THE CLASH OF TITANS....

      This may be one of  the most awaited match of World Cup 2011,I'm sure.On March 24 when Australia and India face each other , Motera stadium will definitely witness an electrifying crowd and as that much enthusiastic players.Also the Australian coach Tim Nielsen coined  the term "mini-grand final" for Thursday's match.Both the teams will meet each other  after losing each game in their league matches.But at the same time the advantage goes to the visitor's side as they have won nine of the last fifteen matches played in India in the last five years.Also the pressure will be on the host as they are playing in their home ground and their home crowd with the crowd expecting some thing supernatural and complete entertainment from the Indian Cricket Team.

NOW NOR NEVER

     Batting is the main area of concern for both the teams.While Indian top order batsmen is the best that any team can get in this world cup but at the same time the worst too.With Sehwag ,Sachin on the opening followed by Gambhir,Kohli,Yuvraj,Dhoni... any team can dream of.But the problem is that ,their batting powerplay.Indian team didn't perform well in their bating powerplay in this entire world cup. India lost their 9 wickets for just 29 runs in Chennai and 7 for fifty against West Indies.But regarding team India, this not the only area of concern.Team India's bowling is also equally  thinkable about their performances so far in the worldcup.Only there is one bowler in the team who is consistent through out the series and that is none other, Zaheer Khan.Apart from him none other  was able to prove himself to be consistent.Now I just remember what one of my friend said "Team India is playing this world cup with only two players; one is Sachin Tendulkar and the other is Zaheer Khan.

WILL HAVE TO TRY HARD TO RETAIN THE WORLD CUP

    The same batting department also worries the Australian team.Ricky Ponting and White is struggling to score runs.Their bating weaknesses was evident in their last match against Pakistan when they were all out for 176 runs and suffered a lose from the hands of Pakistan.

      

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DILSHAN SUGGESTED....

According to the newspaper reports in Srilanka it was Dilshan who was fielding atthe cover who shouted at Suraj Randiv to bowl a no-ball to Sehwag which denied him to score the century in the third ODI of tri-series in Srilanka on Monday.Also it was reported Sangakkara has said himself that someone prompted Randiv to bowl a no-ball which restricted Sehwag at 99 runs even though he hit a six in that ball.It was sure that such sort of actions are not suitable for pure sportsmanship.At the same time Dilshan is also the team member of Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.

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JAI VEERU....

On 16-th August indian team celebrated their freedom in Srilanka by wining the second ODI against Srilanka with a thrilling six wicket win.Even though Sehwag was denied the chance for a century Srilanka was not able to restrict India from getting the bonus point.Suraj Randiv who bowled a delibrate no ball in the last ball also played a very damn spoilspot in th game.After SLC said sory Sehwag for such an action from their player's part but it was too disappointing not only for ehwag but also for the Indian cricket team.

This time also Indian captain Dhoni didn't won the toss.ButIndia got a very nice start when Praveen kumar bowled Upul Tharanaga in the very first ball of the innings.Soon they lost their econd wicket also.Dilshan tied hard to re-build the innings from the position of 45/2 with a brisk 45 of 63 balls.But then none o Srilankan batsmen could do the job before the disciplined Indian bowlers.All the Indian bowlers bowled well they got their reward too.Ojha as the most succesful among them claiming three wicket for just thirty six runs.PraveenKumar Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets each and the rest one wicket by Ashish Nehra.Finally they were bowled for 170runs.
In reply India struggled a they lost thre quick wickets in just 11 balls scoring only 2 runs.Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli went for duck Sehwag had a very cautious start as he got the first boundary in the sixth over only.Later he changed the gear the to fifth and smashed Srilankan bowler all around the ground.It was quite uneven to see Sehwag aiting for the loose balls to be bowled.With three wickets down Suresh Raina and Dhoni gave a good support to Sehwag.Raina scored 21 runs and Dhoni was unbeaten on 28.To the finish it seemed Sehwag was in a little bit hurry as he go for the sixes.hwn Sehwag as 99 India needed 5 runs to win.But then Srilanka conceded a simple four runs as bye.Then Randiv bowled a deliberate no ball to deny Sehwag's century but they didn't stop India from winning the bonus point....

