ICC Champions Trophy 2009!

India's Champions Trophy campaign has suffered a major setback even before it has started with Yuvraj Singh fracturing his finger during a practice session in Johannesburg. The injury will sideline him for six weeks and Virat Kohli will fly to South Africa as a replacement as soon as the formalities are completed.

Yuvraj injured his finger while fielding and did not take part in the net sessions that followed. He was attended to by the physio Nitin Patel before heading for a medical examination, which the fracture.

India were plagued with injuries going into the tournament. Virender Sehwag did not travel to South Africa due to a shoulder injury, while Gautam Gambhir, who did not feature in the team's only practice match against New Zealand, is nursing a groin strain.

India's tournament opener is against Pakistan on Saturday after which they will take on Australia and West Indies next week.

Originally Posted by Agnel

Have plenty of sex to win matches - Indian Coach

I guess, it could be the reason how Yuvi really broke his finger

Australia have suffered a major blow before their first Champions Trophy match with Nathan Bracken ruled out of the tournament with a chronic knee injury. Cricket Australia confirmed Bracken would be sent home on Thursday due to the problem with his right knee.

"The nature of Nathan's right knee problem has meant that he has had some ongoing manageable pain, but this has now reached a point where he is unable to continue playing in the ICC Champions Trophy," Australia's physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said. "He will return to Australia to consult a knee specialist for an opinion on the best course of action. His return to cricket will be determined after consulting the specialist."

The loss of Bracken will hurt Australia's attack as he is the team's highest-ranked one-day international bowler, sitting sixth on the ICC ODI rankings, ahead of the next Australian Mitchell Johnson in equal ninth. Bracken, who played in the recent one-day series in England, will also be in doubt for the Champions League Twenty20, where he was expected to represent New South Wales in early October.

Australia's first match of the Champions Trophy is against West Indies on Saturday. Cricket Australia has not yet confirmed a replacement for Bracken in the 15-man squad, although contenders will include Doug Bollinger, Stuart Clark and Brett Geeves.

James Franklin, the New Zealand left-arm medium-fast bowler, has been called up as a replacement for the injured Jacob Oram at the ICC Champions Trophy. Franklin, who was playing for Gloucestershire against Kent in Bristol, will leave the match halfway to head to South Africa.

Oram pulled his hamstring during training and missed New Zealand's opening game of the tournament along with Ian Butler, who caught a stomach bug.

In seven Friends Provident Trophy matches for Gloucestershire this season, Franklin has taken 11 wickets at 21.90 and scored 224 runs at a strike-rate of 82.05. In the ongoing County Championship match, Franklin ended day two unbeaten on 104 after taking 5 for 30 to restrict Kent to 264.

New Zealand lost to South Africa by five wickets on Thursday.

"We were lucky to restrict Pak"

Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said they were lucky to restrict their rivals at a low score in a crucial ICC Champions Trophy clash.

Ponting lavished praise on Pakistan's bowlers for making life difficult for his batsmen.

Australia pulled off a last-ball win against Pakistan to reach the semifinals of the Champions Trophy and Ponting said they would have to do some soul-searching before they take on England in the second semifinal on Friday.

"It was quite emotional and chilling to sit there in the dressing room and it really got too close. But we have crossed the line and we will meet England in the semifinals in a couple of days time," Ponting said.

"We had a very good series against England over there but its different conditions here and I think they are playing really good cricket. We have to go back to the drawing board and see what went wrong in the last half an hour and make sure we play well in the next match on Friday," he added.

Ponting said his team was finding it difficult to face the Pakistan bowlers on a bouncy Centurion pitch.

"It was pretty tough to score runs. There was inconsistent bounce and pace for new ballers and it was difficult getting them away," he said.

"But we knew it will be over and spinner will come into play and I think we are very lucky to restrict them to that total because there bowlers really bowled very well and did a good job in the last half an hour," he added.

"We were lucky to restrict Pak"

Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said they were lucky to restrict their rivals at a low score in a crucial ICC Champions Trophy clash.

Ponting lavished praise on Pakistan's bowlers for making life difficult for his batsmen.

Australia pulled off a last-ball win against Pakistan to reach the semifinals of the Champions Trophy and Ponting said they would have to do some soul-searching before they take on England in the second semifinal on Friday.

"It was quite emotional and chilling to sit there in the dressing room and it really got too close. But we have crossed the line and we will meet England in the semifinals in a couple of days time," Ponting said.

"We had a very good series against England over there but its different conditions here and I think they are playing really good cricket. We have to go back to the drawing board and see what went wrong in the last half an hour and make sure we play well in the next match on Friday," he added.

Ponting said his team was finding it difficult to face the Pakistan bowlers on a bouncy Centurion pitch.

"It was pretty tough to score runs. There was inconsistent bounce and pace for new ballers and it was difficult getting them away," he said.

"But we knew it will be over and spinner will come into play and I think we are very lucky to restrict them to that total because there bowlers really bowled very well and did a good job in the last half an hour," he added.