IPL 2010 Final Preview: Mumbai Indians Vs Chennai Super Kings

The final of IPL will be held on 25th April at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai amidst the raging controversies surrounding the Indian Premier League.

Mumbai Indians, so far, have a wonderful tournament. Mumbai made it to the finals for the first time in IPL. Sachin would love to finish the tournament on a winning note.

On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings struggled to make it to the finals. Chennai were finalists of IPL 2008 and they lost it to Rajasthan Royals. So, Dhoni would be determined to set the things right this time.


Tendulkar has led the team well and has given so much confidence to the players like Rayudu, Tiwary. Mumbai Indians have a good depth in batting and bowling department. Sachin is suffering from a finger injury and hopefully he will be available for the final. It would be a big loss for Mumbai Indians if Sachin won't be available as he carried Mumbai on his shoulders with his wonderful batting and captaincy. Tiwary and Rayudu proved their talent under pressure when Mumbai lost a few early wickets. And then there is Pollard who can hit the ball out of ground easily. His medium pace has also proved worthy. Their bowling attack has been reliable. And they have no worries on this matter.

On the other hand, Chennai mostly had to rely on good individual performances to make it so far. If Hayden delivers a good knock at the top and their bowlers can take 2-3 early wickets, Chennai would fancy their chances. Suresh Raina is the key batsman for Chennai. It will be interesting to see if Dhoni opens their bowling with Ashwin with Sachin at the crease. Ashwin and Bollinger have been exceptional for Chennai. Spinners have been Chennai's strength.

Winning the toss and batting first looks a better choice at this ground as teams chasing a total have stumbled on this pitch.

All in all, We are up for one exciting final. My money would be on Mumbai Indians.

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...

India Vs Sri Lanka ODI Series Preview

India is back to cricket after a gap of 1 month while Sri Lanka have been playing some cricket recently. Sri Lanka started this year with a test series against Bangladesh. And then they took part in a tri-series with Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka toured Pakistan for 3 ODIs. SL won all of the 3 series.

India will want to maintain their dominance while the Sri Lankans will certainly be making every effort to take revenge for their 3-2 loss in the ODI series at home against India in Sep'08.

If either team wants to win, the following players are going to hold a lot of the responsibility...

India:

Virender Sehwag - Gautam Gambhir:
This opening duo has been in sparkling form and have given excellent starts most of the times. The opening stands by this pair are important for the series result to go India's way. Sachin may open the innings with Sehwag while Gambhir comes at No.3 . In any case the performance by both of these players will be important for the team.

Zaheer-Ishant :
Both these bowlers are on roll. They have made invaluable contributions in India's wins recently. They are capable of performing in any conditions and early breakthroughs by these bowlers will be important for India to win.

The middle order is strong with Dhoni, Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina. India are without Harbhajan which may give some advantage to Sri Lanka. It is now a good chance for Ravindra Jadeja and Ojha to prove themselves.

Sri Lanka:

Dilshan : Dilshan has been in good form in recent times and his promotion to opening slot against Pakistan worked wonders for Sri Lanka. Dilshan has been a crucial part in Sri Lanka's wins in the recent times. His innings will be an important one for Sri Lanka.

Mendis-Muralitharan : The spin duo has to strike to turn the series in Sri Lanka's favour. Most of the Indian batsmen struggled to face Mendis in India's tour to Sri Lanka last year and in Asia cup. Their attack from both the ends can worry Indian batsmen and help Sri Lanka gain some advantage. Sri Lanka is strong in spin department as India is without their main spinner Harbhajan.

The main worry for Sri Lanka is the form of their captain, Mahela Jayawardena. He did not have a great tour against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Coming to the pace bowling..Nuwan Kulasekara has been in good form..He is the No.2 bowler in ICC ODI Rankings..


I am eagerly waiting for Mendis vs Sehwag..it will be a cracker of contest....

My playing XI(India): Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Ojha, Munaf Patel.

Was the selection good?

