Dream Final

Gilchrist's onslaught against DD took DC to finals, where as cool-headed innings from Dravid and Pandey against CSK took RCB to finals...

The two bottom-placed teams in IPL 2008 are now the finalists of IPL 2009. What a turnaround this for both the teams...

DC Vs RCB, my dream final...

DC has been shaky in some matches but Banglore has been exceptional after KP's departure...

RCB has the upper hand as they defeated DC in their last league match...

But T20 is all about form on that particular day....you outplay the other team, you win...

These two teams have been doing just this throughout the tournament, surprising other teams with superb performances...

Gilchrist, Rohit, Symonds and RP holds the key for DC where as Taylor, Kallis, Kumble and Dravid holds the key for RCB.

Though I support DC, I wouldn't really mind whoever wins the trophy....I just want this final to be simply awesome :)


Go DC..Go RCB..

What RCB should do?

This is not written keeping in view of today's match...

1. KP and Ryder should open
2. Uthappa doesn't look confident at the top and he has not been aggressive. It will be good if comes down the order, may be at No.5
3. Dravid is the only batsman for BRC to score consistently ...He came to bat when the team had almost lost the match....He can't do anything when he comes to bat in that situation... He should come at No.3...Unfortunately for today's match he is not available...

Finally the batting order should be like this

1.Ryder
2.KP
3.Dravid
4.Kallis
5.Uthappa
6.Taylor / B Akhil
7.Kohli
8.Praveen
9. Pankaj Singh/ Steyn
10. Vinay Kumar
11. Kumble


For today's match, it's going to be interesting who's gonna replace Dravid. Will it be Gaurav Dhiman or Wasim Jaffer?

Oldies Shone on First Day

The much awaited IPL Season 2 has arrived atlast and what a day it was ....

The first day of IPL2 has some surprises and proved that hittig fours and sixes is not that easy on South African soil... The finalists of last year's IPL lost their opening matches. Last year's runners up Chennai Super Kings lost to Sachin's Mumbai Indians. Defending Champions Rajastan Royals were humiliated by Pieterson's Banglore Royal Challengers.

Sachin gave a good start to IPL by winning a match against Chennai super kings in the first match of IPL2... He proved that it's not always about try to hit every ball for four or six....it's about playing according to the situation and pitch condition...In the other match, Dravid did the same....Wickets were falling on one end..but Dravid stayed there till the end and took his team to a comfortable total...Kumble's 5-wicket haul was another highlight of the match between Rajasthan and Banglore...but the match was almost over before kumble came onto bowl...

The credit for Mumbai's win goes to Abishek Nayar and Sachin, and the credit for Banglore's win goes to Dravid and their collective bowling performance...

I wonder why Dhoni did not give Ashwin a chance to bowl....He should have selected an extra batsman then...And also why Albie Morkel was not chosen?

Chennai's most valuable player (also IPL's) Flintoff cost them the match by giving 3 sixes in one over :)

I enjoyed Abishek Nayar's innings and Shane Warne's bowling...

A great final day ahead

An awesome day of test cricket this......India dominated Australia in pre lunch session, Australia came back strongly and dominated dramatic post-lunch session and India was back in the game in post-tea session mainly because of Ponting's bowling changes.

India resumed their innings with an overnight score of 0/0.

Virender Sehwag and M Vijay scored 116 in quick time for the first wicket, before Vijay was trapped, just after lunch, in front of the wicket by a beautiful delivery from Watson. Viru demolished Krejza in the first over after lunch by taking 14 runs in that over.

Shane Watson dismissed Rahul Dravid for 3 with a beautiful outswinger. Dravid edged it to Haddin. Dravid's poor form continues. Dravid should not have been sent at No.3 today.

What's next Dravid? Are you going to announce your retirement tomorrow? Or are you going to take some rest and come back ?

Brett Lee dismissed Virender Sehwag for 92 to reduce India to 142/3. And then Krejza brought Australia back in the match by dismissing VVS Laxman(4) and Sourav Ganguly(0) in successive deliveries. Krejza's delivery to Laxman was a beauty. It pitched outside off and turned a lot to hit the stumps. Ganguly was dismissed for a first ball duck. A disappointing last innings to a great career.

Sachin Tendulkar (12) was run out in the last over before tea. It was an unncesessary run.

The post lunch session raised hopes of series levelling victory for Australia. India were in a losing position at tea.

But after tea, Dhoni(55) and Harbhajan(52) shattered Australia's hopes by scoring 108 runs for the seventh wicket, there by got India to a decent total and set a target of 382 for Australia in 92 overs thanks to the slow overrate of Australia which made Ponting to use his part-time bowlers.

Hussey took a great catch to dismiss Dhoni in Krejza's bowling and then Krejza dismissed Zaheer. After reaching his 6th test fifty, 4th Vs Australia and 2nd in this series Harbhajan was dismissed by Watson by a good delivery. Watson bowled Amit Mishra to bowl out India for 295 in their second innings.

Krejza and Watson took 4 wickets each.

