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.

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India came close to victory against Australia in the first One-Day International but lost to the Champions by just 4 runs, with victory coming only in the final over.

It was Harbhajan Singh (49 from 31 balls) and Praveen Kumar (40 from 32 balls – not out) who took the match a long way with their 84-run stand off 57 deliveries.

Even captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni conceded that his team lost the plot well before Harbhajan and Kumar staged a fightback. He felt the match was lost in the five overs of batting Powerplay – which was taken at the start of the 35th over – when three wickets fell while scoring just 32 runs.

“We lost four wickets in the Powerplay and I think that was the turning point. We lost three wickets in the Poweplay without cashing in too much, but thanks to Bhajji and Praveen they took the game close. I think we lost too many wickets in the Powerplay,”Dhoni said, reflecting on the defeat at the IPCL stadium in Vadodara on Sunday.

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India won the battle in the finals of the tri-nation Compaq Cup in Premadasa Stadium here. After winning the toss, India opted to bat first and scored 319/5 from 50 overs. The hosts had a huge target to chase. Sri Lanka lost the opening batting power in the beginning with wickets falling to Harbhajan Singh and when Kandamby tried to steal the show from India, Harbhajan was back to take his wicket. Finally the host lost to India after a good struggle that lasted till their 46.4 overs. They scored 273 and India won the Compaq Cup by 46 runs.

From India’s side, Sachin Tendulkar top scored with 138 runs followed by Yuvraj Singh (56 not out) and MS Dhoni (56). Thushara slammed 2 wickets from India’s side but it was Harbhajan Singh who smashed the Lankan team with his excellent bowling and obtained 5 wickets.

Man of the Match as well as Man of the Series was awarded to Sachin Tendulkar.

Scoreboard:

India innings (50 overs maximum)

R Dravid c Dilshan b Jayasuriya 39(56)

SR Tendulkar lbw b Mendis 138(133)

MS Dhoni c Kandamby b Malinga 56(62)

Yuvraj Singh not out 56(41)

YK Pathan c Kapugedera b Thushara 0(1)

SK Raina c Kulasekara b Thushara 8(6)

V Kohli not out 2(2)

Extras (b 1, w 18, nb 1) 20

Total (5 wickets; 50 overs) 319

Fall of wickets:1-95 (Dravid, 17.2 ov), 2-205 (Dhoni, 36.3 ov), 3-276 (Tendulkar, 45.6 ov), 4-277 (Pathan, 46.4 ov), 5-302 (Raina, 48.3 ov)

Bowling:Kulasekara:8-0-38-0-4.75, Thushara:10-0-71-2-7.10, Malinga:10-0-81-1-8.10, Mendis:10-0-70-1-7.00, Jayasuriya:9-0-43-1-4.77, Mathews:3-0-15-0-5.00

Sri Lanka innings (target: 320 runs from 50 overs)

T Dilshan b Harbhajan Singh 42(29)

S Jayasuriya c Nehra b Pathan 36(29)

M Jayawardene c & b Harbhajan Singh 1(5)

K Sangakkara hit wicket b Singh 33(37)

T Thushara b Sharma 15(14)

A Mathews c Raina b Yuvraj Singh 14(11)

T Kandamby b Harbhajan Singh 66(94)

C Kapugedera c Dhoni b Raina 35(42)

N Kulasekara not out 9(9)

L Malinga c & b Harbhajan Singh 0(1)

A Mendis st Dhoni b Harbhajan Singh   7(10)

Extras (lb 3, w 11, nb 1) 15

Total (10 wickets; 46.4 overs) 273 (5.85 runs per over)

Fall of wickets:1-64 (Dilshan, 7.5 ov), 2-76 (Jayawardene, 9.4 ov), 3-85 (Jayasuriya, 10.6 ov), 4-108 (Thushara, 14.3 ov), 5-131 (Mathews, 17.3 ov), 6-182 (Sangakkara, 27.3 ov), 7-252 (Kapugedera, 42.3 ov), 8-264 (Kandamby, 44.3 ov), 9-264 (Malinga, 44.4 ov), 10-273 (Mendis, 46.4 ov)

Bowling: Nehra:7-0-43-0-6.14, I Sharma:7-0-51-1-7.28, RP Singh:5-0-34-1-6.80, Harbhajan Singh:9.4-0-56-5-5.79, Y Pathan:4-0-36-1-9.00, Yuvraj Singh:6-0-24-1-4.00, S Raina:8-0-26-1-3.25

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