Indian selectors, on Jan 18th, announced the squad that tours Sri Lanka in Jan-Feb 09. Out of Ravindra Jadeja, Pujara, Rahane and D Kulakarni who performed well in recently concluded Ranji Trophy, only Jadeja earned a place in the 15-member Indian squad. Dhoni, Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj, Zaheer and Ishant are sure selections.

It's a little unfortunate that Kohli wasn't selected despite his good performance. Badrinath is another unlucky one. He lacks the support to perform..Although he had given chances, he did not get a chance to bat most of the times.

Pathan brothers, Raina, Ojha and Munaf have retained their place. Praveen Kumar, who was left out for ODI series against England, has been recalled. A hamstring injury had ruled out Harbhajan Singh's selection.

I am eagerly waiting to see Uthappa back in the team who has been in good form..

The lineup is good but there are some questions to be answered.

Harbhajan was fit during the 2nd test against England and he hasn't played a match after that test. How and when was he injured?

Why are there two left-arm spinners in the squad? There is no right arm spinner in the squad. Either Piyush Chawla or Amit Mishra should have been selected.

Dhaval kulkarni could have been given a chance. He was the highest wicket taker along with Jadeja in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy. He should have been selected ahead of Irfan Pathan/Praveen.

Why is Praveen selected as extra seamer? Why wasn't he selected for ODI series against England if he is considered a quality bowler?

Jadeja has been awesome at domestic level..let's see how he performs at international level....

Singh is king

It was an awesome performance by Yuvraj. His effort, both with the bat and the ball, powered India to gain 2-0 lead in 7 match ODI series.

He hit 2nd consecutive century followed by a 4-wicket haul. This century was special and important than the one in the first ODI as he got this one when the team needed. It was definitely one of his memorable innings. He is more confident now and needs to make sure he continues his good form.

After winning the toss and elected to bat, India got off to a poor start. Sehwag(1), Raina(4) and Rohit Sharma(3) were dismissed early by Stuart Broad.

After their departure, Yuvraj and Gambhir(70) added 134 runs in 22.3 overs for the 4th wicket to take India to a comfortable position before Pietersen dismissed Gambhir. Yuvraj Singh took India out of trouble with his wonderful batting. Gambhir did excellent for his 70, but failed again to reach 100 after getting it to 50.

Dhoni made just 15 before Paul Collingwood dismissed him. Broad returned in the 3rd powerplay , for his second spell, and removed Yuvraj. Harbhajan and Zaheer were run out trying to get the runs quickly. Harmison dismissed RP Singh the last over. Yusuf Pathan took the responsibility after Yuvraj and scored an unbeaten 50 from 29 deliveries to take India to 292/9 in 50 overs. It was his maiden half century in ODIs.

England managed only 238 from 47 overs in reply. England began their innings on a disatrous note when Suresh Raina run out Ian Bell(1) with brilliant fielding, in the first over of England's innings. Owais Shah(58) and Prior(38) took the responsibility of building up the innings and scored 96 runs in 22.1 overs before Yuvraj struck. He dismissed Shah and Prior in two overs.

Ashes heroes, Pietersen(33) and Flintoff(43), found it difficult to score runs as Yuvraj and Harbhajan quickly chipped in with economical overs, and the required-rate crept up towards 9 an over. England skipper took a smart move by opting for the 3rd powerplay at that time and England scored 59 in that 5 overs which brought the visitors a ray of hope.

But Yuvraj's two wicket over, just after power play, turned the match completely towards India. He dismissed Flintoff and Pietersen in that over to make it 4-28, his scond best in ODIs. Harbhajan Singh took a return catch to dismiss Paul Collingwood (2). Yusuf Pathan dismissed Ravinder Bopara (3) in his first over. Virender Sehwag then took the next three England wickets dismissing Samit Patel (20), Steve Harmison (6) and Stuart Broad (22) to all out England for 238.

Interestingly, all the England wickets(except Bell's run out) were taken by the spinners. But England spinners have managed to take only 1 Indian wicket.