Ponting surely cost Australia the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Why did he use his part time bowlers instead of trying to win the test match by using Watson who was bowling so well at that moment ?. Becuase, he thought of his suspension due to slow over-rate. He wanted to save himself from the suspension. Slow overrates have been the problem for Australia throughout the series.

Australia were at 13/0 at the end of day-4. Bad light stopped play with 3 more deliveries to go. Australia need 369 more to win from 90.3 overs.

A great final day ahead...

Master reaches another century

After Indian skipper Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first, India got off to a flyer on day one of the second Test against Australia in Mohali before Australia came back to remove 3 wickets in quick succession.

After being selected into the side to replace the banned Gautam Gambhir, Vijay started confidently and played well for his 33 before being dismissed by Watson. Sehwag and Vijay scored 98 for the first wicket. The debutant Krejza took 3 wickets on day-1. But Sachin was not his first test wicket :). He dismissed Dravid, Sehwag and Laxman. But he gave mway any runs. Sehwag was looking dangerous but got out playing a bad shot. Rahul Dravid once again failed to score and was out for a duck. The wall is cracking... The pressure is on him and I think we are going to hear about his retirement soon.

After the collapse both Tendulkar and Laxman played some beautiful strokes and rebuilt the innings. Theyscored 146 for the 4th wicket. Laxman scored another fifty in this series. Ganguly came to the crease after Laxman departed. Tendulkar reached his 40th century after being dropped by Lee when he was on 98 and was dismissed by Johnson for 109. He was dropped by Haddin already and missed a run-out chance too.

India is on 311/5 with Ganguly and Dhoni are on 27 and 4 at the end of the day. This was Tendulkar's day. Jason Krejza made a decent debut too. India need big runs from Dhoni, Ganguly and the lower order if they want to make the best use of winning the toss and batting first.

India Vs Australia 4th test preview

India is going into the 4th test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy with 1-0 lead. Australia must win this test match to retain the Trophy.

Indian team composition:
The selectors called up M Vijay as back up for Gambhir as Gambhir is banned for one test match. Vijay has been in good form. He scored a double century against Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy. If he gets a chance, it's Vireder Sehwag who has to score for the team as Vijay will be under pressure in his first match. This looks to be the only change in the indian team apart from Bhajji returning to team in place of Anil Kumble. Bhajji is one wicket away from his 300 test wickets. Amit Mishra is confident and is bowling well.

There is also a possiblity of Dravid and Sehwag open for India and bring Badrinath in. But I do't think it happens. Dravid is under pressure as he hasn't played a big innings in the series. If he is sent to open the innings, it will add more to his pressure.
So, Vijay will make his test debut.

Indian Team(Probable) : Virender Sehwag, M Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Gangly, MS Dhoni(captain & wicket-keeper), Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra

This is the last test for Sourav Ganguly and the 100th test for VVS Laxman.

Australian team Composition:
Australia won the series in India after nearly 34 years by winning a test match here in 2004. It was for that match Ganguly and Harbhajan were absent. Gilchrist mentioned this in his auto-biography.

Asutralia is in a better position to win/draw the 4th test as all their batsmen are in good touch and have got some runs in the 3rd test match. Australia's only concern is their bowling line-up. They are looking at all possible options for the last test match. Ponting indicates that Stuart Clark may have to sit out and Krejza might debut. But I think Australia should drop White and bring in Krejza. White never looked dangerous and he struggled against the Indian bastmen.

Australian Team(Probable) : Simon Katich, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting(captain), Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin(wicket-keeper), Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Jason Krejza

Gambhir's ban might help Australia and they might be happy as he is not playing. He is the leading run scorer, with 463 runs with 2 centuries and a fifty in three matches, in the series.

They have to concentrate on their bowling and come up with a better team effort to win the test and retain the trophy.

Kumble retires as the third test ends in a draw

The third test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia ended in a draw. Michael Clarke's century helped Australia to save the test. However, it was the Indians who created the chances for Australia to save the match by missing the simple catches.

Starting at the overnight score of 43/2 India lost Dravid early. Brett Lee dismissed Dravid by a beautiful delivery. Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir tried to build a partnership before the opener was given out for a lbw off Mitchell Johnson. But TV replays showed the ball would have missed the leg stump. Gambhir was a bit unlucky there.

The early breakthrough gave Ozs some hope of dismissing all the Indian batsmen early and win the test to level the series. But Laxman along with Tendulkar and Ganguly shattered their hopes by giving them no chance. Tendulkar missed another half century. White dismissed him when he was on 47. Following his double hundred in the first innings, Laxman added another half-century in his second innings. He played some delightful drives in his unbeaten 59. Ganguly was on 32 when the declaration came.
Finally India declared at 208/5 after tea setting Australia a target of 245 runs to level the series. Australia scored 31 runs with both the openers remained not out.

Laxman was the man of the match for his wonderful double hundred in the first innings and a half century in the second innings.

There are a few positives to be taken for Ozs.

1. Brett Lee finally finds his rhythm.
2. All of Australian batsmen performed well.

Ricky Ponting must be happy with the way they played.

Unavailability of Harbhajan and fielding mistakes made India to compromise on a draw. Dravid's form is also a concern for India. Dravid disappointed once again and the focus will now be on his retirement now after Ganguly and Kumble.

