India swept the test series against Bangladesh as Zaheer Khan collapsed four wickets off eight balls in the second innings of the Final test at Mirpur today.

Zaheer bagged a career best 7-87 as Bangladesh were bowled out for 312 leaving the visitors with just 2 runs to wrap the series.

India had won the opening test by 113 runs in Chittagong last week.

The second test was completed when the host conceded two byes in the opening over bowled by spinner Shakib Al Hasan.

Zaheer Khan was named Man of the Match and series.

Statistical Highlights:

• Zaheer Khan finished with 10/149 to become the fourth Indian fast bowler to take 10 wickets in an overseas Test match, joining Irfan Pathan who claimed 12/126 against Zimbabwe at Harare in 2005-06 and 11/96 against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2004-05, Venkatesh Prasad (10/153 against South Africa at Durban in 1996-97) and Chetan Sharma (10/188 against England at Edgbaston in 1986).
• The aforesaid occasion is the 10th of a 10-wicket haul in a Test match for India. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar holds the Indian record for registering the best figures on foreign soil – 12/104 against Australia at Melbourne in 1977-78.
• Zaheer has received his third Player of the series award for taking 15 wickets at an average of 19.53. His previous two such awards were both against England in 2007 and 2008-09.
• Zaheer Khan has received his fourth Man of the Match award – both at Mirpur against Bangladesh.
• Zaheer has captured 164 wickets away from home at an average of 30.93 in 43 Tests while in India, his tally is 71 in 27 Tests at an average of 37.91.
• For winning cause, Zaheer has bagged 121 wickets (ave. 25.64) in 31 Tests, including four instances of five wickets in an innins and one instance of ten wickets in a Test match.
• With eight dismissals (6 catches + 2 stumpings) in the Mirpur Test, MS Dhoni has equalled his previous best wicketkeeping performance. In the Perth Test against Australia in 2007-08, he had effected eight dismissals (7 catches + 1 stumping).
• India have posted their sixth victory in seven Tests against Bangladesh.
• India have won four Tests in a row for the second time – two against Sri Lanka followed by two against Bangladesh.
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni enjoys a winning percenage of 72.72 – eight out of eleven played – the remaining three drawn.
• Zaheer (7/87) has recorded his best figures in an innings, eclipsing the 5/29 against New Zealand at Hamilton in 2002-03. His previous best bowling figures against Bangladesh were 5 for 34 at Mirpur in 2007.
• Zaheer’s second instance of five-wicket in an innings Bangladesh is his ninth overall.
• Zaheer, on foreign soil, has claimed five wickets or more in an innings seven times.
• Shahadat Hossain (40) has registered his career-best score in Tests, obliterating the 33 against West Indies at Kingstown in July 2009.
• Mohammad Ashraful’s runs’ tally of 386 at an average of 42.88 in six Tests is the highest for Bangladesh in Tests against India.
• With Shahadat’s wicket, Harbhajan Singh has become the third Indian bowler to claim 600 international wickets, joining Anil Kumble (956) and Kapil Dev (687).
• Sachin Tendulkar has extended his record by featuring in 55 wins for India. His 18 hundreds resulted in the Indian wins, extending another record.
• India have won five Test series in a row for the first time. They won 2-0 again Australia in 2008-09, 1-0 against England in 2008-09, 1-0 against New Zealand in 2008-09, 2-0 against Sri Lanka in 2009-10 and 2-0 against Bangladesh in 2009-10.

With this victory, India will remain in the top slot. The ICC Top ranked team will face the second placed South Africa in a two match series starting February 6.

Tags: Chittagong Test, ICC Test Ranking, India Vs Bangladesh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mirpur Test, Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan

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Chasing 316 to win the tie and finish the series with one match to go, India found themselves in trouble when they were at 23/2 before Gambhir (150 not out) and Virat Kohli (107) gave a good partnership stand of 224-runs. This injected a fresh life into the chase and then was completed with Dinesh Karthik’s (19 not out) company.

Gautam Gambhir slammed up his seventh century while Virat Kohli struck his maiden to script India’s series-clinching seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI on Thursday at the Eden Gardens.

India scored 317 runs by losing just 3 wickets and with 11 balls remaining.

Gautam Gambhir was declared man of the match.

Gambhir became the newest member of the 3000-run club. He faced 137 balls in his controlled innings, hitting 14 fours.

Kohli’s mature 114-ball knock was studded with 11 fours and a six.

Earlier, Upul Tharanga (118) hit his seventh ODI century and starred in a 126-run partnership with captain Kumar Sangakkara (60) as Sri Lanka posted 315 for six, the highest score at the venue till India overwhelmed it.

After Tharanga and Sangakkara had laid the perfect platform for a late charge, debutant Thissara Perera hit a 14-ball 31 to make the most of the batting powerplay and help the visitors cross the 300-mark.

Both the teams now move to Delhi for the fifth and final ODI on Sunday.

Tags: Gautam Gambhir, India Sri Lanka ODI series, India vs Sri Lanka, Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Virat Kohli

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Moving to the No. 1 place in Test Cricket, the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni described the status as a dream come true. He also conceded that it would be a tough job to maintain the top slot.

After the team swamped Sri Lanka by an innings in the third Test to win the series 2-0 and become the world’s best Test team, Dhoni said, “It was a dream come true. But what we actually do is to try and play every game well and ratings take care of themselves. It was a constant process for the last 18 months. Whatever Test cricket we have played we have played really well. I think it’s a team effort.”

“It’s a bit of a concern we are playing only two Test matches in the next six months. It will be tough for us to maintain this top position. At the same time we have done something remarkable. We would celebrate the feat rather than thinking about anything else. At the moment we would like to just be with the achievement, which is because of the whole team,” he said.

Dhoni felt the side was blessed in its journey to the top by the fact that more or less the same cricketers played for the last some months without injuries.

Dhoni felt the dressing room atmosphere also contributed a lot to the achievements on the field.

Indian opener Virender Sehwag who broke a number of records on his way to the huge 293 runs in the third test topped the batting charts with 491 runs from three matches with an average of 122.75.

Sehwag was declared man of the match and player of the series.

Rahul Dravid took the overall second place in the batting chart with 433 runs from same three matches with an average of 108.25.

Harbhajan Singh who claimed 13 wickets from three matches but conceded 533 runs. Zaheer Khan took 10 wickets while Sreesanth and Pragyan Ojha made 8 and 9 wickets rom two matches each.

Tags: Harbhajan Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Pragyan Ojha, Rahul Dravid, Sreesanth, Virender Sehwag

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