One thing, I don't understand with England is why they sent Bopara after Samit Patel. When you take Bopara as a batsman you have to use him. England need to send him before Patel and Collingwood.

The two teams will now travel to Kanpur for the third match to be played on Thursday.

Advantage India

Just 3 days after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India is ready to take on England.

India has the destructive opening pair of Sehwag and Gambhir (M Vijay as back up opener) compared to England's Ian Bell and Matt Prior (A Cook as back p opener).

Both teams have a good pace attack. England has no quality/experienced spinner while India has got Bhajji.

Both teams have strong middle-order. England's middle order has players like Pietersen, Flintoff, Collingwood, Bopara and Owais Shah while India has Rohit Sharma, Raina, Dhoni, Kohli and Yuvraj.

The teams are almost equal in terms of their batting, bowling and fielding.

But India is mentally strong after winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-0 while England goes into the series after thet were humiliated by Mumbai Cricket Association XI in the 2nd practice match and Stanford Super Stars in the Stanford Twenty 20 match.

India has clearly an edge over England.

It will be interesting to see how the new powerplay rules are going to effect the game.

Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2008 Review

India created a history yesterday by regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India is on its way to the No.1 spot in test cricket. It was not just one or two individuals who made this historic series win possible but a perfect team effort from India. Australia was outclassed in all the departments.

This series has seen two great Indian cricket legends retire, the wall cracking, master breaking the world record, Australians struggling in all the departments, Ishant evolving as one of the best bowlers in the world, Ponting under fire, and many more....

This is a sincere effort to review this entertaining series....

India:

Opening: Sehwag and Gambhir proved they are the best opening pair. They have been very consistent and they provided excellent starts in this series. The left-right combination also gone well with this pair. The understanding between these two is amazing. They played an important role in putting up big totals by scoring the runs quickly. Vijay, who played last test match in place of Gambhir, also gave India good starts with Sehwag.
Rating: 4.5/5

Middle Order: No doubt India has got the outstanding middle-order with players like Sachin, Laxman, Ganguly, Dravid and Dhoni. They all were upto their mark except Dravid who has to forget this series( in terms of his performance) as soon as possible. Sachin and Laxman came up with excellent innings at times they needed. Ganguly played well in his last test series. Dhoni too came up with good innings when the team was in trouble. This series is a disaster for Dravid in terms of batting and fielding. He dropped a few simple catches.
Rating: 4/5

Pace Bowling: This was the major difference between the two teams in the series. Everyone thought that Indian pitches are not suitable for the pace bowlers. The job of pace bowlers is to make the ball old, give it to the spinners and let the spinners do the rest. But Zaheer and Ishant proved it wrong. They made good use of reverse-swing. Australian batsmen struggled against these two bowlers. They have taken 26 wickets together.
Rating: 4.75/5

Spin Bowling: On Indian pitches, spinners have been threat to the visitors. This time it was not all their show though they contributed much to the series win. Anil Kumble was struggling in the first test and did not play the second test. He came back for the third test and yet he was not effective. He finally announced his retirement after he was injured during the third test. Amit Mishra, who replaced Kumble for the second and fourth tests and Harbhajan for the third test, was a hit on his debut match. But he had to fight hard in the third test. He came up with a good performance at an important time in the last test. Harbhajan was quite beautiful with his bowling. Actually he played an all-rounder role in this series. Sehwag too tried his hand at bowling and bowled well to take 5 wickets in the third test.
Rating: 3.5/5

Fielding: Indian fielders missed a few simple catches. Dravid, Laxman, Dhoni and Ishant missed many catches among them. Had Ishant taken the catch of Clarke in the third test, we would have won the series 3-0. Viajy did excellent to run out Hussey, Hayden while Mishra did well to run out Ponting. On a whole, fielding is a bit disappointment. Fielding standards are average and India should concentrate on this.
Rating: 3/5

