India vs Sri Lanka: India take 1st place in Test cricket

December 06, 2009 By: Spunky Category: Cricket News No Comments →

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 vs Sri Lanka: India’s 100th Test Win

November 27, 2009 By: Spunky Category: Cricket News No Comments →

After the first test match going for a draw, the host India bowled out Sri Lanka for 269 runs in the second innings of the second test to beat the neighbours by an inning and 144 runs on fourth day to climb at the top spot in Test rankings on Friday. India now lead the three Test match series 1-0.

With this win, Team India has registered its 100th win in Test matches.

Forced to follow on after a first-innings collapse, Sri Lanka were 206/8 at lunch on the fourth day and although the visitors managed to make up 149 runs in the morning, they were still 207 adrift of India’s huge first innings total of 642.

Middle-order batsman Thilan Samaraweera was unbeaten at 54 at the interval alongside tail-ender Ajantha Mendis (5), with India looking set to wrap up an innings victory after the interval.

Fast bowler S Sreesanth’s six-wicket heroics on the third day had helped dismiss Sri Lanka for 229 in the first innings and hand India a 413-run lead.

Harbhajan (3-70) led the bowling on the fourth morning after Sri Lanka resumed on their overnight 57/4.

Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan struck in the second over by forcing all-rounder Angelo Mathews to miscue an attempted pull to Rahul Dravid at gully for 15, after he had blasted three fours in a row in the over.

Prasanna Jayawardene added 61 runs for the sixth wicket with Samaraweera in a show of resistance until Harbhajan sneaked through his defences to bowl him for 29. The spinner also trapped Rangana Herath (13) and Muttiah Muralitharan (29) fell to left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha next to make it 191/8.

Sri Lanka’s flurry of runs helped them avoid their biggest two innings defeats that had come against South Africa.

The third and final Test will start in Mumbai on December 2.

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Indian squad for India vs Sri Lanka Tests series 2009

November 10, 2009 By: Spunky Category: Cricket News No Comments →

After his poor on-field behaviour, Sreesanth is now selected in India’s 15 member squad for the first two test matches against Sri Lanka. Sreesanth will be sharing with Zaheer Khan, who has recovered from his shoulder injury.
The selectors have recalled Pragyan Ojha and s Badrinath. M Vijay will also be reatined as reserve batsman.
Indian Team: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M Vijay, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra.

After his poor on-field behaviour, Sreesanth is now selected in India’s 15 member squad for the first two test matches against Sri Lanka. Sreesanth will be sharing with Zaheer Khan, who has recovered from his shoulder injury.

The selectors have recalled Pragyan Ojha and S Badrinath. M Vijay will also be reatined as reserve batsman.

Indian Team: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M Vijay, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra.

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Kings XI Punjab Vs Rajasthan Royals: Rajasthan posts record total in IPL II

May 05, 2009 By: Spunky Category: IPL 2010 - IPL 3 No Comments →

Kings XI Punjab slumped to 53-5 in 10 overs in their massive 212-run chase against the Rajasthan Royals at Kingsmead on Tuesday. Earlier, Graeme Smith and Naman Ojha powered the Royals to IPL season 2 highest score.

Graeme Smith and Naman Ojha ripped apart Kings XI Punjab’s bowling as Rajasthan Royals amassed 211 for four, the highest total of the second Indian Premier League, in Durban on Tuesday.

Put into bat by Punjab, Smith (77) and Ojha (68) struck blazing fifties and combined for a 135-run opening stand, also the biggest partnership of the tournament.

Rajasthan were off to their best start of the event, making 92 runs in their 10 overs before the strategy break. Playing only his second IPL match, Ojha was sent in to open the innings with Smith and the the 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman justified the move with his 51-ball knock.

Smith, out of sorts so far in the event, was cautious to start with but soon cut loose to send Punjab bowlers on a leather hunt.

ipl-2-rajasthan-royals-graeme-smith

The South African’s innings came off just 44 balls and was studded with 12 boundaries and a six.

He was dismissed in the 15th over while trying to loft a Ramesh Powar delivery over long on, only to be caught by Piyush Chawla.

But before that, Smith and Ojha had laid the foundation for a big total for Rajasthan. Ojha, who was dismissed for a duck in his first match, gave a perfect start to Rajasthan’s innings, hitting Powar for two massive sixes and a four in the very first over.

The right-hander struck five boundaries and an equal number of sixes during his knock before an attempted slog went wrong and Simon Katich caught him at deep midwicket off Piyush Chawla.