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Ohhh...Humiliation to Team India

Yesterday India suffered a huge humiliation from the Newzland cricket team as India performed a pathetic batting and bowling in the first ODI of the Tri-series in Srilanka which resulted in a huge 200 runs loss in the first match.Chasing a target of 288 runs in 50 overs,all 'Indian cowards' were o the pavilion with just 88 runs on the score board.Also this is he fourth heaviest defeat for the Indian cricket team.
Indian pace bowlers Praveen Kumar(3/43) and Ashish Nehra(4/47) rapped up he Newzland's opening and tail-enders as they were restricted under 300 runs.Earlier Newzland were once at28/3 but the their captain Ross Taylor(95) and Scott Styris(89) had a brilliant partnership of 190 runs which took their sore o a competing one.
In reply even though the Indian openers had somewhat good staring with scoring above six runs per over,the story changed as both the openers Sehwag (19) and Karthik (14) were dismissed in quick sessions by Mills and Tuffey respectively .Then any of the Indian batsmen didn't showed the patience to be there in the crease.Rest of the India team rapped up in just 88 runs with scoring only 49 runs by the rest 9 batsmen........

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Early blow to India....

As the rain spoiled second day of the first test Srilanka was in a hurry to score a huge total .Also they did that one in a more splendid way.Even though they lost yesterday's hero Paranivitana and then Samaraweera too without scoring in the early morning itself,rest of the batsmen done their job well and was able score in a faster manner.But then Jayawardane(48) Angelo Mathews(41) moved their score to 344/6.Then the eighth and ninth batsmen Hareth(80*) and Malinga(64) had very good and energetic partnership which boosted their score to 580/8 and declared their innings at that score.Avery promising total that never let this test to go away from their hands.Both Ishant and Mithun bowled well and could capture 3 and 4 wickets respectively.It was very nice to see Ishant Sharma taking wickets even though he was not uppto the mark.But it was warning to the opppnents that he can be more dangerous in the coming days.
In return India lost Gambhir in the early part of the innings itself.When Gambhir was at just two runs he was trapped in the crease with good swinger which took a shap swing in to the pads of Indian opener.Now Sehwag(29*) and Dravid(13*) is playing without any furry even though they showed some in the beginning.Now India is at 50/1 in 9 overs.We can Hope thatI nda will not lose more wickets till the stumps.....

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Srilanka as they desired....

It was all like an eagle which flies over the clouds to get a shelter from the rainy storms. Winning the toss Srilanka elected to bat first in the first test match in Galle International Stadium.Srilanka got a firing start as Dilshan(25) mainly targeted Ishant Sharma.After his fell back Sangakkara(103) and Paranivitana(110*) made dominating centuries and made clear that there is only a mere chance to loss in this test match.Abhimanyu Mithun got his maiden test wicket as Dilshan who like to charge down him but was caught behind by Dhoni.Then the partnership of Sangakkara and Paranivitana made a lot of headache to the Inidan bowlers.While Paranivitana was more concentrating on his defense Srilankan captain was in a good mood to take on the Indian bowlers.Without Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth Indian bowlers were below average.Indian spinner recovering from flu and hamstring was also not that good.Immediately after the tea,Sangakkara was mistimed a pullshot and was caught at the midwicket by Sachin Tendulakr in the bowling of Virendar Sehwag.Then Jayawardane(8) and Paranavitana brought the score upto 256/2 at the stumps on day-1.
Due to rain, even a single ball was not bowled and the second day's play was called-off.

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ASIA CUP FINAL

Once again India team spoiled a great opportunity to score a huge total in the Asia-Cup Final.Atleast India have scored 25 runs shorter than they needed.A bow to the Srilankan bowlers as they conceeded only 55 runs in the last 10 overs and also they didn't even gave away a single boundary in the last 5 overs which was India's batting power-play.
After struggling in the end overs Indian team have managed to score 268/6 in 50 overs.Without Sehwag,Gambhir and Karthik opened the Indian innings.Even though there havn't any big partnership betwen them Karthik managed to score a well directed 66 runs which was more meaningful in the Indian innings.Dhoni who himself had the batting promotion scored 38 runs .Once again Rohit Sharma(41) was searching for his partner but could not find any.Both Dhoni and Rohit was out in the eager of increasing the run-rate.In the end Ravindra Jadeja (27*) and Harbhajan Singh(7*) could not do much as they have been tied by some of the good bowling from the Srilankan pacers.
Now Seilanka need 269 runs to win this Asia-Cup.A nd to defend that Indian bowlers has to spare some good bowling and fielding figures as chasing the score would not do any harm to batsmen in the lights....

