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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The Fortune could swung to either side....

The mighty come back....

    It could be much earlier, to dodge England batting order. But soon after lunch Indian, bowlers changed their plans, what they have done to England top order batsmen. Indian seamers pitched it up and seamed it away from the English batsmen till tea; got the result for it plumbing England to 124/8. But after tea, they inexplicably abandoned plans, they resorted to shorter length with wider balls, this gave Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann to free their arms and scored around seven runs per over that resulted them to a decent score of 221 runs in their first innings.
  At the same time, Indian skipper Dhoni's fielding arrangement also astonished me a bit. Rather then setting up an attacking one he resorted much on defence. This gave more advantage to the England tail-enders. Broad's some shorts went tantalizingly over the Indian fielders while others fell too short. Indian fielders' "snail-like" movement also helped them a lot. Finally a full slaughter from Praveen Kumar ended Swann's anguish at gully. There were no celebrations,only angry relief. Two sessions of good play by the Indian bowlers completely unraveled by these two players in just 12 overs.
  Earlier winning the toss, Dhoni again chosen to field first seeing the mighty conditions prevailing then and bowlers did a fantastic job to back captain's decision. ZaheerKhan's replacement in this test, Sresanth bowled enthusiastically at right places and swung away which wrecked English middle order. Also he joined in formidable alliance with Ishant and Praveen who well utilized their pace and swing. The result was that England were down to 124/8 at tea.
  England bowlers in reply started off flamboyantly as Anderson knicked Indian opener Abhinav Mukund to gully which clearly showed that he didn't learned anything from the Lord's test. At stumps on day-1 Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman carried the Indian first innings score to 24/1 without much loss.

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India - To regain their aura....

  It was always like this. Having lost in the first test match at Lords, in 2011 also the same conditions prevail. Nine years ago, in 2002, Indian team under their most unperturbed captain lost the first test match at Lords. The arrogant people met him at the street told him that they are returning to home. Then Dada replied "Why so soon? Stick on we are going to level the series...." and Dada kept his words probably more than that. India won the third and the fifth test and sealed the series. Now Lords 2011 is lost, England are more stronger than then. On the other side India will loose their bowling spearhead, Zaheer Khan.
   But now, it is already late in this series. Team India is on the verge of extinction from the eminent position of the ladder; if they loss one more. Watching the video of players practicing at Trent Bridge, one thing is clear, having a defeat of 196 runs at Lords had made them more tired than having demoralized. Especially the bowlers, who had to bowl around 210 overs by three bowlers and most interestingly Dhoni used their part time bowlers only in 19 overs and half of was bowled by himself. This led to many controversies even during the test match itself. And due to this action by the captain , the bowlers had to work over time and they dot tired. Apart from this Gambhir was injured and Sachin infected by fever. It's quite relieving for India that both are now fit and said the media that they are fit enough to play in the second test.
   Let's hope for the best from team India and keep their position on the top of the ladder itself....

 

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The WALL....

      Whether it may be the plentiful turning or the unpredictable bounce, Rahul Dravid will always be there for  team India- that is why he is called "The Wall" of Indian cricket. His 32nd hundred was a resounding reminder of his value in the Indian cricket team. Also Rahu Dravid's ton gave West Indies an exacting target of 326 runs in the first test. At the end of third day West Indies are 131/3 still they have to score 195 runs to reach the target.

The Great Indian Wall....

       All the credits should be given to Rahul Dravid fro his slow and steady innings. Darren Sammy will be regretting for his simple dropped chance of Dravid, when Dravid was only at 6, even though he was the star of West Indies' bowling with four wickets. The next top scorer in the Indian team was Amit Mishra who scored 28 runs, number ten batsman of the team. Dravid was the patience of  West Indies bowlers in the morning session, as he scored just 23 runs in the first two hours of day three. His overnight partner Virat Kohli didn't last long as he edged the ball to the wicket keeper. Then the first innings hero Suresh Raina also couldn't do anything aven though he hung around for a couple of hours.
     As West Indies introduced Bishoo in to attack both Raina and Dhoni went back to pavilion in quick successions. With Praveen kumar was bowled out, India was having a lead of only 256 with only two wickets to spare. A quick end have raised the Inies hopes but the doggy Dravid shielded the tenth batsman- Amit Mishra and scored 56 vital runs. A flamboyant six from Dravid soon after his 32nd century  reached Indian lead to 300 runs and then Mishra also freed his arms for couple of boundaries. The six by Rahul Dravid is only the 19th of his 261 test innings. Another attempt of Dravid could only bring him  to the man at mid on and set a target for 326 runs fro West Indies.

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Paul Valthaty blists.....

     Paul Valthaty-a name so far unheard in the IPL.But today onwards his name will also be there in the top players list.Chasing a massive score of 180 runs in the ninth match of IPL-4 KXIP captain Adam ilchrist and Paul Vathaty gave them a flier as both of them swung their bat all over the ground.It was an all out attack from the Kings Xi openers.In bowling also Praveen Kumar of Kings XI gave them a flying start as he got the wicket of Srikanth Anirudh in the very first ball itself.Also he got the wicket of Suresh Raina in the same over.Definitely a dreamy start for Kings XI.
     Earlier Punjab captain Adam Gilchrist won the toss and elected to bowl whose decision was soon well supported by their bowlers.

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FOR THE BILLIONS....

