India win Austrlia in 3rd ODI

In the third one day international of hero honda cup 2009, India proved their supremacy over Australia by winning the visitors with a 5 wicket margin. India recorded their biggest win in terms of wickets against Australia in 3rd ODI at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.Yuvraj Singh and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni produced scintillating knocks on a tricky track as India recovered from early jolts to spank Australia by six wickets in the third cricket one-dayer and take a 2-1 lead in the seven-match series here on Saturday.

Australia won the toss and elects to bat first. Australia set the target of 230 runs after loosing 5 wickets. India started their innings very slowly and India's first wicket in 37 overs as the score Virender Sehwag fell. Sehwag made 11 and bowled Johnson. After that The game was evenly balanced mid way during the chase with India in consolidation mode at 101 for 3, but Yuvraj and Dhoni slowly and surely pulled India ahead. They batted with restraint while settling in on this track because, as Michael Hussey proved earlier during an unbeaten 81, batting got easier with more time spent on it.

Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni sealed a 2-1 lead over Australia with a stylish batting display on a tricky wicket at the Kotla Stadium. The duo joined forces with India tottering at 53-3 chasing 230. A steady partnership built on hard running and the occasional boundary was needed. Dhoni led the way, Yuvraj followed, and their fourth-wicket partnership slowly swelled to 148 runs to settle the game to Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni shared a serene 148-run stand help India win a battle of attrition on a sluggish track at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi and take a 2-1 lead in the seven-ODI series.

Poor Start by India in ICC Champions Trophy

ICC Champions Trophy has commenced and there is no doubt that it is going to be a treat to all cricket fans. Indian players suffering from injuries include the big names like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan. As a result their absence has been clearly shown in the first battle by india against pakistan. Pakistan having won the toss decided to bat first.

It was a wonderful partnership between Mohammaad Yousuf and Shoib Malik that enabled pakistan to post a huge score of over 300 runs. India went in to chase a big total. India lost wickets at regular intervals. The colapse started when the most respected and hopeful Indian Batsman Sachin Tendulkar has fallen prey to the young aamar. India was in no position to win this battle.

Then Raina gave a light of hope but he was dismissed after a quick fire 40 runs. The fall of wickets continued and at last it was a comprehensive victory for pakistan by 54 runs. Can India bounce back to make it to the top four spot. It is a pathetic question to all Indian cricket lovers. Lets hope for the best.

Viru In or Out?

After a long hiatus due to injuries, Indian dasher Virender Sehwag has clearly expressed his views that he is very much keen to play ICC champions Trophy 09. The shoulder injury that creeped on him during the second season of IPL has kept him out of international cricket for almost more than a couple of months.

Viru was in the Indian squad for the World T20 Cup in England but could not play any part because of the injury to his right shoulder that needed surgery. Sehwag underwent a surgery on June 11 after a lesion was identified in the injured shoulder and he was ruled out of action from between 12 to 16 weeks. The lesion was expected to heal in six weeks. Indian team's physio Nitin Patel was given the task of monitoring Sehwag's rehabilitation process at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.Sehwag said he will start batting practice from the first week of September and is now able to lift 10 kg with his injured shoulder.

Let us all hope that Viru recovers soon as everyone is aware of the fact that he is one of the most devastating cricketer in any form of the game. As an Indian i feel that Viru will recover soon to play the ICC Champions Trophy 2009! Get well Viru!

Vaughan announces his retirement

England's most successful test captain Michael Vaughan, well known for his excellent leadership qualities, told that he was retiring from the game, after failing to regain his place in the team for next month's Ashes series against Australia. "It has been a hard decision," Vaughan, 34, told a news conference at Edgbaston.

"The decision came to me two weeks ago. I thought about it in December but I wanted to give myself one last chance of playing against Australia but I haven't been playing well enough and my body is not reacting how I would like it to be." Vaughan, who has been troubled by a chronic knee injury, has not played for his country since resigning as captain last year and passed 50 only three times in 22 innings for Yorkshire.

He was forced to leave the field frequently to rest his troubled knee, raising fresh doubts about his ability to last a five-day test. Vaughan made his test debut for England during the 1999-2000 tour of South Africa and quickly established himself in the team, scoring his maiden test century in 2001 against Pakistan. However, the knee injuries that were to plague his career surfaced in 2001 and he was ruled out of the entire home Ashes series that was won convincingly by Australia.

After more knee problems he returned in time for the 2002-03 Ashes series in Australia, making 177 on the first day of the second test in Adelaide and 145 in Melbourne, knocks that helped him to rise to the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) batting rankings. In July 2003 Vaughan took over the England captaincy from Nasser Hussain, beginning what was to become the most successful reign of an England skipper with a 2-2 home draw with South Africa despite his own lack of form with the bat.

Vaughan led by example in Sri Lanka later that year when he batted for seven-and-a-half hours to score 105, his first test century as captain and an innings that enabled England to save the second test in Kandy. He then led England to their first series victory in the West Indies for 30 years, but the moment that defined his captaincy of England came in 2005 when he outsmarted opposite number Ricky Ponting to win back the Ashes.

