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The big question of the moment is about the performance of the Indian cricket team in the upcoming Twenty 20 World Championship. It is a well known fact that India is the winner team of the 2007 Twenty 20 world cup, and they are looking as the most eligible contender for the 2009 title at the moment.

I am the biggest fan of the Indian cricket team, but still I have a doubt. I am feeling that there is something which this present team is missing. My doubt is getting more strength after seeing the defeat of the Indian team in the practice match against New Zealand. This practice match was played between India and New Zealand at Lord’s, London, on tomorrow 1st of June 2009.

Team India won the toss in the match and asked Kiwis to bat first, with the help of some brilliant knock by McCullum and Taylor Kiwis made 170 runs for 7 wickets in the 20 overs. Although the first wicket partnership between Gambhir and Rohit Sharma was of 42 runs that too in only 5 overs, but once Gambhir became out, wickets of Team India fell regularly and then despite the briliiant knock of 45 by Raina and unbeaten 41 by Ravindra Jadeja, Team india fell short of 9 runs.

Although it was a practice match and the power hitter like yuvraj Singh did not bat in the match, also India gave rest to the dashing opener Virendra Sehwag, still the defeat is causing concern in the mind of the followers. It is also true that Team India will not face many problem in going to the next round as they are in a safe group. Indian team has got the place in Group A along with the weak teams like Bangladesh and Ireland, so they won’t have to worry so much, but this format of cricket is very unpredictable and Bangladesh is a team which has a few times defeated us at a crucial moment.

Another matter of concern for me is the sideeffects of Indian Premiere League. Many international players like Rickey Ponting ignored IPL, but almost all Indian players from the present team were a part of around a month long tournament. Hence, almost all of them are feeling tired. Another big concern is the injury of Zaheer Khan, which is again the outcome of the IPL. Although Indian skipper MS Dhoni is saying that these issues are not going to affect the performance of the Indian team, and even Sachin Tendulkar is having the feeling that India will retain the championship.

So let’s wait and watch how Team India is going to fair in the Twenty 20 World Cup 2009.

Tags: Cricket World Cup, Dhoni, Gambhir, Gautam Gambhir, India, Indian Cricket Team, Indian Premiere League 2009, Indian Team, IPL, IPL 2, IPL 2009, Jadeja, McCullum, MS Dhoni, New Zealand, Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag, T 20 World Championship, T 20 World Cup, T 20 World Cup 2009, T20 World Cup, Team India, Tendulkar, Twenty 20 World Championship, Twenty 20 World Championship 2009, Twenty 20 World Cup, Twenty 20 World Cup 2009, Virender Sehwag, Viru, World Championship, World Cup, World Cup 2009, Yuvi, Yuvraj Singh

It was not expected for most of the people out here in India as well as some of the people out there in South Africa too. Three old guys Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble steal the attraction of the opening day in IPL second session.

Sachin Tendulkar who him self says that this format is not fit for him and that’s why he is not a part of the Indian team for Twenty20 matches, made a superb half century in the opening match of the Indian Premiere League 2009 against Chennai Super Kings. Because of the brilliant half century by Master Blaster Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Superkings, last year Runner Up team, by 19 runs. Sachin made 59 runs in 49 balls, he hit 7 boundaries in his innings.

Another old guy Rahul Dravid, who was never considered fit for Twenty20, even he was axed from the ODI’s too by some of the selectors who think that only hitting big shots is the matter which makes sense in ODI’s and Twenty20, proved once again that cricket is not only the game of power hitting. When he joined the crease in the second match against defending champions Rajasthan Royals, his team Royal Challengers Bangalore was struggling at 17 for 3 wickets in 4.5 overs. Then he took the responsibility and brought his team to a respectable total of 133. He made 66 runs in only 48 runs and he hit 8 boundaries and 1 six. Of course Vijay Malya will be pleased to see this match winning inning.

