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Mumbai mystery awaits SL after Kanpur mauling

As India celebrate Sri Lanka are left to ruminate, as the Test series heads for Mumbai and uncertain pitch conditions. After all, it is 36 years since the last (drawn) Test was played at Brabourne Stadium.

Why Sri Lanka were still nine years from being granted full membership of that old boys coterie the International Cricket Council and most players on either side weren't even born and those that were, had other priorities. One was learning to walk.

So far there has been no indication of what to expect. It is one of those conundrums, as the owners, the Cricket Club of India, have not said too much over the past few weeks about the state of the venue or what the groundsman expects. Which, it seems is like waiting for the impossible. Too much focus has been on that other venue in Green Park where India eventually wrapped up an impressive victory by an innings and 144 runs and well inside four days.

Bowlers power New Zealand to narrow win

Dunedin: Shane Bond marked a stunning return to Test cricket powering New Zealand to a narrow 32-run victory to take a 1-0 series lead over Pakistan on the final day of the first Test here on Saturday.

The hosts successfully defended 250 runs on the final day after being skittled out for 153 in the second innings. Bond took 3-46 as Pakistan collapsed to 218 all out despite a fighting 75 from debutant Umar Akmal, who also scored a century in the first innings.

Iain O'Brien claimed 3-63 while captain Daniel Vettori and Chris Martin took two wickets apiece as New Zealand blocked out Pakistan's resistance in the final session.

Sreesanth return puts Sri Lanka on the mat

Kanpur: S Sreesanth marked his return to international cricket with a devastating display of seam bowling to put India on the threshold of a remarkable victory in the second Test against a hapless Sri Lanka here on Thursday.

Sreesanth, staging a comeback after being in the wilderness for close to 18 months, snatched 5 for 75 in Sri Lanka's first innings and then drew first blood in the second innings leave the islanders in complete disarray.

With Sreesanth breathing fire, Sri Lanka's feeble first innings riposte wilted for 229, a whopping 413 runs behind the hosts' massive first innings total of 642. This was also India's highest first innings lead over the Lankans.

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Don Bradman inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

ICC Media Release

Thu, Nov 19, 2009 6:22 PM

One of the best-known names in world sport, the late Don Bradman, was formally inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame at the Bradman Oration at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today (Thursday).


The Hall of Fame, run in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA), recognises some of the truly great players from cricket's long and illustrious history. And there are probably no more deserving inductees than Bradman, who dominated the sport like no other batsman before or since.


A commemorative cap was presented to Bradman's grandson, Tom, by International Cricket Council (ICC) Director and Cricket Australia Chairman Jack Clarke while Greg Chappell, another ICC Cricket Hall of Famer who delivered the keynote speech of the evening, looked on.


"He would have been very honoured to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame," said Tom Bradman.


"The induction recognises and contributes to a legacy of which we, the Bradman family, are extremely proud and we are delighted to receive the cap on his behalf."


Bradman's statistics alone are enough to explain why he is perhaps the greatest batsman of all time as he becomes the latest inductee into the Hall of Fame in this centenary year of the ICC.


He played 52 Test matches for Australia scoring 6,996 runs at an amazing average of 99.94. He scored 29 centuries and 13 half-centuries, thus averaging one significant score for every 1.9 innings played.


In first-class cricket he made 28,067 runs, hitting 117 centuries with an average of 95.14.


Alongside fellow Hall of Fame member WG Grace, Bradman is one of the most recognised names in cricketing history, a name synonymous with Australian cricket and stellar batting. He became a beloved Australian hero and a cultural icon, managing to transcend sport into the consciousness of the entire nation.


Born in 1908 in Cootamundra, New South Wales, he made his Test debut on 30 November 1928 in Brisbane against England, as side he faced 37 times during his Test-playing career.


Bradman still holds the record for the best batting average for an Australian against England scoring 5,028 runs at an average of 89.78.


Known affectionately as the Don, he passed away in 2001, with many of his Test batting records still unsurpassed in the 53 previous years since his retirement.


