CHENNAI, India: South African skipper Graeme Smith has criticized the wicket prepared for its World Cup warm-up game against Zimbabwe and called for better tracks during the tournament. The pitch caused worries to Smith despite his team cantering to an eight-wicket win in the day-night game at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai Saturday. “I don't think it was a great wicket,” Smith said afterward. “It probably suited them (spinners). The wicket probably helped them a little bit being, I think, maybe a bit under-prepared.” South Africa's frontline spinners Imran Tahir (3-35), Robin Petersen (2-21) and Johan Botha (1-18) benefited as Zimbabwe was bowled out for a paltry 152. Smith called for better tracks once the actual action started in the tournament. South Africa is set to play England in Chennai on March 6. Cup win could return cricket to Pakistan: Waqar Pakistan winning the World Cup would help convince other teams to again play cricket in the country following a deadly attack in 2009, according to coach Waqar Younis. “It's very important for us because our people want to see international matches,” Younis said. “I'm sure if we win the World Cup it will open a new chapter in the cricketing world.” “Despite so many controversies, the team had done well in the last year with series against South Africa and New Zealand,” the coach said. Younis has bitter memories of the World Cup, flying home injured before Imran Khan led Pakistan to victory in the 1992 tournament and then captaining a team in 2003 that failed to advance beyond the first round. “God has given me another chance,” he said. “Seriously, this team has the potential to win the World Cup, it just needs to click and gain momentum at the right time.” ‘India will miss Kumar' India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni says the absence of injured paceman Praveen Kumar will hurt the team in the World Cup. Dhoni said that Kumar was a “street-smart cricketer who will be missed a lot”. Kumar has been a regular in India's limited-over teams, but suffered an elbow injury during last month's tour of South Africa. India beats Australia A four-wicket haul from spinner Piyush Chawla sparked an Australian batting collapse as India won the World Cup warm-up match by 38 runs Sunday. Chasing a modest 215 for victory, Australia had a flying start and was cruising at 118 for one with captain Ricky Ponting (57) well set, before the Indian spinners ran through the middle order. Leg-spinner Chawla, a surprise inclusion in India's World Cup squad, and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh took seven wickets between them to bowl out Australia for 176. The 22-year-old Chawla made a strong case for a regular place in the starting line-up after taking four for 31, while Harbhjan took three for 15 and Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuvraj Singh took one wicket each. Earlier Virender Sehwag showed no signs of the shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for the past few months and scored 54 at almost a run a ball. Murali launches book Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket, has launched his autobiography with the book expected to go on sale in August. The book was unveiled Sunday and is entitled “800,” referring to his number of Test wickets.