Then it was the turn of one of the most senior player of the tournament Anil Kumble. Jumbo who has taken retirement from Tests as well as ODI’s too, took 5 wicket in just 3.1 overs. His bowling figure of 3.1 Overs 1 Maiden and 5 runs and 5 wickets were superb and it caused the worst defeat for the defending champions Rajasthan Royals. They got all out for the lowest total of the tournament, they made only 58 runs. Thus Bangalore Royal Challengers won the match by 75 runs.

The two man of the match of the opening day were Sachin Tendulkar for the match one and Rahul Dravid for the match two. Both of these genius has proved their ability in this format of the cricket too. I am now keen to see the performance of Saurav Ganguly in the first match against Deccan Chargers tonight.

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Tags: Anil, Anil Kumble, Dada, Dravid, Ganguly, Indian Premiere League, IPL, IPL 2, Kumble, Rahuil Dravid, Rahul, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav, Saurav Ganguly, Tendulkar

Last year my favorite team was Kolkata Knight Riders, though the team did not played well enough to reach to the semifinal stage but till the last match I supported the team. Although I liked the Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils too but none of them reached to the finals of the IPL session one last year.

Many people were asking me the favorite team for this session, so I thought to post my choice. As expected it was Kolkata Knight Riders till two days back, but the removal of Saurav Ganguly as the skipper of the team caused my heart break and I decided to not follow the team matches now. I strongly believe that Saurav Ganguly was the best ever player from Kolkata so far, and he should be the skipper of any team which is basically developed in the name of Kolkata. It is one sort of insult for Dada, and I would not support the team now.

This session I have also decided that I am not going to support the matches in which Harbhajan Singh and Mahender Singh Dhoni were playing. It is because that these two players were my favorite players, but a few days’ back they insulted the nation, by skipping the Padma Shri award function, which is the most prestigious award for the civilians of India. This clearly indicates that these people are now an image which is bigger than their country, which I never appreciate, although I know I am no one to put finger on these celebrities, they are such a big guys that they would not be affected from such type of opposes, but, still I think I should oppose them. I love my country India and I will never support the people who will do any thing to insult my nation, so I am here by announcing that I will not support the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians any way in the matches from now on.

I think that Mr. Dhoni is now thinking that no one will ever replace him from the captaincy of Team India, but friend you never know when you are out from the frame. People love you because you have served the nation, but if you are going to insult the nation no one is going to love you then. Same for Mr. Bhajji too, we still remember the face of Bhajji after the slap incident (with Shreesanth during last session) and when BCCI was suppose to ban him forever.

Any ways, I do like the Mumbai Indians team because of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, who was not only the icon but he is the greatest son of India. MS Dhoni and Harbhajan should at least take a few lesson from him, he has never missed any such type of award function despite the busy schedule. Any ways leave the issue now, so the three teams are out of my mind and they are KKR, MI, and CSK. Now coming to the fourth team which is for sure not suppose to get my support, and that is Rajasthan Royals, the defending champions.

I have mentioned the reasons against them in the last article: The Best Example of Globalization. Now out of the remaining four team Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Bangalore Royal Challengers, and Deccan Chargers, I don’t have any reason to support the last two depending on the performance in the last session. So for me only two options are left, one of them is Kings XI Punjab. I like the team but I am not the supporter of this team.

So this year I am going to support the Delhi Daredevils, the reason behind this is the form of the dashing openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Other then them I too like Amit Mishra, Ashish Nehra, Manoj Tiwary, Farvej Maharoof, McGrath and Dilshan. So for this session my favorite team for IPL 2 is Delhi Daredevils.

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Tags: Amit Mishra, Ashish Nehra, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Bhajji, Chennai Super Kings, Dada, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Dhoni, Dilshan, Farvej Maharoof, Gambhir, Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, India, IPL, IPL 2, Kings XI Punjab, KKR, Kolkata Knight Riders, Manoj Tiwary, McGrath, MS Dhoni, Mumbai Indians, Padma Shri, Padma Shri Awards, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Sehwag, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreesanth, Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Viru

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Team India is visiting Sri Lanka for a short tour of five One Day Internationals and a Twenty Twenty match. They are scheduled to play the first ODI against Lanka in Dambulla on 28th January 2009. The match is scheduled at 10 AM local time.

