crazycricketers

Asia Cup Schedule

2008-06-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

Here comes the Asia cup schedule, even though there is not much hype for the tournament, definetly for Asia cup there will not be much hype.Is it bcoz of the IPL that recently concluded or its being played amongst the Asian countries??

Lets see whether this tournament brings back the ever enthu cricket lovers to spoil their schedules and watch the matches :)

Tue 24
Bangladesh v United Arab Emirates
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore

Tue 24
Pakistan v Hong Kong
National Stadium, Karachi

Wed 25
Bangladesh v Sri Lanka
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore

Wed 25
Hong Kong v India
National Stadium, Karachi

Thu 26
Sri Lanka v United Arab Emirates
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore

Thu 26
India v Pakistan
National Stadium, Karachi

Second round of matches will be played from 28th and the finals will be played on 6th of July at National Stadium, Karachi

IPL Series and schedule

2008-04-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

The all said and talked about series IPL is slated to start from April 18th, but the interest shown from the public has been a concern for BCCI as there is less than 50 percentage of tickets being sold till now, but they are sure that it will pick up as the tournament goes on. Sachin, kumble will miss their first couple of matches bcoz of their injury concerns.

Below is the schedule of matches with first encounter between Bangalore team lead by Dravid and Kolkata team lead by Ganguly.

April 18: Bangalore v Kolkata at Bangalore
April 19: Mohali v Chennai at Mohali and Delhi v Jaipur at Delhi
April 20: Mumbai v Bangalore at Mumbai; Kolkata v Hyderabad at Kolkata
April 21: Jaipur v Mohali at Jaipur
April 22: Hyderabad v Delhi at Hyderabad
April 23: Chennai v Mumbai at Chennai
April 24: Hyderabad v Jaipur at Hyderabad
April 25: Mohali v Mumbai at Mohali
April 26: Bangalore v Jaipur at Bangalore; Chennai v Kolkata at Chennai
April 27: Mumbai v Hyderabad at Mumbai; Mohali v Delhi at Mohali
April 28: Bangalore v Chennai at Bangalore
April 29: Kolkata v Mumbai at Kolkata
April 30: Delhi v Bangalore at Delhi.
May 1: Hyderabad v Mohali at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Kolkata at Jaipur
May 2: Chennai v Delhi at Chennai.
May 3: Hyderabad at Bangalore at Hyderabad; Mohali v Kolkata at Mohali
May 4: Mumbai v Delhi at Mumbai; Jaipur v Chennai at Jaipur
May 5: Bangalore v Mohali at Bangalore
May 6: Chennai v Hyderabad at Chennai
May 7: Mumbai v Jaipur at Mumbai
May 8: Delhi v Chennai at Delhi; Kolkata v Bangalore at Kolkata
May 9: Jaipur v Hyderabad at Jaipur
May 10: Bangalore v Mumbai at Bangalore; Chennai v Mohali at Chennai

ICL India Vs ICL World

2008-04-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

The most talked out Series so many said that will not be big hit, may be its a hit or not but the performance of players is simply superb and the commitment shown on the field is second to none, does this has something to do with the The Indian Cricket League announced a prize-money corpus of Rs 3.24 crore, dont think so..bcoz BCCI and ICC are giving even more than the prize money of 3.24 crores, its the passion with which the teams in ICL played is really impressive.

The way tournament was organised and above all the commitment and hard work put in has really paid off.To mention few impressive knocks and performances during the series by wicketkeeper I Khaleel,A Murtaza, Vignesh, Binny, Jhunjhunwala have done really well and made an impression on the series.

ICL India XI squad:
S Abbas Ali, L Ablish, AN Ahmed, STR Binny, RS Gavaskar, AA Jhunjhunwala, wicketkeeper I Khaleel, T Kumaran, A Murtaza, RP Patil, SV Saravanan, captain R Sathish, TP Sudhindra, J Syed Mohammed, G Vignesh

Future Cup Series Level

2008-04-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

A series level win against the SA will help India going into a busy schedule and all important IPL around the corner, thanks to the picth and stand in captain Dhoni, the way he handeled his bowlers and beautiful batting disply by Ganguly followed by Laxman has definetly helped India win the match with it level the series.

Parterner ship that needs a mention is the 10th wicket stand between Ishanth and Sreesanth has helped India to extend the lead to above sixty, this is the best partnership for India for 10th wicket.After a dismal display in second test and fitness problems with sachin, kumble out for the match this is a good display by Indian team.Good display of all round skills by sehwag who took three wickets and Harbhajan took seven for the match and an inspirational leader helped the matters and level the series.

Man of the match: Ganguly
Man of the series: Harbhajan.

Shoaib banned....

2008-04-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

Shoaib was banned for 5 years by pakistan board a disciplinary committee of the PCB for violating the players' code of conduct. Legspinner Danish Kaneria, also charged and was seriously reprimanded by PCB.He will be ineligible to play in Pakistan or to play for Pakistan anywhere else in the world.

Shoaib said that he will challenge the decision and said that he was very upset by the decision and said that he will be back and will play for pakistan.The board had offered contracts to 15 players, based on a formula that took into account their performance, but Shoaib was demoted to a retainership from the Category A contract he held last year, this being a sign of the future course of action by PCB.

The action has been taken after his public comments on PCB about the double standards the board has shown in awarding the contracts to the players in January Shoaib demoted from the top category to a retainership.