Captaincy: Dhoni has already evolved as a successful captain in the shorter versions of the game. He is now the captain for India in all forms of the game after Anil Kumble announced his retirement during the third test. Dhoni had taken a very timely and wise decisions in the series (2nd and 4th tests) and India won both of them. Both Kumble and Dhoni were successful in inspiring the team. They came up with a plan and executed their plan to perfection without mistakes.
Rating: 4.25/5


Australia:

Opening: Hayden struggled through out the series, especially against Zaheer. He did well in the last match but could not win the match for Aussies. Katich was consistent throughout the series. But these openers failed to give good starts for Australia.
Rating: 3.5/5

Middle Order: With the batsmen like Ponting, Hussey, Clarke, Watson and Haddin at the middle of the order, one would expect big partnerships among these batsmen. But that was never the case in this series. Hussey was impressive. Clarke made a century which helped them to draw the third test. Watson was OK... Haddin was a big disappointment with the bat and behind the stumps.
Rating: 3.25/5

Pace Bowling: The fast bowlers had a lean time. If I had to pick one bowler from Australia who bowled quite well in this series, I would prefer Shane Watson. Watson bowled beautifully in the last test match. Mitchell Johnson bowled well and is the leading wicket taker for Australia in this series. Lee and Stuart Clark were average. The weakness of Australian bowlers was exposed when they could not break the partnership between Harbhajan and Zaheer in the first innings of the first test.
Rating: 2.75/5

Spin Bowling: Australia struggled through out the series with their spin department. Krejza was very impressive in his debut match. He was smart and patient. White, Clarke and Katich were the other spinners who were below average.
Rating: 2.75/5

Fielding: Fielding was good except for a few occasions where they dropped some catches. Haddin was not good behind the stumps. He gave away many byes.
Rating: 4/5

Captaincy: Ponting never looked like a captain he used to be. A captain has to lead his team from the front. Except for a century in the first test, he did not play a big innings. His tactics in the last test match, where he used his part time bowlers instead of pace bowlers, raised questions over his captaincy. Instead of trying to win the test match, he was afraid of his ban because of slow over-rate and used his part-time bowlers. He could not inspire his team in this series.
Rating: 3.5/5


India has to be consistent in order to be the No.1 in the test cricket... But with this hectic schedule, India need to protect its players from injuries by rotating the players which would otherwise be an obstacle for its aim to be No.1... India has a great bench strength in the form of many youngsters like Rohit Sharma, Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Vijay, Munaf RP Singh, Irfan Pathan etc...Use them wisely and protect the players...

Congratulations and all the best India....

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...

Tight Schedule

Australians are still here playing test cricket. England have already reached India for 7 ODIs and 2 Tests. And they have already started their preparations. ODI series between India and England begins on 14th November, just 3 days after the test series with Australia concludes.
The players(Indian) have no time to rest. It's not this time, it is going to be the case for the next 9 months.

Indian players are going to play non-stop cricket for the next 9 months, which starts with the ODI series against Egland. The ODI series will be followed by Champions Twenty20 Leauge in India and then the 2-test series with England. Soon after India will facing Pakistan in Pakistan for a three-match Test series, 5 match ODI series and a Twenty20 match. Then India will play 2 tests, 5 ODIs and a Twenty20 against New Zealand in New Zealand. Soon after this series finishes, they will take part in the 2nd season of Indian Premium League. They have to fly all across the country during the IPL. Within a week, India have to go to Egland to play in ICC Twenty20 World Cup, followed by 4 ODIs with West Indies in West Indies.

The schedule for India in next 9 months is as follows.

India Vs England : 7 ODIs and 2 Tests, 14th Nov'08 - 23rd Dec'08
Champions Twenty20 Leauge : 3rd Dec'08 - 10th Dec'08
India Vs Pakistan : 5 ODIs, 1 Twenty20 and 3 Tests, 6th Jan'09 - 19 Feb'09
India Vs New Zealand : 5 ODIs, 1 Twenty20 and 2 Tests, 6th Mar'09 - 7th Apr'09
IPL 2nd season 10th Apr'09 - 29th May'09
ICC World Twenty20 : 5th June'09 - 21st June'09
India Vs West Indies : 4 ODIs 26th Jun'09 - 5th July'09

There has been a lot of debate over too much cricket in India. This schedule causes a lot of problems to the players' fitness. Many players are prone to injuries because of this kind of schedule.

