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The much awaiting first test match between India and Australia today ends with no result. The match will be remembered for the superb batting display by Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. Once again sachin Tendulkar missed the record of Brian Lara.

Aussies won the toss and elected to bat first, they scored 430 runs in the first inning. Skipper Ponting made 123 runs while Hussey made 146 runs. Other than them Katich made 66, while Haddin made 33 runs. From Indian side Zaheer Khan took 5 wickets while Ishant Sharma took 4 wickets and Harbhajan Singh took one wicket.

Replying to this Team India got all out at 360 runs only, this way Aussies get a lead of 70 runs in the first inning. From Indian side the attraction was the superb half centuries by Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan, Bhajji made 54 while Zaheer made not out 57 runs. Other than them Dravid made 51, Ganguly made 47 while Sehwag made 45 runs. From Australia’s side Johnson took 4 wickets while Watson took 3 wickets and Clarke took 2 wicket. Brett Lee too took one wicket.

In second innings Aussies made 228 runs for the loss of 6 wickets, this increased their lead to 298. In their second inning Watson made 41 runs while Haddin made an unbeaten 35 runs. Ishant Sharma from Indian side took 3 wickets in this inning along with Bhajji taking 2 wickets and Zaheer Khan took one wicket.

So India got a target of 299 runs but they made only 177 runs at the loss of 4 wickets and this way match become draw. Sachin Tendulkar missed the half century by only one runs. The match will be remembered for the last match of Saurav Ganguly in Bangalore. He returned to the pavilion unbeaten and people gave them a good farwell too.

Tags: Australia, Bhajji, Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, India, India Australia, Ishant Sharma, Ponting, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, Test Matches, Test Series, Zaheer Khan

Yesterday I was going through one Hindi Daily News paper and I found one article on the Australia tour of India. The story was that Greig Chappel was warning Team India about the performance of the skipper of the Aussies squad, Mr. Rickey Ponting, who has a worst record in India. He made only 172 runs in 8 matches with a mere average of 12.28, while batting in India.

So the Guru Greig Chappel is warning the team India from the anger which he has seen in the eyes of Rickey Ponting. The worst part which I felt is his statement that if Rickey is going to bat according to my tactics then he is going to score some big innings in India.

This is the Team India which for the first time give the title of Guru to this batsman from Australia, the regard which we gave him is more than which he deserves, as far as my views are concerned. It is Saurav Ganguly who first gave the challenge to Greig Chappel and then our Indian team management sidelined Ganguly from Indian team. It was a shame that we did not supported our own skipper, who was still considered as the best skipper of Team India, rather we supported some one who tried to break the Indian team.

After that incident it was a huge distance Team India has covered, meanwhile Team India won the T 20 World Cup, and defeated Australia in Australia in the tri-nation ODI series. India lost to the test series to Aussies in Australia. So now every body is looking forward to the test series of four tests between India and Australia, which is beginning at Bangalore on 9th of October.

Let’s discuss about the performance of Suarav Ganguly. Once he was neglected by the Indian team management and then he fight back. He created one example of a strong comeback in the history of Indian team. It was unfortunate that he did not perform well in the recently concluded test series against Sri Lanka in Lanka, but in the same series all the senior cricketer failed to perform according to their reputation. So I think the blame should not be given on his shoulder only.

He was recently ignored by the selection panel in the Irani Trophy and in the camp which is going on in Bangalore. It was really unfortunate, since I think that he is the only guy in the Indian team which can give reply to the aggression of the Aussies which they do on field as well as off field too.

So I think that it is not fair to keep him away from the team for the test series against Aussies. They are not a smaller team; they can do any thing to win. So we should give one more chance to these people who have shown his aggression in the past. In my views if team has decided to drop Ganguly then why not drop Sachin and Kumble too, because they too did not performed well in the test series against Lanka. If performance was the key to drop any one then why Yuvraj Singh is in the ODI team, while he was not doing any thing good in the middle?