One of his most well-known Ashes battles took place at Headingley against England in the third Test match where he made a remarkable total of 334 off 448 balls, an innings that included 46 fours.


Bradman played during the same era as a number of the other ICC Cricket Hall of Famers including Australia's Ray Lindwall, Bill O'Reilly, Keith Miller, Clarrie Grimmett, Neil Harvey and England's Wally Hammond, Jack Hobbs, Harold Larwood, Denis Compton and Len Hutton.


He captained Australia in 24 matches between 1936 and 1948, winning 15 of those games of which 11 were won against England in the Ashes series played during that time frame.


The cap presentation ceremony is a key part of the celebrations to mark the ICC's centenary year as it acknowledges the greats of the game and the contributions they have made to ensure cricket is a great sport with a great spirit.

Gambhir, Tendulkar centuries secure draw

Ahmedabad: Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar hit opportune centuries as India came up with a spirited batting display to salvage a draw in the first Test against Sri Lanka here on Friday.

Opener Gautam Gambhir conjured up yet another marathon innings of 114 runs, result of his six-and-half hour vigil, before Sachin Tendulkar (100 not out) took the centrestage to chase down yet another milestone of 30,000 international runs en route to his 43rd Test ton.

With VVS Laxman (51 not out) also chipping in with his 40th Test half-century, India batted their way out of trouble to maintain their impressive home record against the Lankans.

Going into the final day's play needing just eight wickets to snap their 14-match winless streak on Indian soil, the exasperated Sri Lankans could only watch haplessly as the hosts showed the kind of application and determination that had been missing in their first innings display.

Resuming with 144 runs in the arrear, the Indians finished the day at 412 for four with Gambhir, Tendulkar and Laxman scoring bulk of the runs on a shirtfront of a wicket that simply had nothing for the bowlers.

Both the teams now head to Kanpur for the second Test starting on November 24.

Milestone man Tendulkar reached yet another landmark in his glittering career when he turned swing bowler Chanaka Welegedara backward of square for a single to take his tally of runs in Tests, ODIs and T20 internationals to 30,000.

Overall, it was a poor advertisement for Test cricket as nearly 1,600 runs were scored while just 21 wickets fell over the five days' play leading to this stalemate.

The match also saw the highest number of centuries - seven - being scored on the sub-continental soil.

Clarke returns to Aussie squad

Melbourne: A fit-again Michael Clarke on Thursday returned to Australia's 12-member squad as its vice-captain for the first cricket Test against the West Indies starting November 26 in Brisbane.

Clarke was nursing a back injury which had kept him out of the One-day series against India. Australia, battling through a massive injury crisis, won the seven-match series 4-2 earlier this month.

Mahela grinds India with double century

Ahmedabad: Mahela Jayawardene gave a fine exhibition of skill and temperament to score a crafty unbeaten 204 as Sri Lanka took tight control of the first Test by taking a commanding 165-run first innings lead against a defensive India here on Wednesday.

Jayawardene anchored the innings brilliantly to notch up his 27th Test century and his sixth double ton, and found an able partner in Prasanna Jayawardene (84 not out) as the visitors pushed the hosts on the backfoot by reaching a mammoth 591 for five at close on the third day.

It turned out to be a hard grind for the Indians as the Lankans capitalised on a good batting strip at the Motera stadium to consolidate the position on a day which again saw more than 300 runs being scored.

Resuming at the overnight score of 275 for three in reply to India's 426, the islanders lost the wicket of Thilan Samaraweera (70) and Angelo Mathews (17) in the pre-lunch session but the two Jayawardenes put on a marathon undefeated 216-run partnership to put Sri Lanka on course for their first Test triumph on Indian soil.

With two days left and the pitch expected to aid the spinners, the hosts have a daunting task to prevent the tourists from taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

The pressure will be on the Indians and their much touted batting line-up will have to bat out of their skins to draw the match.

With runs coming freely right through the day, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was forced to adapt a defensive strategy but it still failed to contain the run flow.

Mahela and Prasanna never really looked in any discomfort and went on to create a record sixth wicket partnership, erasing the previous unbeaten record of 189 by Aravinda De Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga against Zimbabwe at Colombo in 1998.