Many people were surprised over Sachin's decision to opt out of the first 3 ODIs. He wanted rest and so he opted out for first 3 ODIs. Many players would follow Sachin if such is the case with this tight schedule. Dhoni pulled himself out of test series against Sri Lanka this year because of the tight schedule at that time.

The cricket fans will enjoy this, but not the players...a tough time ahead for the players...
I am afraid some of Indian players may pull out themselves during these 9 months. BCCI need to implement rotation policy.

An absorbing day of test cricket

It's been a hard day for India. Had the catches been taken, India might have got a bigger lead. But they finally managed to get a 89-run lead.

Resuming at the overnight score of 189/2, Hussey reached his fifty in the third over of the day and Katich reached his hundred after he was dropped by Dravid at first slip when he was on 94. That catch did not cost India in terms of number of runs. But, he played for nearly 2 hrs from there on and scored just 8 runs from 63 balls. Had Dravid been taken that catch, India might have got 1 or 2 wickets in the pre-lunch session and put pressure on Australia. Katich has been consistent in this series.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni deployed 8-1 field against Katich and Hussey when Ishant and Zaheer were bowling. Both these bowlers bowled outside off and the bastmen never tried to play those balls. When it came to Harbhajan, Dhoni deployed in and out field, close-in fielders around the wickets and fielders at the bounderies. Zaheer dismissed Katich for lbw with a beatiful yorker. Katich played very well for his 102. Soon after Katich fell, Michael Clark was dismissed by Ishant.

Excellent fielding by Vijay sent Hussey back to pavilion when he drove a ball from Harbhajan to silly mid-on and went for a run. Great reflexes there from Vijay. Harbhajan struck in his next over by dismissing Watson. Haddin and White offered a bit of resistance for sometime and scored 52 for the 7th wickets before Mishra removed Haddin for 28. Ishant dismissed Krejza, Harbhajan dismissed White and finally Mishra got Johnson.

Australia were 355/10 in their first innings, giving a first innings lead of 89 to India.
India played 1 over before the day ended and is on 0 for no loss.

The contest is still alive. If India bats tomorrow and declare one hour before the end of the day by setting a target of around 350 for Australia, they have chances to win this game. But if Australia manages to get 2-3 quick wickets before lunch, I think India will surely play for a draw.
A lot depends on Sehwag. If he stays there till lunch, India can easily set a huge target for Australia.

Ganguly at No.3 ahead of Dravid ?

Field Setting:

Dhoni deployed a defensive field in the first session and an attacking field from the post-lunch session. Mahendra Singh Dhoni deployed 8-1 field against Katich and Hussey when Ishant and Zaheer were bowling. Ishant and Zaheer kept on bowling outside off and controlled the batsmen from scoring the runs.

I think Dhoni wanted to control the run rate and let Aussies try to score runs. In that process, they may loose the wickets which helps India to gain a big first innings total. Finally after Katich was out, he brought in the spinners and attacked the Aussies batsmen and put them in pressure.

I am sure Dhoni came up with a perfect plan and he executed it to perfection. The match was completely changed after the post-lunch session once India started attacking. They got wickets at regular intervals, but Australia managed to get closer to India's total.

Many people said that this is a negative tactic by Dhoni.

But what have Australia done throughout the series ? The way Mitchel Johnson bowled throughout the series is no different from what Indians did today.