As far as the selection is concerned today is the first meeting of the Indian team selection panel, which is now a paid unit and I know the pressure is mounting on them to choose the best possible team. Let’s see whom they are going to chose for the series. If Dada is not picked for the series, then I think it will be the end of his career unless he once again made the history in his own manner.

Tags: Chappel, Dravid, Ganguly, Greig Chappel, Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Rickey Ponting, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Team India, Yuvraj Singh

India ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Monday chosen for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2007-08 given for the most outstanding performance in a year. The awards would be presented on August 25, 2008.

The current Indian captain of the ODI (one day international) and T-20 teams became the only second cricketer after master blaster Sachin Tendulkar to be honored with the Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest honor given for an achievement in sports. .

Dhoni on Monday offered prayers at the famous Deori temple after being conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.

The President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Sharad Pawar said, “We are very happy. He has represented the country with distinction, and deserves the honor. His exemplary leadership and demeanor under pressure, especially in the ICC World Twenty20 and the tri-series in Australia, mark him out as the ideal role-model for millions of young Indians, who want to make a mark in life.”

Dhoni is the model icon among youth. He scored 148 against Pakistan in his fifth ODI in 2005 - then the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper. Later in the year, he broke his own record as well as set the current world record for the highest score in the second innings in ODI matches as he scored 183 not out against Sri Lanka.

Tags: Award, BCCI, Dhoni, ICC, Indian Captain, Mahender Singh Dhoni, MS Dhoni, ODI, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, T20, Tendulkar

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar is going to enter in Bollywood by his comeo debut in a film, “Vighnaharta Shri Siddhivinayak” about the miracles of the elephant-headed deity Ganesh. The film is about the god and Tendulkar himself will play a small role of “Vighnaharta Shri Siddhivinayak”.

The star of Indian cricket, Sahin Tendulkar is a devotee of Ganesha and he will not charge any money for his role in the movie. The film is expected to start from next month and it will also feature a voice-over by Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan.

The film is being produced by the Siddhivinayak Temple Trust, which looks after a famous temple dedicated to Ganesh in Mumbai. Film’s production is handled by company of Rajiv Sanghvi. “He will play a small role, as himself, either in a song sequence or in an actual scene,” said Rajiv Sanghvi.

“Sachin has been a regular at the temple for many years now and he never gives up an opportunity to show his devotion,” said Subhash Mayekar, chairman of the trust.

Indian cricket team is in touring Sri Lanka at present. Sahin’s office confirmed the cricketer would be shooting for the film after he returns from Sri Lanka.

Tags: Bollywood, Cricket, film, Ganesha, Master Blaster, Movie, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, shri siddhivinayak

The cricket icon, Sachin Tendulakar who have been a brand ambassador of soft drinks major Pepsi since 90s, was dropped by the company. The decision came on the backdrop of Pepsi axing the other two members of the Indian batting troika - Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly - earlier this year.

“The decision was also influenced in a big way by the premium amount demanded by the batting maestro,” the sources added.

The Pepsi contract with Sachin, who is earning Rs 3-4 crore from Pepsi every year through promotions and ads, was expired in May.

A company source said that he had not “got back” to a request to “lower his price” for renewing his contract, which expired around two months back.

Pepsi had made it clear its intention to go with youngsters as part of a new campaign for 2008, ‘Yeh hai Youngistaan Meri Jaan; and roped in Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma while dropping Dravid and Ganguly.

Other insiders said the Master Blaster had asked for a “huge” hike. “We went back to the drawing board to see if it made more sense to put money on young cricketers who fit into our Youngistan campaign than shell out a huge sum for someone like Sachin,” the source said.

Tags: Cricket, Dravid, Ganguly, Pepsi, Rahul Dravid, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Youngistan

The dashing opener of Indian Cricket team Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan are selected for the Indian squad for the forthcoming Sri Lanka Test series on Tuesday.

