Lahore, Sept 27 : Pakistani batsman Mohammad Yousuf today agreed to cancel his contract with the Indian Cricket League (ICL) in order to continue playing for his national team.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf said that he had a “fruitful meeting” with Yousuf today, during which the prolific batsman signed a central contract with the board.

"He is now available to represent Pakistan. He is the backbone of Pakistan's batting, and we are happy that he is back,” Ashraf said.

New Delhi, Sept 27 : The Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Shashank Manohar, is all set to take over the board President’s job from incumbent Sharad Pawar in mid 2008.

Reports said that Manohar has been recommended to take over from Pawar after the latter assumes charge as the Vice-President of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in July 2008.

Bangalore, Sept.27 : Australian captain Ricky Ponting today said that India's cricketing big guns Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly would be targetted by his team during the forthcoming seven one-day internationals in India, beginning with Saturday's one-dayer in Bangalore.

Addressing a press conference here, Ponting said that the Kangaroos were well aware of the "strengths and weaknesses" of Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly, and as far the rest were concerned, they would be sorted out.

Auckland, Sept.27 : Left arm spinner Daniel Vettori was today confirmed as New Zealand's 26th Test captain when he was chosen to lead the New Zealand cricket team on next month's two-test tour to South Africa.

Vettori replaces Stephen Fleming, New Zealand's captain for the past decade, who was dropped from the position earlier this month after resigning the limited-overs captaincy. Fleming, however, retained his place in the 15-man test squad as a specialist batsman.

Karachi, Sept.26 : The South African cricket team arrived in Karachi on Wednesday to play two Test matches and five One-day Internationals against Pakistan.

Tight security measures were taken at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on the arrival of the visiting team. Dozens of police officers including elite commandos were deployed at the airport. They surrounded the team as they left the Jinnah terminal building.