Krejza on cloud 9

What a moment this for Jason Krejza. He has taken 8 wickets in India's first innings. I think he was given more than he deserved. Many of those wickets were the result of some poor shots from the Indians. But in the end what matters is the number of wickets. So, Jason did extremely well to claim 8 wickets in his debut match. One thing I like in him is that he was not depressed and was courageous even he gave away many runs. He kept bowling and got wickets, that too the wickets of great batsmen like dravid, laxman, sehwag, ganguly and dhoni. He goes into the second innings with much more confidence.

None of the other Australian bowlers looked like taking a wicket. Ricky Ponting might be wondering why he did not bring Jason Krejza on for the first three Tests.

Starting at the overnight score of 311/5, Sourav Ganguly(85) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni(56) batted wonderfully together and added 119 for the sixth wicket before Krejza dismissed both of them in a span of 3 balls. While Ganguly showed elegance in his drives through the off-side, Dhoni batted with his own style in his 56. Playing his last Test, Ganguly displayed a great determination to get to his fifty. Unfortunately he missed a well deserved century. He missed becoming one of the batsmen to score a century on his debut as well as in his last test match. He still has a chance to score a century in the second innings.

It was very easy for Krejza after Ganguly and Dhoni were dismissed. He ripped through India's tail and stopped India from scoring a big total. India were allout for 441.

Australian openers Hayden and Katich started their innings confidently. After a brisk start to their innings, M Vijay ran out opener Matthew Hayden with a direct hit. It was an unnecessary run and Hayden paid the price. Harbhajan got his 300th wicket by dismissing Ponting. His dismissal was similar to that of Sehwag and Laxman. Hussey joined Katich and both of them looked solid at the crease. They never looked facing any trouble from the Indian bowlers. Great batting display by Katich and Hussey.

Australia is on 189/2 at the end of day-2 with the two well set batsmen, Katich and Hussey, at the crease. Katich is on 92 and on his way to a century. Hussey is on 45.

In the end, it was a great day for Australia.

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.

Probable Indian Squad for ODI series against England

The selectors will meet today in Nagpur to pick the 14-member Indian team for the ODI series against England starting on Nov 14. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, who missed the last ODI series in Sri Lanka, are set to return to the Indian squad. The squad may consists of 8 batsmen, including wicket-keeper, 4 pace bowlers and 2 spinners.

Batting:
There is no doubt about the selcetion of Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Dhoni, Yuvra, Raina. So the remaining two slots may be filled by Rohit Sharma, Badrinath, Uthappa and Virat Kohli. There is a tough competetion among these four. But I think the selectors will stick to Rohit and Badrinath considering their recent performances. Uthappa may have to wait for some more time before he gets a call up. Yusuf Pathan, a big disappointment with bat in the Challenger Trophy, is likely to be left out.

Pace Bowling:
Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma lead the pace bowling attack. The other options for the remaining two places are Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar. The selectors may stick to Munaf and Praveen Kumar. Irfan Pathan's recent performance, except in the Challenger's trophy, is not upto the mark. But if one of Zaher and Ishant is rested, Pathan might get a chance.

Spin Bowling:
Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla are the other options for the second spinner besides Harbhajan. Amit Mishra is a better option for the selectors considering his form in the on-going test series against Australia. There are also a few chances for Pragyan Ojha to be selected.

Probable India Squad: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni(captain & wicket-keeper), Suresh Raina, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra.

My Favourite Playing XI (in that oder):
Sachin Tendulkar
Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Rohit Sharma
Yuvraj Singh
Suresh Raina
MS Dhoni
Zaheer Khan
Praveen Kumar
Harbhajan Singh
Ishant Sharma

India crushes Australia in the second test at Mohali

When it comes to rivalry in cricket, people talk about India Vs Pakistan matches and Australia Vs England matches. But India Vs Australia matches seem to surpass the traditional rivalries and the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy between the two teams proves so.