   It was about long 28 years back,even I was not there in this planet....Yes after 28 years Dhoni and his crew recaptured and the history  re-written.The world Cup is back to India after 28 years;the most awaited one.Dhoni once again proved that he is the real "Magician".Mahela Jayawardena's poetic century was well overwhelmed by an iron willed 97 runs from Gautam Gambhir and an occasional 91 runs by the 'Captain Cool' helped team India to have the highest run chase ever in a world cup final .
  Even though India lost their toss and that too after a  much confused one,India had their first power (mandatory power play) with some power-packed performances from the team members.

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GO GREEN ????

In our day-to-day life we would be very familiar with the word "GO GREEN".Also nowadays many would be urging us to spread this word.But referring to the Boxing Day test against South Africa Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni would prefer more of not having any greenness.I think this would help team India tomorrow at Durban where the second test match will begin.With the first test itself it became to the light that Indian batsmen are still inefficient against the bouncing and seaming ball ( even though they batted well in the second innings ).But the truth is that Proteas captain Graeme Smith is looking for this weakness of the Indian batsmen.Also it made clear from the words of Hashim Amla "I am not sure how the wicket is going to play, but on a good day, when the wicket s flat, it is fantastic place to play".I think there is no confusion for Graeme Smith in the team for tomorrow as there is only a liitle chance for Parnell against Tsotsobe.But the latest news is that the Proteas will move with the winning team itself.
But there is an area of concern for team India, and that is Suresh Raina.It is to be watched that can Suresh Raina can still be there in the middle even after a few bad performances.Will Dhoni replace Pujara who played well in the IPL when it had its season two here in South Africa.There will be no concern for V.V.S Laxman as he was calm till he get out in the first test.Apart from this there will no area of concern for team India.But the most important thing that we have to look for is How Sehwag and Gambhir can have sparkling start in the first innings.Because as usual in the first test also its all came well when the Indian team had a good starting.

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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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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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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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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 FLOP....

Thanks to Rohit Sharma for making India's loss in a decent manner.While I was watching India's batting I was afraid that India could make another world record of lowest score in T-20 international.Indian batting line-up were struggling at 32-5.Oh sorry,not struggling they deserve it as any "INDIAN STARS" shown their responsibility to stay in the crease.Every one was competing among themselves to reach the pavilion as fast as possible.I wonder is there any cash prize for "who reach the pavilion first and fast".
Earlier winning the toss Indian captain selected fielding first.But the Aussie batsmen showed it was absolutely wrong as David Warner(72) and Shane Watson(54) struck the Indian bowlers with no mercy.Even though rest of the batsmen couldn't do much it was enough for them-a huge total of 184/5.In reply as I said it was also all....Only Rohit Sharma(79*) and Harbhajan Singh(13) could cross the double figures.Dirk Nannes and Mitchell Jhonson flooded the Indian batting with three wickets each.

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KORBO LORBO JEETBO....

Will it happen even this time?In the third edition of IPL I think Kolkata knight Riders will make their slogan come true!!!!I think the change in their jersey's colour has brought a luck as well as fighting spirit to the Knight Riders.
With a stunning win against the last year champions and first runners up have bought Kolkata top in the table.In their first match Kolkata ran over Deccan Chargers for 11 runs and then they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore for 7 wickets.The batting department is strong led by Angelo Mathews and their bowlind field is also strong which is led by Ishant and Langevedlt.Ishant who was hard to find his line and length in the International matches near days was in good form in the first two matches.
Even though Sourav Ganguly hadn't played well in batting;He performed very well in the Captaincy which he only can achieve.We can't consider the fact that the first win against Deccan was mostly depended on Ganguly's last hours sensible fielding and bowling changes.....
Now today it will be interesting to watch how Ganguly and his "Team" can make Dhoni's "Team" under pressure.The match starts at 8pm.

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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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Ohhhh....God...

For the first time in my life I was praying for not to get a boundary that was hit by an Indian team member,and moreover that was by Indian captain Dhoni.AlsoI would thank Amla for saving the boundary that was smashed hard by Dhoni which was fielded by him near the boundary line with a dive.That led to Sachin's historical shot which brought him to 200 runs.
Till 40-th over Sachin was batting amazingly and scoring at a faster rate.He scored first 100 runs in 90 balls and for the next 100 runs he used only 57 balls. That means he was more dangerous in the second phase of the game.But after dhoni got the control of batting he scored briskly . I even afraid that whether Sachin can make 200 runs???? But after making his double century he was still calm and quiet that shows his great temparament .Now I was sure that there is no one in the world who is equivalent to 'The god of Cricket' even Don Bradman....

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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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INJURED INDIA....

Indian team is now struggling with the injury as most of the key batsmen like Rahul Dravid,Yuvraj Singh and Sreesanth who have already ruled out of the first test which will begin from tomorrow onwards against South Africa.Besides them Hydrebadi stylish batsmen V V S Laxman was also ruled out of the team who was not able to recover from his finger injury.As a cover to him the selection board had called Rohit Sharma to the team.
Rohit's captained Board President's XI who played against the Proteas ended in a draw.In that he was not shined as he scored only 20 runs.It will be interesting to note how Dhoni manages to control the South Africans with his limited strength....

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NOW THE REAL TEST....

After a number of one-dayers India team will now switch in to Test mode tomorrow when India take on Bangladesh in their first test match.Despite of the fact that India have only four test matches in this whole year India skipper Dhoni is looking for a very good comprehensive win in these two test matches against Bangladesh as it is essential for the team to remain in the number one spot.
Including the top guns-Sachin Tendulkar,Rahul Dravid,V V S Laxman, the full strength Indian squad is aiming for the high.In the practice session the top order batsmen batted in their batting order itself.

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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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