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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As the day one ended for Sri Lanka with 366/8, the day 2 began with a weak performance and were all out for 393 and left India to take over the ground.

The Indian opening duo Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay stood steadily making the Lankan team suffer under the sun. Vijay made 87 runs before he was bowled by Herath. Sehwag was quick with runs and made 100 runs from 101 balls like in ODI’s.

Dravid gave a strong hand to Sehwag after Vijay. Dravid remained unbeaten with 62 runs.

Statistics:

• Rahul Dravid, with an unbroken double century stand with Virender Sehwag, became the first batsman to be involved in 80 century stands of 100 or more.
• Dravid and Sehwag shared an unbroken second-wicket stand of 222 for the second wicket, India’s second best against Sri Lanka, next only to the 232 between S Ramesh and Dravid at Colombo SSC in 1998-99.
• With two double century partnerships for the first and second wickets, Sehwag now shares 10 such stands in Tests. His tally includes an Indian record of six stands for the first wicket.
• Sehwag’s third hundred against Sri Lanka is his 17th Test century in Tests – his ninth at home.
• Sehwag has registered his double century in 168 balls and his feat is the second fastest in Test records. Nathan Astle holds a world record, reaching the double century off just 153 balls against England at Christchurch in 2001-02.
• Virender Sehwag has reached his 250 off 207 balls, bettering his own record off reaching the feat off 225 balls against South Africa during his triple century (319) in the 2007-08 Chennai Test.
• Sehwag became the first batsman to make 200 runs in a day three times for India.
• During the course of his unbeaten double hundred, Sehwag has become the ninth Indian batsman to aggregate 6,000 runs or more in Tests.
• With 284 runs in a day’s play, Sehwag has established an Indian record for most runs in a day’s play – the third best in Test records – Australia’s Don Bradman (309) is the only one to make 300 runs in a day’s play against England at Leeds in 1930, followed by 295 by England’s Wally Hammond against New Zealand at Auckland in 1932-33.
• Sehwag’s distinction of completing 6,000 runs in 123 innings is the third fastest by an Indian player, next only to the 117 innings taken by Sunil Gavaskar and 120 by Sachin Tendulkar.
• Sehwag, for the first time, has registered seven sixes in an innings and became the first Indian to reach a tally of 75 sixes.
• Virender Sehwag’s unbeaten 284 off 239 balls is the highest individual innings by an Indian batsman against Sri Lanka, outstripping his own record of 201 not out at Galle in 2008.
• Sehwag is the only Indian batsman to register two double hundreds against Sri Lanka.
• Sehwag’s outstanding knock of 284 not out is the third best against Sri Lanka, next only to the 313 by Younis Khan for Pakistan at Karachi in February this year and 299 by Martin Crowe (New Zealand) at Wellington in January/ February 1991.
• Sehwag’s aforesaid innings is the highest by any batsman at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. The first two batsmen to make double hundreds at this venue are – Vinoo Mankad – 223 against New Zealand in 1955-56 and Dilip Sardesai – 200 not out against New Zealand in 1964-65.
• Sehwag’s knock included 40 fours and seven sixes which means 202 runs through boundaries. He is the first Indian batsman to make 200 runs through boundaries. Sehwag surpassed his own record of 198 (42 fours and five sixes) during his innings of 319 against South Africa at Chennai in 2007-08.
• Sehwag has now recorded four innings of 250-plus – a tally exceeded only by Sir Donald Bradman (5).
• India (443) have posted their highest total in a day’s play, eclipsing the 417 for the loss of two wickets on the first day of the Kanpur Test against Sri Lanka last week.
• Angelo Matthews became the 14th batsman and the second Sri Lankan after Mahela Jayawardene (vs. West Indies at Galle in 2001-02) to be dismissed on 99 (run out).
• Matthews became the first batsman to be dismissed on 99 in a Test match for Sri Lanka against India. Overall, Matthews is the third Sri Lankan after Russell Arnold (vs. Pakistan) and Mahela Jayawardene (vs. West Indies) to miss a Test hundred by one run.
• Vijay (87) has posted his highest innings – his first fifty in Tests.
• Pragyan Ojha (3/101) has registered his best bowling performance in Tests.

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BCCI selectors today announced a 15-member squad for the first two matches upcoming ODI series against Australia. Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have been included in the team while Rahul Dravid has been left out.

Yuvraj will have to clear a fitness test on October 25 to get the final affiliation.

Uttar Pradesh tall Fast bowler Sudeep Tyagi is the new face in the team, while Ravindra Jadeja and Munaf Patel have been recalled.

Not just Rahul Dravid but also Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Abhishek Nayar and RP Singh have been dropped from the team. The selectors yet again ignored Pragyan Ojha and Irfan Pathan, while they again reposed faith on Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra.

BCCI also sacked the team’s bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh with out giving any proper reason.

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