India beat Australia to take 1-0 lead in the series. Australia was totally outplayed by India. It all worked for India from the moment Dhoni came out for the toss. India never looked ot of touch from the moment it won the toss. India registered a 320 run victory which is the biggest margin of victory by runs for India. Resuming at the overnight score of 141/5, Australia slipped to 144/8 when Zaheer Khan grabbed three quick wickets on the fifth day. Leg-Spinner Amit Mishra got the last two wickets and that made 7 wickets in his debut match. India's bowling performance throughout the match is superb. All the bowlers played their part prefectly and contributed to their victory. Dhoni was named Man of the Match for his aggressive batting and his captaincy.

Here's the progress of the match.

Day-1:
It was the day of records as Sachin broke Lara's record of most test runs. Ganguly crossed 7000 runs in tests. After a flying start from the openers Gambhir and Sehwag who added 70 runs to their first wicket, India lost 3 quick wickets. But Sachin and Ganguly ensured that the good start wasn't wasted. They added 142 runs between them. They became the sixth pair to score more than 4000 runs when batting together in tests. India were 311/5 at the end of the day with Ganguly batting on 54.
It was all Sachin's day.

Day-2:
Ganguly's elagant century, Dhoni's aggressive 92 took India to a massive total of 469. Dhoni played his natural game after a long time. Dhoni played agressively and carried the momentum set by Sachin Tendulkar. It was nice to see him playing this way. Ganguly makes his last test series a sweet one with his hundred in the first innings of the second test and a good performance in the first test. He was cool and confident throughout his innings and did not play a too many unnecessary shots. He constructed his innings with ease.

Zaheer Khan removed Hayden third time in a row in this series. After Harbhajan Vs Ponting, it is Zaheer Vs Hayden now. Ishant Sharma dismissed his favourite batsman, Ricky Ponting with a good length ball that nipped back into right hander after pitching. The bebutant Mishra joined the party by removing Katich and Clarke. Australia were 102/4 at the end of the day.
It was the day of Ganguly and Dhoni.

Day-3:
It was the spinner's day, especially the debutant Mishra's. His 5 for helped India to restrict Australia to 268 and take a first innings lead of 301 runs. Amit Mishra is the sixth Indian bowler to take five wickets in his debut. Ishant Sharma removed Hussey for a fantastic delivery. Shane Watson and Brad Haddin resisted Indian bowling for sometime before Harbhajan removed Haddin with a flighted delivery. Australia were all out for 268. Watson played well for his 78. He showed sense in the difficult situation. His 78 came in handy when his team needed a good innings.
Aggressive batting from the Indian openers Sehwag and Gambhir took India to 100/0 at the end of the day.
It was the day of Amit Mishra and Shane Watson.

Day-4:
Gambhir went on to score a magnificent century where as Sehwag fell for 90. The pair added 182 for the first wicket. Dhoni promoted himself up the order to score the runs quickly. He scored an unbeaten 68 to set Australia a mammoth target of 516.
Australian openers started their chase aggressively. But that did not help Australia as both the openers fell in one over looking to play for big shots. Harbhajan removed both the openers in an over before tea. He dismissed Hussey just after tea. It was Ishant Sharma then who carried the momentum. He bowled two top class deliveries to dismiss Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson. Both the balls were pitched just outside off and nipped back into right handers sharply. It was an excellent stuff from Ishant Sharma.

It was the day of Gambhir, Harbhajan and Ishant.

Day-5:
Starting the day with the overnight score of 141/5, Australia was slipped to 144/8 thanks to the excellent bowling from Zaheer Khan. He grabbed 3 wickets in a span of 4 balls.It was then Amit Mishra who took the last two wickets to end the match.

Here's my ratings of both the teams in this match.

India:

Batting: 4.5 out of 5
Indian batsman made use of the batting conditions and scored well. They were amazing in their own conditions. Sehwag and Gambhir played aggressively from the start of the match. Both of them faced the Australian bowlers well. Tendulkar and Ganguly set a big partnership and they crossed some milestones. Dhoni too played aggressively to take his team to a big total. Dravid too played his part in the first innings. It was a bit disaponting for Laxman in the first innings. Dravid and Laxman did not get a chance in the second innings. It was a collective performance from all the batsman.

