Dhoni fought- Only Dhoni fought on an "England's day"....

    Thanks to Dhoni, after a long time. Only Dhoni had the guts to take the English bowling attack - only Dhoni. Rest all were mere spectators including the master blaster-Sachin Tendulkar and Mr.Perfect-Rahul Dravid. English bowlers lumped the Indian batsmen but Dhoni held the fight to bring India to a decent score of 224. When the English fast bowlers especially Stuart Broad and TIm Bresnan shared most of the wickets India were 111 for 7 at one time. It was Dhoni's and Praveen Kumars heart to counter attack the England bowlers made all the difference.

And atlast....

 
 Sehwag-thought of as the savior even didn't get enough time to be on the ground. He was dismissed by last two tests hero-Broad in the very first ball of his spell and what Sehwag faced first after return from his injury. India would have smell the danger even in that instant itself. But Gambhir (38) and Dravid stood somehow till lunch. Dravid who got back his favourite number 3 position once again came to the crease with situations similar to an opener prevailing and he did well to manage that. But he could resist the attack only till last ball of the first session.
    Then came Sachin Tendulkar- Master Blaster with some great loud of applause from the crowd that have followed him throughout this series. As soon as he came England skipper Andrew Strauss  immediately recalled his senior most strike bowler James Anderson to target someone he has removed 7 times. And Anderson could have made it to 8 but this time luck didn't hold his side. Then Stuart Broad got the chance to get the outside edge of Sachin - it was for the third time in this series that Broad is dismissing the Master Blaster. Then the rest was all an easy task for the England pace attack. Raina as usual fell before the short pitch delivery, Laxman who lazily flicked to long leg and Mishra edged a drive. But what happened rest was quite unnatural. Dhoni (77) who needed 16 deliveries to open his account and Praveen Kumar (28) counter attacked England bowlers with some crunching drives and haphazard drives. This partnership helped India a lot to reach 224.
   In reply Indian bowlers didn't get anything from the pitch what England seamers have obtained and at stumps England is at 84/0; a perfect start fro the England team in the third test.

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DISAPPOINTING....

It was very disguising and disappointing for me as I saw the massive 200-run defeat by the Indian cricket Team in Srilanka.What the Indian team have done yesterday???The team first scored a total of 288 runs and the "world no:2" Indian team couldn't score even half of it???I should say that Indian team doesn't deserve that No:2 spot now.
Even though the Indian bowlers had done well,the Indian batsmen were well short of their basics even.Look at the Indian team batting line-up..Sehwag Kathik,Raina,Rohit Sharma,Yuvraj,Dhoni....these are the batsmen who are top in the world itself....even then....they combined-ly couldn't score 100 runs.The more pathetic condotion is that only two of them was able to score double figures.

Now I'm sure that if this is their performance in future in this tournament' surely they can give their second spot to Newzland or Srilanka...

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VERY VERY SPECIAL LAXMAN.... AGAIN RESCUED TEAM INDIA....

May be in"Ramayana' epic Laxman may not be the hero.Laxman was having only a supporting character.That is,to assist Rama.But in PSC stadium V.V.S.Laxman had a very different storyline and also duty too.What would he do if there was no Rama in the story ?Of course Laxman has to take the charge...What Laxman had done in the final and 3-rd test against Srilanka was exactly the same.There was no Rama in the final day of the third test match.To be there in the top spot India must had to win that test.In that critical situation Laxman was there in the role of a hero to guide India to the victory.
With a 11-run lead in the first innings,Srilanka a posted a total of 257 as India's target.They were once at 89/7.They would have to say the Indian bowlers and Indian captain Dhoni for allowing them to score 267 runs.A well knocked innings by Samaraweera and Mendis .As soon as Malinga came Dhoni spread the field and mainly targeted on the tail-enders which caused India a lot.Now it is becoming a custom in the International matches to take on the tail-enders leaving behind the then recognized batsmen.Anyway Srialanka posted a target of 257.
In reply when India was there at 53/3 at stumps on day-4.Not sure that India could reach it or not.There was having some huge hope in the minds of Srilankans as the pitch would really support the spinners in the fifth day.In the final day the night watchman Ishant sahrma got out early in the morning itself adding worries to the Indian team.At that time Sachin was there in the crease with 16 runs and India were at 63/4-- a much troubled situation... Then came the real hero Laxman who had his day.He deleted the Srilankan hopes with his majestic wrist-play.He loved batting in the middle as he used to strike the ball too late.With a 123 run partnership with Sachin he made sure India's victory.Then came Suresh Raina who had a very wonderful test series till his debut in the second test who scores 41 runs and gave Laxman a very good support......

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NOW TIME TO PERFORM IN THE FIELD

After the end of 50 overs India scored a decent total of 279/9.Even though Gambhir and Kohli departed early in the innings later Yuvraj(74) and Dhoni (37) build the Indian total slowly in their 99 runs in the fourth wicket partnership.Also Sehwag played a smashing 47 runs as regular.Srilankan bowlers gave away many runs to India but they picked up the wickets regularly.Once again India were in trouble when Dhoni and Yuvraj was gone.But Raina(35) and Jadeja(39) brought India to a fighting total.Chanaka Welegedara bagged his 5-wicket haul in his ODI career as he figured 5 for 66 in 10 overs. t hushara Perera also picked a couple of wickets and well supported Welegedara .
Now it is the time to team India to perform well in the field....

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DHONI ROCKS....

A ton from 94 balls by Indian captain Dhoni and the supportive action from Suresh Raina (62) and Gautam Gambhir (76) helped India to make a stunning victory over the mighty Australians which helped the Indian team to level the series 1-1 of the seven One dayer.
Winning the toss Australian captain elected to field first without their trump card Brett Lee.Even though they got the early wickets of the Indian top order batsmen with 97-3 Dhoni-Gambhir(118) and Dhoni-Raina(136) helped India to post a mammoth score of 354-7 in 50 overs.In reply any of the Aussies batsmen raised a challenge to the Indian bowlers and were all out for 255 in 48.3 overs.

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DRAVID IN, ROHIT OUT....

Yesterday the Indian team for ICC Champions Trophy and for the Tri-nation series in Srilanka was declared. As everyone expected Rohit Sharma who was trying hard to come back in his rythm was excluded and "Mr.Cool" Dravid was included in the Indian squad.After 2 years Dravid was included in the Indian team where he last played was in Nagpur in October 27 against Australia.With Dravid in the middle order hopes are strong for a good Indian total.Dravid with risky wristy shots and and his leaning shot in his toes would definitely help the Indian middle.On the other hand Rohit was troubling to cope with the short pitches were he was tested by the west Indian pace attack last month.
Beside Dravid;Meastro Sachin Tendulkar was also back in the squad which would also help the Indian team to a great extent.Ansewring to the press chief selector Krishnamachari Srikanth reveals that this team has the fine chance for winning both tournaments who pick the same team for the ICC Champions Trophy and Triseries.

The squad: Sachin,Rahul,Yuvraj,Raina,Yousaf Pathan,Harbhajan,R.P.Singh,Ishant,Amit Mishra,Dinesh Karthik,Abhishek Nair,Nehra,Praveen Kumar.

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