This was only the second time Sri Lanka have taken a first-innings lead in India, and only the first time they have crossed 450 in the country.

What next for Sachin? WC win, 100 tons!

New Delhi: There aren't too many mountains left to climb for Sachin Tendulkar. If there are, then they remain locked away in his own mind. But maybe one could venture a guess as to what Tendulkar can still possibly aspire to in the years he has left in the game.

In Test cricket he already has more runs and more centuries than anyone in history. But could Tendulkar target a few landmarks that have remained elusive? He has crossed the double century mark four times, but never has Tendulkar gone past a triple century.

His great rival of the modern era for the tag of the world's greatest batsman, Brian Lara did it twice, once making 400. Virender Sehwag too has two triple centuries, as does the man who said Tendulkar was a worthy successor to his crown: Sir Don Bradman. So could Tendulkar maybe join these men in that elite club?

With 87 hundreds to his name already, Tendulkar is scenting another remarkable summit - a century of international hundreds. With a packed calendar, a fit body and a willing mind, he is certainly within sniffing distance.

How's this to add another feather in a cap that has little space left on it? Tendulkar has had a not so successful relationship so far with the game's newest and brashest format. He doesn't play in the Indian Twenty20 team, and has had two forgettable seasons as the captain of Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Could Tendulkar turn that around next year? Could he lead the team from his home patch to IPL glory?

And the big goal he openly aspires to. Despite being the most successful batsman in the history of World Cup cricket he has never been part of a World Cup winning team. From experiencing the pain of losing a final in the sparkling 2003 campaign to the agony of being knocked out in 2007 in the first round.

Now as the sixth World Cup of his career knocks on the door, the romance in this dream is obvious. Could Tendulkar be part of the team that clinches the crown in front of his home crowd in Mumbai on April 2, 2011? Wouldn't that be a perfect sign off to a grand career?

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Dravid And Dhoni Fire India To Day-One Record

16 November 2009

Dravid And Dhoni Fire India To Day-One Record

Day one centurions Rahul Dravid (left) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

India 385-6 (Dravid 177no, Dhoni 110) v Sri Lanka

Scorecard
First Test, day one, Ahmedabad

Centuries from Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni enabled India to score more runs than they had ever managed before on the opening day of a Test match and that came after they lost four key batsmen inside eight overs of play after they won the toss and chose to bat.
Dravid was unbeaten on 177 as they fought back magnificently to close on 385 for six, Dhoni departing shortly before stumps having hit 110, the pair putting on 224 for the sixth wicket and Dravid joining compatriot Sachin Tendulkar in passing 11,000 runs in Test cricket.
The morning session belonged to Sri Lanka, however, left-armer Chanaka Welagedara marking his recall by dismissing Gautam Gambhir (1), Virender Sehwag (16) and Tendulkar (4) as India were left reeling at 32 for four inside eight overs when VVS Laxman was bowled by Dammika Prasad for a four-ball duck.
The recovery process was begun by Dravid, who stroked 26 boundaries and a six, and Yuvraj Singh, the pair of them adding 125 for the fifth wicket, Yuvraj's contribution 68 in 93 balls.
Dravid and Dhoni then set about ensuring that it was India's day with 165 runs coming in the final session alone although Dhoni's dismissal just 17 balls before the close dampened their mood a little, Harbhajan Singh making an unbeaten two as Welagedara finished with three for 75 and Prasad, by virtue of having Dhoni caught behind by Prasanna Jayawardene late on, two for 90.
Dhoni's second Test century, his first as captain, came from 154 balls and also saw him pass 2000 Test runs in the process while Dravid, as solid in defence and ruthless in attack as ever, faced four balls more to get past three figures, also notching up his 21,000th first-class run during his innings.
India recalled their own left-arm fast bowler, Zaheer Khan who is fully fit following a shoulder problem while the interesting selection issue for Sri Lanka was the decision to leave out Ajantha Mendis with left-arm spinner Rangana Herath joining Muralitharan.
Dilshan plays as a specialist opening batsman following an ankle injury scare earlier this week.