Team India is playing limited over cricket match after a gap of around two months. It was the 26th November 2008, when India were playing against England team, and the same time a few terrorists attacked in Mumbai, thus England team returned back to the England without playing the last two One Day Internationals.

Though, in that series India defeated England by a margin of 5-0. Before that India defeated Sri Lanka in Lanka by a margin of 3-2.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka recently played in Bangladesh and then in Pakistan, and only lost the first match against Pakistan. Other than that match they won the 6 matches.

So the two team are almost equivalent and both the skippers are considering it as the toughest series. With the strong batting line up like Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, and Dhoni Team India is looking a bit stronger than Lankan team, on the other hand with M factors and with the absence of Harbhajan Singh Sri Lankan team is looking much stroger from the bowling point of view.

Both Mendis and Murali are running on a superb form and the absence of the senior off-spinner Bhajji Team India is looking a bit weak. Although, Sehwag and Gambhir has said that they are ready to face Mendis this time and they will perform well against them. One thing is sure that this series is going to create some excitement.

Please visit www.cricnews.in for more updates on First ODI between India and Sri Lanka, and also visit www.cricketupdates.in for the Live Updates of first ODI between India and Sri Lanka in Dambulla.

Tags: Ajantha Mendis, and Chanaka Welegedara, Angelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedera, Chamara Silva, Dambulla International Stadium, Dhoni Brigade, Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof, Gautam Gambhir, India, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Jehan Mubarak, Kumar Sangakkara, Live Cricket, Live Cricket News, Live Cricket Updates, Live ODI, Live Score, Live Updates, Mahela Jayawardene, Mahela Udawatte, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Malinga Bandara, Munaf Patel, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nuwan Kulasekara, ODI Score, One Day International, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka, Suresh Raina, Team India, Team Sri Lanka, Thilan Thushara, Thilina Kandamby, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Virender Sehwag, Yusuf Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan

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Team India won the first test against England. When Indian skipper lost the toss and then the top order of Indian team failed in the first inning and India faced a trail of 75 runs in the first inning, no one was thinking that India can even win this match. Not even at the time when England declared their second inning just before tea on Day Four, thus England gave India a mammoth target of 387 in the last inning.

The previous examples of the targets met by Indian Team in the sub continent were not a good symbol in the second inning, and the results of at the tea of Day Four was clearly indicating one option of the England’s victory and second one of a draw, which too was looking so dim in the conditions there at Chennai. It was not at all easy to bat on the breaking pitch on Day Four and Fifth.

Four people Sachin, Yuvraj, Sehwag, and Gambhir rewrite the history today for India and thus the Dhoni brigade made the history of a famous victory against England by chasing the fourth highest total in the test history. The foundation was made by Virender Sehwag on Yesterday. His blistering knock of 83 in just 68 balls was a match winning inning and turned the match towards India.

The match has once again proved the importance of the captaincy of MS Dhoni. This victory is the fourth consecutive victory under his captaincy and thus he has a 100% record so far. The 41st test century of Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar was superb and he dedicated his century to the people who lost their life during Mumbai Attack.

The match also provided the much needed platform to Yuvraj Singh to show his strength in Test matches too. He was called to replace Dada and his not out 85 was a good reply to those critics who are blaming him for his inconsistency in tests. After all he too failed in the first inning.

One thing which hurts me is the form of Rahul Dravid. I don’t know what has happened to the best batsman of the Indian team. Once he was known as The Wall and Mr. Reliable but these days his performance is certainly going through some bad patch. I would be happy to see him making some big inning for India. Let’s see what is going to happen with him.

Tags: Chennai, Chennai Test, cricket match, Dhoni, Dravid, England, Firts Test, Gambhir, India, Laxman, Mr. Reliable, MS Dhoni, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag, Team India, The Wall, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj

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