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India v/s Pakistan

Even though all around us is about World Cup football and NBA Finals,it doesn't need much description .Ya, I'm talking about the same India v/s Pakistan in the Asia Cup cricket tournament.I'm sure it will be exciting and thrilling as usual.
Like Kobe Bryant who one-handedly gave LA Lakers their 16-th NBA Finals trophy There is no one in Indian cricket team who can give India a terrific victory over Pakistan.If team India has to win this match India has to play this game as a 'Team'.Only such effort can give India a ticket to the Asia Cup Finals.On the other hand Pakistan is trying to have a new face under the captaincy of a much experienced player like Shahid Afridi.The factor that give India a bit relieve is that the pitch is rather slow which will give them the advantage playing in the home-like environment.Also as said by Virat Kohli , Shoaib Akthar is not having much pace that he had a couple of years ago.Also Pakistan would be looking at Saeed Ajmal as the spinner option.This match would be rather between Indian batsmen and Pakistan bowlers.
Last time when they met in Champions Trophy , then captain Shoaib Malik had a ton which showed India the way out of the tournament.India would be likely to give an answer to that one....Any way it is going to be more exciting....
Now the live score is Pakistan is at 142/1 in 28 overs.Salman Butt is batting without any doubt and he is at 73 of 82 balls.Shoaib Malik is also giving him a good support at the other end at his personel score of 38 runs.....Enjoy the live show in TV in Neo Sports channel in India....

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KOLKATA ,GANGULY- AGAIN & AGAIN....

Now I know why Ganguly is so dear for 'Kolkatans'.Yesterday Ganguly continued his fine form to keep Kolkata Knight Riders in the run to semifinals.The win achieved by Kolkata was not only by Ganguly himslf but also by the thousands of crowd that cheered for Kolkata's win.A 99 run partnership between Sehwag(64) and Gambhir(47) could not fight against these odds and was fell before 14 runs ahead of the target.

Earlier Ganguly (56) and Gayle(40) gave Kolkata a flying start as they reached 100 runs in ust 11 overs.Down the order Tiwary(26) and Mathews(46) played an important role in leading Kolkata to a good target of 181 in 20 overs.Delhi Dare Devils was down in the very first over itself as Dinda got the dangerous Warner-a five ball duck.Then Sehwag and Gambhir tried their best to bring Kolkata near to the target but was fell down in front of the Tactical Game played the Kokata skipper with his braveful fielding and bowling changes.Then none other from Delhi played well and was able to take only 167/8 in 20 overs.

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ALWAYS IN RYTHM....

The new rankings published by ICC clearly shows that Sachin Tendulkar is cruising to the no:1 spot.And we can also believe that Sachin is in his real true and in his best form.In the test ranking Sachin is in the sixth position with 805 points.The table tops by India's Sehwag with 863 points.Sachin's performance in the near over series against South Africa helped him to rank x in the table.While in the ODI rankings Sachin jumped to fourth position with762 points.In this ranking also an Indian batsmen tops the ranking byM.S.Dhoni with 819 points.
All these facts shows that Sachin is cruising towards the top in the table.We can also hope for the best....

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SACHIN...PLEASE MAKE ANOTHER RECORD...

Today I wish Sachin Tendulkar could make a 200 record in an innings.The first by ever perhaps the only record that Sachin doesn't hold,the highest run taker in an innings.While I'm writing this Sachin is in a dashing form with 152 runs in 119 balls smashing the Proteas bowlers all around the ground.
Today in Gwalior in the second ODI against South Africa India won the toss and elected to bat.India placed an unchanged team players While South africa made threewhen Amla Duminy and Van de Merve made their way into the team.Interestingly this was only the fourth toss in the last sixteen matches which was captained by Dhoni.
Even though the Proteas was able to get the wicket of Virender Sehwag when he was just at 9 runs then Sachin combined with Dinesh Karthik who scored 79 runs Including 3 sixes .This was the highest second wicket partnership against South Africa by India.Both these batsmen frustrated the South African bowlers well which was clearly evident in actions during the play.
Now India crossed 300 runs in just 41 overs .India is looking for a big total while 9 more overs are to spare.Yusuf Pathan has been out in the bowl just bowled . India lost their third wicket.
But whoever gone I pray that Sachin could score 200 runs in this innings. Sachin is now on 180 runs.please,please,god....

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Gambhir....No:1 at the end of 2009

First of all I wish a warm 2010 ahead for all my reader's....
India's opening batsmen Gautam Gambhir ranked no:1 at the end of 2009 ICC world rankings.His opening partner Sehwag remained static in the table at no:4.Srilanka's top two players Sangakka and Jayawardane were in between Sehwag and Gambhir.Sachin Tendulkar was there in the list in the 13-th position.
While in the bowling department India's Harbhajan Singh was there at sixth and Zaheer dropping one place to 11-th with Dayle Steyn at the top of the table.

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YUVI CELEBRATES....