The BCCI selectors met in Mumbai ro choose the 15-man Indian team where the exhausted ODI skipper MS Dhoni was opt out and Zaheer Khan is welcomed back from injury.  Harbhajan Singh is again in the team after his rather inglorious IPL exit.

MS Dhoni who was complaining of his hectic schedule in the just concluded Asia Cup according to media reports was given a rest. Dhoni was playing non-stop cricket for the past two years.

According to television reports Dhoni had talked to BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah and then took the decision. “In India and the subcontinent we have a full year of cricket and there’s no off-season. It’s tough for cricketers. When we want rest we should get it,” India’s T20 team captain said on Monday.

In place of Dhoni, Parthiv Patel is selected for the test squad after a long gap. Parthiv comes back to the team on the back of his fine batting performance in the domestic circuit.

The young left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha was rewarded for his consistent performance with a berth for this upcoming three-match Test series against Sri Lanka starting July 23.  Dinesh Kaarthick is the other wicket-keeper in the team with a new vice captain, Virendra Sehwag.

Sachin is back after his groin injury and Anil Kumble is going to lead the team.

The squad is like this:

Anil Kumble (Capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel (WK), RP Singh.

Tags: Anil Kumble, Cricket, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Sri Lanka, Team India, Test Cricket, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Zaheer Khan

Sachin Tendulkar moves to second rank in the latest ICC ODI batsmen ranking list by stepping one move ahead while M S Dhoni is no on 4th place. Yuvraj Singh at rank 14 is another Indian batsman in top 20 ranks while Gautam Gambhir snatches 20th spot.

Tendulkar, who was suffering from groin injury for a long time, has scored 758 points after 792 points by South African captain Graeme Smith. 135 runs made by Dhoni in Asia cup scored 750 points and shares his place with Australians Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey at number four.

In the ICC championship table, India remains at fourth, one point adrift of New Zealand (115). However, if India wins its next super four matches in the ongoing Asia Cup India can reach at position three.

Australia with 128 points at the top is giving neck to neck competition to South Africa with 127 points. Sri Lanka is at sixth spot followed by England at seven and West Indies at eighth position.

Tags: Cricket, Dhoni, Gambhir, Gautam Gambhir, Hussey, ICC, Mahender Singh Dhoni, MS Dhoni, Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Tendulkar

Former Indian Cricket captain Saurav Ganguly is honored with Asian Cricketer and Asian batsman for his magnificent return to team India at the Castrol Asian Cricket award in Karachi on Friday. Sahin Tendulakar bagged best ODI batsman award while the same award is fetched by Gautam Gambhir for T-20.

Ganguly has had a series of successful innings since his return to the Indian cricket team during the South African tour of 2006-07. Ganguly’s wife Dona took the awards on his behalf as he was not there in the ceremony.

“I am proud and happy to be his wife. I don’t think he needed to work so hard to prove himself. But he had a point to prove and when he wants to achieve something he does it. So these awards make me really proud of him as my husband,” Dona told reporters after receiving the awards.

She, however, refused to term the awards as redemption for her husband after his removal as captain and being dropped from the team in 2006.

“I don’t see it that way. I just knew that he would achieve what he wanted. He is an introvert sort of person but my job was to be there to encourage and support him. As a family we were there for him always,” she said.

Ganguly was also delighted to get the award and expressed his happiness on receiving the awards in a video taped message.

Sri Lankan Wicket Keeper Batsman Kumar Sangakkara is selected for best test batsman award while Farveez Maharoof from Sri Lanka again begged the Best ODI Bowler. Pakistan’s Umar Gul was named the Best Twenty20 Bowler.

While Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan took away the Best Bowler award, the Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh was given a special award for hitting six sixes in the Twenty20 World Cup against England.

The most surprising element was the Best Fielder award to Pakistan wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, who has been dropped from the Asia Cup squad because of his poor form.

But former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram, who along with Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and former India skipper Rahul Dravid picked the winners, said that Akmal was selected for his overall performances throughout the last two years.