It was great effort marred by atrocious umpiring decisions!

Monday, January 07, 2008

Great Test match marred by controversial decisions and over the top Aussie behavior. Seeing so many incidents of plumb lbws, caught behinds and bump balls induced all of us to push the idea of enhancing the role of technology in the game not only to improve the quality of competition but also to reduce the people’s anxiety about errors in the game which most of the time concluded in spoiling the even contests.

Australia is the giant of a team that cannot be easily beaten under any kind of conditions, circumstances or surfaces and it becomes doubly difficult when umpiring decisions also play their role in shaping up their level of convenience. Andrew Symonds’ innings in the first innings nearly batted India out of the match if Sachin and Laxman had not got lead for India in result of some scintillating batting display. Aussies are famous for not giving their wickets away easily and when umpire start saying that he can’t hear the heavy chunk of the bat then it would be like fighting with swords against nuclear power. Umpires are also human beings and they are bound to make errors but there should be genuine effort on the part of cricket governing authority to make the game as fair as possible when opportunities are available and you just need to find ways to do it.

All in all, Indian effort from the very first day of the match was commendable except the way some of them batted on the last day of the match when they just had to spend two and half sessions to resurrect themselves for the rest of the series which would be hugely tough for them now after Aussies already secure their invincibility.

Indian bowling was good and could have been lot better if Symonds had got out when he was on 30 and India could have even won the match. But still it was an effort which should be praised with open hearts because it came at the time when their number one seamer Zaheer Khan went back to India to nurse an injury. Batting was also showed an excellent fight even though they were without any support from their opener Wasim Jaffer and from non-existent lower middle order. Dravid was nowhere near his best but still propelled Indian boat in the way that made them fought hard in the match. His somewhat lethargic effort at least made Laxman confident enough to play his shots. Dravid’s presence on the crease in itself was an asset. But it was Laxman and Tendulkar who stole the show for the Indians. Their sterling knocks at the time when their team needed it most almost shook Aussie killer instinct severely.

It was the things that you cannot control in the game that came in the way of respectable draw or convincing victory for Indians but apart from that it was great effort by Indian unit to show what they are made of. I am still hoping to see an Indian victory at least in one match definitely. It would be good for the game especially the way Aussies are getting arrogant after their winning streak.               

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winning moments

October 31st, 2009

Yuvraj-Dhoni drive India home

The pitch on offer at the Feroz Shah Kotla wasn’t fitting of the occassion. The Kotla was hosting it’s first day-night ODI but the pitch turned out to be a damp squib being slow and low throughout the match. Australia posted a competitive 230 batting first and had India at trouble at 53/3 before Yuvraj and Dhoni forged a 148-run stand for the fourth wicket stand to seal Australia’s fate. Yuvraj and Dhoni read the pitch well and played sensibly, never looking to force the issue, instead looking to work the ball in the gaps. The asking rate was never too high and the singles allowed both batsmen to settle down. Yuvraj looked in good touch from the start putting two loose leg side deliveries away. Overs 26-33 didn’t produce any boundaries and the game seem ed evenly poised before Yuvraj took the attack to debutant Moises Henriques, smashing a six and a four in the 34th over. Ponting gambled with Voges in the next over but that didn’t pay off either as Yuvraj hit another six and a four to reach his 42nd ODI fifty. Meanwhile, Dhoni was playing in his typical style, using his wrists well to steer the ball into empty spaces, content with taking the singles. Henriques’ misery wasn’t over as Yuvraj blasted two successive fours in his next over to tilt the scales in India’s favour. Runs came thick and fast there on before Yuvraj fell in the 44th over, with India needing 29. By then, the damage was done. Dhoni broke the shackles once the batting powerplay was taken, putting to rest any hopes Australia might have had. India have never lost when Yuvraj and Dhoni have been involved in a 100-plus stand and the duo ensured their record remained intact.

Dhoni steers India to victory

October 28th, 2009

Captain MS Dhoni struck a breathtaking 124 as India put up an all-round display to crush Australia by 99 runs in the second ODI.