India skipper Anil Kumble announced his retirement after the third test against Australia.

Anil Kumble said "It's a tough decision when you have played 18 years of cricket and been so competitive. But my body helped making the decision and also, this injury. I had already made the decision yesterday as I knew I won't be hundred percent for the next game. I had already decided to leave the game after this series any way."

It was a disappointing end to Kumble's great career.

India now leads series 1-0 with only one test to play at Nagpur. The fourth and final Test will be played in Nagpur from Nov 6-10.


First Day Report
Second Day Report
Third Day Report
Fourth Day Report

India in driver's seat on day 1

Gambir had Australia in a spot of bother on the first day of the third test at Ferozshah Kotla, Delhi today. An unbeaten 149 by Gambhir, a good knock of 68 by Sachin and a quick unbeaten 54 by Laxman have put India in a commanding position at the end of Day 1 of the third test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2008. The way Gambir, Sachin and Laxman batted, India looked set for a big first innings total.

Everything went in India's way from the time Kumble won the toss. The day clearly belonged to Gautam Gambhir who scored an excellent century. Brett Lee gave the perfect start to Australia by removing Sehwag in the third over. Sehwag was one run away, when he was out, to become the leading run scorer in 2008 in tests. Dravid was out for a wide delivery from Johnson. India were 27/2 when Dravid was out.

Tedulkar joined Gambhir after Dravid was dismissed. Gambhir started slowly while Sachin played some excellent shots at the other end. He looked dangerous in their 130 run partnership. He played most of the shots on back foot today. He was well set to score a century. But he was dismissed by Johnson just before tea. Gambhir played his natural game after Sachin's dismissal. Gambhir brought up his third century in style by hitting a six when he was on 99. He scored back to back centuries, that too against Australia. He must be happy. Gambhir was absolutely delightful to watch. Laxman too scored quickly in contrast to his natural game. The unfinished fourth-wicket association of 139 between Gambhir and Laxman promises to be a big one.

The Australian pace bowlers were all working on reverse swing in the one week gap between the second and third tests. But none of them could reverse swing the ball in this test match except Brett Lee for some balls. The pitch was very sluggish and only Stuart Clark bowled well with his nagging deliveries. Ponting was once again in trouble for the slow over-rate. He used Simon Katich, Michael Clarke to reduce the slow over-rate. One should wonder what is the role of Cameron White in the playing XI for Australia. He was used for only 4 overs today.

There were a couple of heated moments in the game today.

The first one occured in 51st over. Gambhir hit the ball off Watson for 2 runs. Watson said somethig when Gambhir ran the first run. Gambhir then hit Watson with his shoulder as he went past him for the second run.

The second one occured in 78th over. When Laxman hit a ball off Katich straight to him, Laxman wanted a single. But Katich did not allow Gambhir to run by blocking his way. They exchanged some words there and Billy Bowden intervened and calmed them down.

India is on 296/3 at the end of day 1. India have a great chance of sealing the series 2-0 at Ferozshah Kotla, which is considered a fortress for India.

India makes a flying start

In the absence of Anil Kumble, Dhoni came out for the toss and he won it. He decided to bat in the second test against Australia at Mohali. Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Ghambr made a flying start before Sehwag departed for 36. They made 70 runs for the first wicket. Dravid joined Ghambir after Sehwag was out. Ghambir made a half century to take India to 104/1 at lunch. Ghambir is on 53 and Dravid is on 11 at lunch.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh is 34/1 , in 32 overs, against New Zealand at lunch on day-1.

India Vs Australia 2nd Test Preview

It's a bit disappointing that the first test match did not produce a result where the result was definitely possible. Both captains will now make sure that they won't repeat the mistakes of the first test.

The biggest question now is 'What will be the India's team composition for Mohali test?'. Will India stick to 2 spinners on a pitch that assists pacers or will India play 3 seamers and a spinner?

Though Kumble said he is fit to play in the second test, the suspence over Kumble's appearance in the 2nd test continues. We have to wait for the decision till the match starts. If India wants to play 3 seamers and a spinner, it would be a better choice to rest Kumble and bring in Munaf. Kumble can be dangerous if the pitch supports him. But on a pitch that assists seamers, it's better Kumble takes rest. Harbhajan has a good record against Australia. He performed with the bat also in the first test. Munaf Patel is a talented bowler who can swing and cut his deliveries. This promising right arm fast bowler is known for his pace reverse swing and deadly yorkers. He bowled well in the match against Delhi in the Irani Cup. Munaf took 7 wickets against England on his Test debut here at Mohali in 2006. Munaf's inclusion will definitely boost the Indian pace strength.

The other possibilities for India would be
1. Unchanged playing XI
2. Drop Ghambir, bring in Munaf, let Dravid and Sehwag open. If the pitch assists the spinners on the last 2 days this will be a better option to play 3 seamers and 2 spinners.


Coming to Australian side, Stuart Clark is ruled of the the second test because of an elbow injury.
It opens the test doors for Peter Siddle's debut. His consistent performance earned him a place in the test squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2008/09. This might be the only change in the Australian team for the second test.