Akram said that Asian cricket had produced some great performers from Hanif Mohammad to Tendulkar and it was good to see them being recognised for their achievements in a systematic manner.

Pakistan greats like Hanif Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Asif Iqbal and Wasim Bari graced the ceremony that was hosted by Akram and Rameez Raja with all the teams, including associate member Hong Kong, in attendance.

Hanif Mohammad got a lifetime achievement award and said, “it was time for other companies and people to also come forward and recognize and reward the players.”

Tags: Asian Cricket, Asian Cricket Award, Castrol, Castrol Asian Cricket award, Gambhir, Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Indian Cricketers, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly

25 June, marks a special day in Indian cricket history. 25 years back on June 25, 1983, it was the lucky day, when Indian team won the first and the only cricket World cup till now. Captained by 23-year-old Kapil Dev, the memento was won by India, beating two-time world champions West Indies in the finals by 43 runs.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organized the special ceremony for the ‘Kapil Devils’ to mark the 25 years of triumph on Sunday, June 22 in New Delhi. The Indian cricket fraternity has felicitated the silver jubilee year to celebrate one of the greatest victories in the cricket history. Members of Dev’s team were very delighted over the BCCI’s special felicitation ceremony.

All the former Indian Test captains, all Delhi-based Test cricketers, former and current women cricket captains, Delhi-based women international cricketers, including former and present office bearers of the BCCI were invited. BCCI president Sharad Pawar, welcomed the 1983 World Cup team members and congratulated them on completing silver jubilee year.

An emotional Dev said, “The entire team contributed to the victory. It brought the Indian cricket to the centre-stage of world cricket that we enjoy today. As a captain, how it happened, I really don’t know! But, when it happened, then only we could realize it. What we achieved 25 years ago was really unimaginable. In my opinion, the love and affection of countrymen, which we got, cannot be weighed in money.”

“Somewhere, I must say that the 1983 team believed in themselves. That time when somebody asked me, if we could be the world champions; I said no!” added the India’s all time most successful all-rounders.

Sunil Gavaskar, one of the senior members of 1983 squad said, “His dedication, discipline as a captain is there for everybody to learn. The way people follow Sachin Tendulkar today, we used to follow Dev at that time. He is the man who showed us the way. The time when he lifted the trophy was the greatest memory of my life. He is still the greatest cricketer India has ever produced.”

“The 1983 World Cup win was a start that led us to the Asia Cup, Rottman’s Cup, Benson and Hedges and World Championship triumphs. It was a tournament that captivated the imagination of the whole nation,” added the legendary opening batsman.

Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Mohammed Azharuddin and former board presidents Salve, Raj Singh Dungarpur, Inderjit Singh Bindra and Ranbir Singh Mahendra were also present in the function to honor the team.

The Board presented a silver memento and cheque of Rs. 25 lakh to each of the 14 member of the 1983 squad.

The contribution of the victory team of 1983 world champions is actually priceless as they have marked the history with golden words and landed Indian cricket to success doors.

Tags: , 1983 World Cup, BCCI, Cricket, Gavaskar, India, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, World Cup

Sachin Tendulkar’s groin injury put him away from the upcoming cricket tri-series in Bangladesh, and subsequent Asia Cup. He was ruled out of the series on Thursday.

He was declared unfit by Mumbai Indians’ physiotherapist, Nitin Patel, for the June 8 to 14 tri-series, also involving Pakistan.

“Tendulkar is not available for the tri-series as well as the Asia Cup on the advice of Mumbai Indians physiotherapist Nitin Patel. He has not recovered sufficiently from his groin injury,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah informed in Mumbai on Thursday.

Tendulkar will also skip the Asia Cup, to be held in Pakistan from June 24 to July 6, he added.

Tendulkar has also missed the first seven matches of the Indian Premier League because of the injury. A few day’s back Sachin requested the selectors to keep him away from the selection of the team for Bangladesh.

Tags: Aisa Cup, Bangladesh, Indians, Mumbai, Mumbai Indians, Pakistan, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, Tendulkar