion will no doubt torch a few effigies over the next day or so. If they do, and there is certainly a precedent from the 1996 World Cup when Wasim Akram had his house stoned as well, Wahab Riaz and Pakistan’s two off-spinners, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez, ought to be exempt after sharing eight of the nine wickets to fall between them. Afterwards, Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan captain, congratulated his opponents. “I’d like to congratulate the Indian team and the Indian nation, they played better than us and deserved their win,” Afridi said. “But I’d like to thank the Pakistan people as well. We tried our level best and I hope thy enjoyed it.”

Although one of the less intimidating crowds in India, given Mohali’s 28,000 capacity and a preponderance of VVIPs, or what Roy Keane used to call the prawn sandwich brigade, apprehension was apparent, even in a veteran like Tendulkar. What else could have explained his scrappy innings after Virender Sehwag had given India a blistering start with a lightning knock that gave the crowd an early reason to show its voice?

This is probably Tendulkar’s last chance to win the World Cup so perhaps that, as well as having his hundredth international hundred hanging over him, added to the pressure of an already tense occasion. Yet, whatever it is that disrupts the little master’s flow, it afflicted him yesterday and he should have been out on 27, 45, 71 and 80.

Before those let-offs, he had also survived an lbw and a stumping, both of them adjudicated by TV replay, by a hair’s breadth. The lbw, off Saeed Ajmal was given out by umpire Ian Gould and looked just until Tendulkar asked for a review and the replays showed it to be just missing leg-stump. But great players will take any generosity given them and make you pay and the cost of Pakistan’s squandering was painfully apparent when the next highest score on India’s card was Sehwag’s 38.

Sehwag’s assault, which consigned Umar Gul to the status of net bowler after he struck him for five fours in an over, showed the need to attack new ball, which came onto the bat. He looked unable to be contained until Riaz got one to squat a bit off the pitch to have him lbw, the first of five wickets in an impressive performance.

India were 99 for one after 15 overs, but when Pakistan chased under lights, they were 29 runs short of that after the same period, which meant they had to increase the rate just as spin and reverse-swing began to make timing and placement more difficult. As the rate rose, none came to grips with it, though Umar Akmal at least raged against it briefly with a brisk 29 that included two sixes.

Misbah-ul-Haq, who was last man out for 56, played the long game after some of the earlier batsman had tossed their wickets away, but he ran out of viable partners to be a serious threat. Hafeez, who had bowled so well earlier, perished playing the kind of scoop shot usually seen in frothy T20 matches but not on an occasion of this gravitas. Asad Shafiq, too, undid his good work, a modicum of pressure being all that was needed for him to attempt a risky cut shot against Yuvraj Singh and lose his off-stump.

The success of Pakistan’s two spinners brought India’s decision to drop one of theirs for the pace of Ashish Nehra into question, but Nehra, castigated after India’s defeat to South Africa in the group stage, was superb with his skiddy left-arm swingers. Munaf Patel, also bowled well, leaving Yuvraj, bowled by a full toss for a golden duck when he batted, as the only weak link with the ball. But his left-arm spin held up well enough for him to take two for 57 from his 10 overs.

The lack of spark to the match did not prevent it being a TV phenomenon and reports from around the world spoke of drastic cab shortages in Toronto, Oslo and Hackney. Advertising rates during the match were said to be running at $25,000 per 10 seconds of air time, though with an audience reckoned to be one fifth of the world’s population, it was no doubt money well spent.

It appeared to pass without major incident too, with nothing more explosive than Amritsari chicken. The prime ministers of both countries, India’s Manmohan Singh and Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan, attended and shook hands with both sides after the national anthems. Plenty of Bollywood stars also came, cricketers being about the only thing above them in the pecking order.

There will be even more at the final on Saturday in Mumbai, where two teams that bat deep and have variety to their bowling attacks, will contest a fascinating final.

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India v Sri Lanka: don't judge Mahendra Singh Dhoni on World Cup final outcome, says Kapil Dev

Trophy holder: Kapil Dev (middle) is the only Indian captain to win the Cricket World Cup Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Dhoni, having steered India past Pakistan in the semi-finals, is expected to complete the job with victory in Mumbai on Saturday to give the home side a second title to add to Kapil's 1983 breakthrough.

"I will never doubt Dhoni's credentials as a captain irrespective of the result of World Cup final," said Kapil.

"Lots of people believe that it's the ultimate result which will count but I believe otherwise.

"Look at Ricky Ponting. He has won two World Cups and after one bad World up he is out. That's not the way to judge a captain. So I would like that Dhoni not be judged by a win or loss. Instead, let's all wish him the very best."

Arjuna Ranatunga, who captained Sri Lanka to their only World Cup title in 1996, feels that both teams are evenly-matched.

"It will be a 50-50 game. I am slightly worried about our middle-order. The batsmen from No 5 to No 7 (Angelo Mathews, Thilan Samaraweera and Chamara Silva) haven't performed up to the mark. Also Mahela's (Jayawardene) form is a bit of worry for us," Ranatunga said.

"Those who believe that there won't be pressure are wrong. I myself have played a final and I know how it feels out there in the middle."

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Cricket World Cup 2011: India v Pakistan in Mohali can suit Shahid Afridi's side

The explanation comes in two words: Bindra Sahib. The power behind the throne of world cricket and Indian cricket is Inderjit Singh Bindra, who created the Mohali stadium as his personal fiefdom after his family – Sikh – had been forced to flee Lahore at Partition.

But while Bindra Sahib will deftly sort out the enormous quantity of VIPs who will descend on his stadium on the outskirts of Chandigarh, not to mention that subcontinental speciality the VVIPs, the ground will not be so suited to the Indian team – because it is the most northerly in this World Cup, and the least Asian.

Mohali is the only pitch in Asia which regularly has some pace and bounce, although Chennai does occasionally. If Australia had won their quarter-final at the predictable slow turner in Ahmedabad, Mohali would have suited their pace attack. Not India though, as they have three good spinners, but not three good seamers.

Zaheer Khan is head and shoulders above India’s other pace bowlers. Munaf Patel has all the physical equipment to be a second Glenn McGrath but is psychologically fragile, as Brad Haddin was the latest to prove when he went after Patel in the quarter-final. Ashish Nehra is erratic – and cannot bat, like Patel – while Sreesanth skids on to the bat.

Fortunately for the hosts, Pakistan have exactly the same mixture: three good spinners but not three good seamers. Umar Gul stands out, like Zaheer; otherwise all they have for pace – in the absence of the banned Mohammed

Aamer and Mohammed Asif – is Shoaib Akhtar, who has finally announced his retirement and whose last over went for 28; Wahab Riaz, a pacey but wayward left-armer; and a novice left-armer Junaid Khan who hasn’t played an international.

Assuming this weakness in one team cancels out the weakness in the other, India’s superior batting should prevail. They have some great batsmen, Pakistan good batsmen. But the number of Indian supporters in the ground will be limited, and – being close in every sense to Lahore - it is the nearest Pakistan will come to a home match in a long while.

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