With this victory, India levelled the seven-match series 1-1, on Wednesday.

Day’s action in pics

Dhoni smashed a 107-ball 124 to guide India to a record 354 for seven, the highest against Australia, after they were sent in to bat before the home team bowlers bundled out the visitors for 255 in 48.3 overs at VCA Stadium at Jamtha, to cancel out their narrow four-run loss in Vadodara on Sunday.

Besides tearing visiting attack to shreds to notch up his fifth ODI ton in 147 matches, Dhoni clobbered two century stands — 119 with Gambhir for fourth wicket and 136 with Raina for the fifth, pushing India score past earlier highest against Australia — 315 all out in Bangalore in March 2001.

It’s all about numbers

Australia were never in the hunt to chase down the mammoth target as they were just 115 for four by the 25th over and the asking run rate climbed to 11 plus by the 31st over.

Michael Hussey top-scored with a 60-ball 53 and he tried in vain to make a match out of it by sharing a 47-run stand for the fifth wicket with Adam Voges (36).

Young Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of Indian bowlers with figures of 3/35. He nipped in bud any chances of an Australian middle order fightback. Pacers Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma were also impressive with 2/37 and 2/34 respectively.

Click here to follow all the action as it unfolded

The two teams will now travel to Delhi for the third one-dayer on Saturday.

Earlier, Dhoni blazed his way to his first ODI ton in more than a year to lead India to a record 354 for six.

Dhoni completed his century in 94 balls, studded with two sixes and seven fours, as he simply tore the visiting team’s attack to shreds on a good batting track. He was finally out for 124 after hitting three sixes and nine fours in 107 balls.

Dhoni, who came to the crease when India were struggling at 97 for three in 16th over, first consolidated the innings with Gambhir (76 in 80 balls) by running the singles and twos well and then opened up in the slog overs in the company of another left hander Raina (62 off 50 balls).

Top Performer: MS Dhoni

After Sehwag made a quick-fire 40 off only 31 balls, Dhoni, whose last century (109 not out) was against lowly Hong Kong in June 2008 in the Asia Cup tie in Karachi, and Gambhir laid the platform with a stand of 119 runs for the fourth wicket in only 113 balls.

Gambhir, who faced 80 balls and hit six fours, was run-out at non-striker’s end by backing up too much just when he was poised to up the tempo in the company of his captain.

Dhoni, who was adjudged man of the match, joined forces with Raina, who struck one six and six fours, to simply tear the Aussie attack to ribbons with a partnership of 136 in only 96 balls.

The fifth wicket pair utilised the batting Power Play, taken between 40th and 44th overs, to add 39 runs, with the India captain in full flow with his bottom-handed shots against the Aussie pacemen Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson.

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Australia conceded as many as 116 runs in the last eleven overs from the time India’s batting Power Play ended.

India began their innings in spectacular style with Sehwag taking a particular fancy for the swing bowling of inexperienced Tasmanian Ben Hilfenhaus.

Sehwag spanked the second ball he faced in the match from the 27-year-old rookie, playing only his 14th ODI and first in the subcontinent, to the covers and then square-drove the bowler off the backfoot for another four to set the tone.

Tendulkar (4) worked Siddle off his toes for a four but was dismissed stretching out to a ball that was bowled wide of the stumps by the bowler in his next over and edged it to the slip cordon. He had got out in a similar fashion at Vadodara.

Super Selector: Start building your team for the India-Oz series

Sehwag lofted Johnson, who passed a fitness test to play in the match after an ankle-injury scare, for a straight six.

The Delhi batsman, however, fell to the left-arm pacer as he mistimed a lofted shot to haul out to Hilfenhaus. His 40 came off 31 balls and included six fours and a six.

Yuvraj Singh, who came in for Sehwag, showed no uneasy signs of playing his first match since mid-September, and timed the ball beautifully in making a quickfire 23 with two fours and a six before being brilliantly caught and bowled by Hilfenhaus when he could not keep down a straight drive.

For Australia, Peter Siddle was the pick of the bowlers with his pace and effective use of the short ball in his earlier spell before he too was carted around by Dhoni and Raina.