Century at Chennai - The best

SachinTendulkar rates his century at M.A. Chidambaram stadium at chennai as his best knock ever. This century was just some time after 26/11 attack. "I think the one against England in Chennai last year," says sachin, without hesitation when asked about his most important innings played so far for India.

"After what happened in Mumbai, the mood of the entire nation was low. Something was needed to put smiles on people's faces. I am by no means suggesting that the people who lost near and dear ones could forget their terrible loss, but if we as a team were able to make them smile for just a couple of seconds, that was an achievement," The Independent quoted Tendulkar, as saying. "And thanks to the England cricket team who came back very graciously and played against us. You know, cricket in India brings the entire nation together, from the poorest child to a billionaire. We are in a position to make everyone happy, which is very special for me and the whole cricketing fraternity," he said.

He pointed other innings which he considered important were played during his school days. "I would say that there were a couple in my schooldays that changed my life. In the semi-final of an Under-17s tournament I scored 326 not out, which is when everyone in Mumbai took notice of me. I then scored 346 not out in the final, with Dilip Vengsarkar and Sunil Gavaskar watching."

Will Viru's absence affect India?

Virender Sehwag, one of the most explosive indian batsman, is out of the ICC World Twenty20. Sehwag with his fine form has given a lot of good starts to India. But it was totally a bad news when Indian team manager V. Chamundeswarnath at Trent Bride on Tuesday revealed Sehwag injury. Sehwag batted for two overs at the nets on Tuesday and felt some pain in his shoulder.

Although the Indian team management refused to commit itself on the aggressive opener’s place in the squad during a stormy pre-match press conference, a BCCI release confirmed that Sehwag would indeed be flying back. Virender Sehwag has been ruled out of the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 due to a shoulder injury. He will return to India after consulting medical experts in England. Sehwag’s replacement will be Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik. Karthik was in fine form with the willow for Delhi Daredevils during IPL Season-II in South Africa.

Will Viru's bsence affect india???

Grand Finale IPL 2009!

IPL grand finale was grandeur clo9sing ceremony as a galaxy of Bollywood stars added glitz and glamour to the spectacular closing ceremony of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 championship. Two table bottom teams of 2008 clashed and finally it was Deccan Chargers who grabbed the all prestigious IPL 2009 Cup.

Music and fireworks displays filled the air soon after the last ball was bowled, creating an electric-charged carnival atmosphere.The Wanderers Stadium was transformed into a sea of shimmering, floating lights which were released into the sky as frenzied fans waved to their favourite celebrities.Actress Katrina Kaifa led a dance troupe to the hugely popular Jai Ho tune, which has over the past weeks become an unofficial anthem at IPL cricket venues across the country.

But it was the Senegal-born American singing sensation Akon who diverted the limelight from the Indian beauty and wowed the crowed with his Grammy Award winning hit song Smack That. Akon went on to introduce the winner of the Miss Bollywood IPL South Africa, Dune Kossatz.
The crowd sang along Eddy Grant's Gimme Hope Jo'anna hit song as he took on the stage with traditional African drummers. The five-week cricket bonanza had seen some of the biggest Bollywood celebrities and movie stars, like Shilpa Shetty, co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals, and Shah Rukh Khan of Kolkata Knight Riders setting up temporary home in South Africa.

IPL chief executive Lalit Modi described the five-week championship as a "huge success". "The past five weeks have been amazing. Ticket sales for the tournament were sold at a rate never seen before for any event staged in this country," boasted Modi. The event was attended by President Jacob Zuma, who praised the organisers for having faith in South Africa to host the event. "The games have revitalised the economy, with about one billion rand being spent in the country in the past five weeks" said Zuma.

Consoling Victory for KKR

Kolkatta Knight Riders fought seriously but had to fail more than a lot of times. But today, kolkatta managed to register their second victory in IPL 2009. Kolkatta won a close match against the powerful Chennai Super Kings team led by the Indian Captain Dhoni. A dazzling batting display by Brad Hodge and Brendon McCullam gave Kolkata a victory at last at the fag end of this IPL. Unfazed by a daunting target of 189, they triumphed over Chennai by 7 wickets at the end.

Brad Hodge teamed up with Wridhiman Saha to launch an all out attack during the last 5 overs to amass 58 runs decimating the Chennai Super Kings bowlers. It was CSK’s Lakshmipathy Balaji who bore the maximum brunt of KKR beating. If Saha was severe on him in the 17th over plundering 14 runs, Hodge went a step further when Balaji returned on the 19th to pile up 19 runs off it. Those two big overs, coupled with slack fielding by CSK during the death overs sealed the game in favour of KKR.

But it all started with McCullum at the top. He cracked a 48-ball 81 runs (a Batting Momentum or BM of 137) which paved the way for Hodge and others to go all out after the CSK bowling. Playing sensible cricket, McCullum and Hodge carefully avoided being extravagant against Muttiah Muralitharan, but didn’t spare the other bowlers of CSK in their chase. Hodge remained unbeaten on 77 runs off 44 balls (BM of 135) for which he was awarded the Man of the Match.

Earlier, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and a little cameo by Albie Morkel propelled CSK to a total of 188. But the night belonged to the KKR batsmen who stole the show in the penultimate over of the match. The loss dented CSK’s charge to the semi-finals as they now face a must-win situation in their last match.