It was the local boy Yuvraj Singh who was the birthday boy who came to his home ground to celebrate his 28-th birthday not only with the bat but also with the ball.With his all round performance Yuvi brought India to safe home by leveling the series 1-1.
Srilanka batting first scored a massive score of 206/7 in just 20 overs.Once again captain Sangakkara steered the Srilankan score par 200 with his fast half century and put the Indian bowlers under pressure.The rest of the batsmen also supported well and added fuel to the fire.
Chasing such a huge score of 207 India openers got off to a good start even though they were ready to take a lot of risks.Sehwag played his role well with a dashing 64 runs of just 36 balls.Then came captain Dhoni played a crucial knock of 46 runs but it was the birthday boy who came with a big treat of fours and sixes with a 60 runs of 25 balls which included 3 fours and 5 sixes.
This is the highest successful run chase ever made in the history of T-20 cricket.The previous best was 208 by West Indies against South Africa.
Both the sides will next meet for the 5 ODI series starting from the 15th of this month

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T-20 First match:India payed for their laziness...

In the first T-20 Srilanka have one the match by 29 runs.India who helped the Srilankan's to reach a big total was too big for the Indian's to reach the target in the restricted 20 overs.Indian fielders were competing against themselves as each of them dropped their catches and helped the Srilankan batsmen.Sangakkara who brilliantly scored 50 of 20 balls dashed all the Indian bowlers which was well supported by his team mates.
In response to the huge total of 215/5 in 20 overs India also started well with Gambhir scoring 50 in just 19 balls which was well supported by Sehwag.But any other batsmen couldn't do well and reached only 186/9 in 20 overs.
Kumar Sangakkara was awarded the Man Of The Match for his dashing 78 runs.

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INDIAN TEAM-A BALANCED ONE....

Do you know why the present Indian team is now on the top of the world test ranking?Do you know what is the secret behind India's present fantastic performance?
The answer to these questions are as simple as throwing a pebble into a pond .Now the present team is a very balanced one in any of the department.India team is now having the best seven batsmen in the team.Starting from Sehwag,Gambhir,Sachin,Yuvraj,Dhoni,Dravid,Laxman.While coming to the pace attack leading bowlers are with this team Zaheer,Sreesanth,Ishant who can disturb any batting order.And of course the spinners also Harbhajan and Ojha.And also a lot gifted bench players like Murali Vijay and Karthik.
Really this Indian team is impossible and fabulous....

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DHONI-TOO BIG....

Have you seen the six by Dhoni in which he score his sixth test hundred today in Mumbai test;day 3? He hit that ball out of the ground and that was also an alert to Srilankan's that they are out of the game's control too.
Today the biggest upset was Sehwag was not able to complete his third triple century. He got out when he was on 293 by Muralitharan.But then Sachin,Laxman and Dhoni steered India to a huge total of 726/9.Muralitharan totally outplayed today claiming 4 wickets including that of Sehwag and Laxman.
It's an uphill task to Srilanka to save this test as two more days are there and India is in a commanding position with a lead of 323 even now.At stumps Srilankan openers survived the spin attack of Harbhajan and Ojha and they were at 11/0 in 3 overs.
It will be interesting to see how Srilankan batsmen play against the Indian spin attack tomorrow....

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STUNNING SEHWAG....

The fabulous Brabourne stadium today witnessed one of the finest batting ever in the world test matches.Virendar Sehwag blasted 284 runs from just 239 balls took India to a huge total of 443 for 1 on the second day of third test series in Mumbai.India now leads by a score of 50 over Srilanka who scored a decent score of 393 in their first innings.Today India also made a record of scoring the highest runs in a day.Previuos best was 417 in their second innings.Sehwag smashed 40 boundaries and seven huge sixes in his way to the triple century.The Lankan spinners had an embarrassing day with both Muralidaran and Herath conceding over 100 runs in a single day.

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AUSTRALIA ARRIVED....

Yesterday Australian team arrived in Mumbai for 7 One-day series which will begin from 25-th of this month(October).The new coach of the Australian team hope that Michael Clarke would get well oon from his aching back injury.While Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh made a come back in the team after their injuries though Dravid was excluded .

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SEHWAG AND ZAHEER UNFIT

It was reported recently that Sehwag and Zaheer may miss the Champions Trophy.Both Sehwag and Zaheer were injured to their shoulders' during the IPL season-2.Even though Sehwag was there in the team for ICC T-20 he was not played and was send back to the country due to his injury in the shoulders.Without Zaheer Indian pace battery will not be full charged,even then we can hope more from Ishant and Harbhajan.We can also hpoe more from the Indian batsmen too....

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