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India, Australia to resume rivalry

October 24th, 2009

Strong rivals India and Australia will resume their cricketing rivalry as they go into the first one-dayer in Vadodra on Sunday.

The injury-hit hosts are fully aware that a series triumph in the seven-match rubber would catapult them to the number one spot.

The Indians will also be keen to make amends for their ICC Champions Trophy debacle as they take on the world champions in what promises to be a thrilling contest of nerve and skills.

Though flamboyant Virender Sehwag has returned to bolster the Indian top-order, Yuvraj Singh is unlikely to take the field for the series-opener at the Reliance Stadium.

Australia are in super form having clinched the Champions Trophy title, which followed an impressive 6-1 thrashing of England while the Indians have not quite lived upto expectations in recent times.

The hosts were knocked out of the Champions Trophy at the league stage where they could manage just one win.

India have done well in the last couple of years and would take inspiration from the fact that they had beaten Australia in their own den when they clashed last in a one-day series.

But India have a less-than-impressive one-day record in bilateral series against Australia at home, having won seven and lost 12 of their 23 encounters over the years.

It will, therefore, be a sort of revenge series for both teams as before India’s victory in Australia, the visitors had outclassed the hosts 4-2 in their last best-of-seven contest in this country two years ago.

Sachin Tendulkar’s form is crucial to India’s fortune.

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He was instrumental with an unbeaten ton and a score of 91 during India’s historic triumph in the VB Series Down Under.

With a line up of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Dhoni, the home team’s batting is their strength.

Ponting has already sounded wary about the strength of India’s batting line-up led by Tendulkar and the fit-again Virender Sehwag at the top by calling it “formidable”.

Bowling is a big concern for India after a lacklustre performance in the Twenty20 World Cup as well as the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.

Ishant Sharma, who has struggled to recapture the sort of rhythm and speed with which he rattled even a great batsman like Ponting on India’s last visit to Australia, is under pressure.

The bowling attack has been re-arranged with the inclusion of Munaf Patel for R P Singh to support the in-form Ashish Nehra and Ishant. Praveen Kumar and Sudeep Tyagi are the other two pacers in the running.

The spin department, which would hold the key in the middle overs, is spearheaded by off-spinner Harbhajan Singh who needs to come up with a better performance than his haul of three wickets in seven matches in the previous series between these two teams to make an impact.

Leg spinner Amit Mishra is the back-up for Harbhajan if included in the playing eleven.

The poor bowling performance in two ICC events has led to the sacking of bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and it would be interesting to see how the team copes up with the change in their support staff.

In form skipper Ponting and vice captain Michael Hussey hold the key to the Australian batting , not to forget all-rounder Shane Watson who has come to India on the back of successive hundreds in the semi-final and final of the Champions Trophy.

Ponting is aware of the threats posed by the Indian slow bowlers especially in sub continent conditions but is confident that his batsmen would be up for the challenge.

Australia would bank upon their strong pace attack, and especially on Brett Lee who powered New South Wales to the maiden Champions T20 League title last night.

Lee and left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson pack a lot of punch in their attack and were in the forefront when India were routed for 148 in the previous encounter between the two teams at this venue two years ago.

With the impressive Peter Siddle, the Victorian who also has got used to the Indian conditions by playing in the CLT20, and swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus present as the other options, Australia carry a huge pace armoury.

Spin looks to be their weak spot with neither off spinner Nathan Hauritz nor rookie left-arm slow bowler Jon Holland expected to give the Indian batsmen cause for major worries.

Approaching milestones

- Brett Lee (49 wickets at 20.55 runs apiece in 28 matches) needs one wicket to become the first bowler in India-Australia ODIs to complete 50 wickets. For India, Kapil Dev (45 wickets at 27.68 runs apiece in 41 matches) holds a record against Australia.

- Ricky Ponting (16 wins in 27 ODIs) needs one victory to register his 17th win against India to establish an Australian record against India. Allan Border has also 16 wins in 27 matches against India.

India’s overall record at Baroda:

Played: 7

Won: 5
Lost: 2

Winning %: 71.43