Bowling: 5 out of 5
This is the main difference between the two teams. On a pitch where Australians struggled to swing the ball, Ishant and Zaheer swung the ball very well and troubled the Australians throughout the match. Ishant's bowling was superb. His deliveries to Ponting and Watson in the second innings were top class. The two pacers claimed 8 wickets between them. Harbhajan bowled excellently in the second innings. He took 5 wickets in the match. The debutant Amit Mishra got 7 wickets in the match. His variations made the Australian batsman struggle. The spinners claimed 12 wickets between them. Full marks to India in the bowling department. Indian bowlers were on song throughout the match.

Fielding: 3.5 out of 5
Indian test side is full of senior players like Laxman, Dravid, Sachin and Ganguly. But it did not affect their fielding in this match. Sachin took a terrific catch off Simon Katich. It was a fine fielding from India though there were some minor mistakes.

Australia:

Batting: 3 ot of 5
Except Hussey, Clarke and Watson to some extent none of the batsmen peformed well. Had Hayden, Ponting performed well, the reslt would be different. Hussey, Clarke and Watson faced the indian bowlers well. These batsman batted with focus and determination. They held the Austrlian innings together for sometime.

Bowling: 3 out of 5
Brett Lee was the major problem for Australia in this match. He was not upto the mark. He took just two wickets. Indian batsman were never troubled by Brett Lee in the match. Mitchell Johnson was the only Australian bowler to perform well. Peter Siddle, the debutant, was predictable. Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and Cameron White shared just two wickets among them. Australia definitely needs a quality bowler. On a pitch where Indian bowlers could find some assistance, Australian bowlers could find no assistance in the pitch and struggled to trouble the Indian batsmen. Indian batsman played them comfortably.

Fielding: 3 out of 5
Rarely we see the Australians misfield. Australia's fielding in this match is not upto their potential. Ponting misfielded a few times and they given away so many extras in the form of over throws, byes.

This is one of the finest moments of Indian test cricket.The important aspect of this test was indians played attacking and sensible cricket. Dhoni once again led from the front. Australia were outplayed in every department.
India will look to wrap up the series in the third test match starts at Delhi on October 29. The Australians will need to regroup after this crushing loss.

What a day

for Bangladesh, especially Shakib Al Hasan and India, especially Ganguly.

Shakib Al Hasan ripped through New Zealand to boost Bangladesh on the second day of the first of 2 tests against New Zealand. A six-wicket haul from the left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan allowed Bangladesh to make an impressive start to their test match against New Zealand today. He took six for 32 from 24 overs at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium to make New Zealand struggling at 155/9 at stumps on day 2 after they bowled out Bangladesh for 245. New Zealand pinned their hopes on Oram , McCullum when they were 57/4 at tea. But both these players got out looking to play big shots. Vettori is batting on 48 and they still trail by 90 runs.

India had an excellent day at Mohali they could be proud of. Brilliant performances from the captain MS Dhoni(92) and Sourav Ganguly(102) took India to a good total of 469. Dhoni was a little unlucky to be given out. He deserved a century. Dhoni played his natural game after a long time. Dhoni played agressively and carried the momentum set by Sachin Tendulkar. It was nice to see him playing this way. Ganguly makes his last test series a sweet one with his hundred in the first innings of the second test and a good performance in the first test. He was cool and confident throughout his innings and did not play a too many unnecessary shots. He constructed his innings with ease.

Here is what Ganguly has got to say after the day's play "This will be my last series, I will not reconsider coming back (smiles). It's been a fantastic batting quartet. Our overseas performances have improved over the last few years. I knew I wasn't going to be selected any more"

Zaheer Khan got the early breakthrough by removing Hayden for 0. It's Zaheer Vs Hayden now after Harbhajan Vs Ponting. Zaheer gets Hayden three times in a row in this series. Debutant Amit Mishra took 2 wickets. Australia is 102/4 at the end of day2. The day completely belongs to India. Australia keeps its hopes on Hussey.

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.