Ravindra Jadeja’s 33-run cameo that came off just 12 balls then helped Rajasthan go past the 200-mark. Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh tried seven bowlers in a bid to stop the run flow but none could do the trick for him.

Punjab and the tournament’s most successful bowler Yusuf Abdulla conceded 44 runs without picking up a wicket in the three overs that he bowled.

S Sreesanth, playing his first IPL game after recovering from a back injury, was not as expensive to start with but was taken to task in his fourth and final over, which left him with figures of 0/44.

Powar’s only wicket of Smith proved way too costly as he ended up giving away 33 runs in three overs he bowled. Chawla was the most successful for Punjab with figures of 2/30 in his four overs.

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Kings XI Punjab Vs Mumbai Indians: Kings meet Indians

April 29, 2009 By: Spunky Category: IPL 2010 - IPL 3 No Comments →

Two buoyant sides, boasting some of the best stroke players in contemporary cricket, will clash head on when Kings XI Punjab take on Mumbai Indians in a potential humdinger in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.

After the rain god stopped stalking them, Kings XI under Yuvraj Singh have managed to put their campaign back on track with back-to-back victories over Bangalore Royal Challengers and defending champions Rajasthan Royals.

The wins lifted the pall of gloom that had descended on the Kings XI camp following their defeats against Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders in two rain-marred ties.

In contrast, the Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians got off to a perfect start with a victory over last year’s finalist Chennai Super Kings before sharing points with Rajasthan Royals from their washed out outing.

Tendulkar and his men tasted their first defeat against the all-conquering Deccan Chargers in their third tie but shrugged off the setback with a thumping 92-run win against the Knight Riders on Monday.

Tendulkar himself has led from the front with his consistent display at the top, in company of the ageless Sanath Jayasuriya. The senior batsmen have forged a lethal pair at the top and while the Knight Riders were at the receiving end of their onslaught on Monday, it could be any other side on Wednesday.

JP Duminy didn’t convert the start on Monday but the exciting Protea youngster is unlikely to squander another chance to impress the home crowd.

Abhishek Nayar and even Harbhajan Singh have the ability to land a few lusty blows, which means Tendulkar is not short on gunpowder.

Their bowling looks equally formidable with Lasith Malinga and Zaheer Khan forging a fearsome pair.

Dwayne Bravo has also chipped in while Abhishek Nayar, Jayasuriya and Tendulkar himself can prove quite a handful with their part-time bowling.

In contrast, Kings XI batting line-up has been inconsistent with Yuvraj’s own reputation as one of the deadliest batsmen in this format in tatters.

Rather, Kumar Sangakkara’s has been a reassuring presence in the middle and it was the Lankan’s unbeaten half-century that paved way to the side’s victory against Rajasthan Royals.

Irfan Pathan has also done justice to his all-rounder’s reputation, shining both with the bat and ball.

Even though the absence of Brett Lee and S Sreesanth depleted the Mohali-based outfit’s bowling resources, their late recruit Yousuf Abdulla has been among the wickets while Pathan’s impressive form also helped their cause.

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India’s Probables for World T20

April 05, 2009 By: Spunky Category: Champions Trophy 2009 No Comments →

In the absence of the domestic Twenty20 tournament, which was postponed for the second year in a row, performance in the IPL will be crucial for the 30 players selected in India’s preliminary World Twenty20 squad for the tournament in England.

The notable omissions were Sreesanth, Joginder Sharma, Ajit Agarkar and Piyush Chawla, who were part of the team that won the World Twenty20 in 2007.

The final squad of 15 to 16 players will be announced a month before the tournament begins on June 5.

The IPL assumes significance because it ends on May 24, leaving little time for a camp before the players leave for England.

Sreesanth ruled himself out of the IPL due to a back injury and had recently admitted he would be out of action for at least three months.

The selectors had always been skeptical once he struggled on his return to domestic cricket after sustaining an injury during last season’s IPL.

There were no specific parameters that the selectors looked at when they prepared the 30-man short list.

The list contains no surprises with most players picking themselves due to their form in the current season.

Tamil Nadu offspinner R Ashwin was picked as a back-up to Harbhajan Singh after a successful domestic season where he was the leading wicket-taker in Challenger Trophy (eight wickets) and took two more in three Deodhar Trophy games.

Squad: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan singh, Praveen Kumar, Dinesh Karthik, M Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, S Badrinath, Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli, Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha, Abhishek Nayar, Amit Mishra, R Ashwin, RP Singh, L Balaji, Dhawal Kulkarni, Naman Ojha.

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