India Vs SA first test...

2008-03-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

The "best innings", we can describe as Sehwag spent the whole of the last year out of the Test side but returned with two outstanding hundreds in consecutive Tests.Exactly four years earlier Sehwag started his other epic (309 against Pakistan in Multan), this is the one of the best innnings in test cricket you can see.Sehwag has the record of having 2 triple hundreds and shares the record with Sir.Donald Bradman and Lara the best we have seen in this era.

An Equally team effort by SA with the bat and ball has denied the victory for India.
A team which is not that used to playing spin bowling has done really well played
the Indian spinners with ease thanks to Amla and Mckenzie and good middle order batting helped the cause for SA.

A Well made Hundred by Dravid 111 and a beautiful partner ship with Sehwag has made India put in a good reply to SA's 540 in the first Innnings, mean while Dravid crossed 10,000 runs and became the sixth batsman to do this in the international cricket, who already has 10,000 plus runs in the One days. Match would have been more interesting has there been a result.

Hopefully next test in Ahmedabad gives a result positively in India's favour :)

Under 19 World cup winners...

2008-03-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

India produced a remarkable performance in final to beat South Africa by 12 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method for their second ICC Under-19 World Cup since 2000 at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur.A proud team which cannot be stopped by any even the rain gods are in the mood of celebrating after their emphatic win.

Set a victory target of 160 runs in 50 overs and later revised to 116 in 25 overs due to the two-hour rain stoppage, it has been a challenging moment for the South Africans when the second innings resumed.South Africa had slumped to 17-3 before the first drop of rain fell on the Oval but failed to get started on an aggressive note.Earlier in the day, a maiden from Parnell in the first over spelt a gloomy start for India with the exception of Srivastava as they found the going tough and never really had it in them to get back on track.

Finally it was a beautiful display by young Indian team to defeat SA in the finals and showed that they can handle pressure well and won the series.Dav Whatmore coach of Under 19 team is very happy with the teams performance and very impressed with the talent that is available in India.

India clinch CB series

2008-03-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

Jubiliant Indian team won the series on Australian soil after 23 years.Thanks to the Australian team for making it possible (they lost the battle bcoz of Concentrating more on off field activities rather than on cricket), this is possible only because of the brilliant display by Indian team, and how they carried themselves on and off the field, specially after the number of contoversies they were involved in Australia.

It was a superb display by youngsters and a legend batsman showing and guiding the young batting line up, with two master knocks in the two finals.Will this be the curtains for Dravid and Ganguly in the near term in ODI's??.The way Dhoni leads the team through out the series and the maturity in handling the resources is commendable.

To mention a few performances Rohit Sharma a good knocks in the finals, helping tendulkar on his way to a hundred and a match winning knock. A good bowling display by bhajji and praveen kumar helped India clinch the first final.India this time on Australia handled the media well and more over the unity in the team has helped India win the series.

Shaun Pollock A legend in Cricket

2008-02-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

Pollock currently has 3509 runs and 392 wickets from 302 ODIs, making him only the second player after Wasim Akram to complete the double of 3500 runs and 350 wickets in the limited-over version.He's also by far the leading wicket-taker for his team and fourth on the all-time list, with only Wasim, Muttiah Muralitharan and Waqar Younis ahead of him.

He batted and bowled with ease and his all round performance helped South Africa come out from troubles innumerable times.Fittingly he scored the winning runs which was his last time he played for South Africa.Pollock couldn't have asked for a better fare well where South Africa had won the series convincingly 5-0 against West Indies.

Racism charges against Harbhajan dropped

2008-01-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

Racism charge against Bhajji was dropped by Justice John Hansen he was charged with a Level 2.8 offence - abuse and insult so and was fined 50 per cent of his match fees.

The immediate future of the Indian tour lifted; the Indian team, which had gathered in Adelaide in a show of support instead of proceeding to Melbourne for Friday's Twenty20 match, has now decided to continue with the original arrangements.Back door strategies have worked really well and this helped the issue to calm down and end in the tour to continue further than ending after the fantastic Test match series. Meanwhile BCCI has welcomed the decision and were pleased with the ACB's way of handling the issues.

Fantastic from Indian perspective I mean the way the budda brigade (sachin, Ganguly, Dravid,Lakshman) usually called by many had done wonders and made it quiet a memorable tour for themselves in one way or the other.At the same time the young and inexperienced bowling attack has performed very well and made sure that they backed their batting attack. It is the young batting attack that needs to pick up and show to the world that they were the best.

With the one day series starting and a 20-20 match every one is excited and looking forward for an series which is memorable one....

Ganguly on Second test Umpiring...

2008-01-11T02:20:00.000-08:00

Sourav Ganguly has said that umpire Benson should have consulted Steve Bucknor in adjudicating on the controversial catch which led to his dismissal in the second innings of the second Test against Australia in Sydney. Ganguly, convinced that the catch hadn't carried, waited at the crease. Benson opted not to consult Bucknor at square leg and instead took Ricky Ponting's word that the catch was legitimate.It was among several decisions that went against India through the Test and played a big part in their defeat.He [Benson] could have done a better job speaking to Steve Bucknor..... I think the umpires should interfere if they feel it's a 50-50.

The umpiring aside, the Test ended in acrimony after offspinner Harbhajan Singh was charged with making an alleged racist remark to Andrew Symonds. Kumble, speaking after the game, said the Australians were guilty of not playing with the right spirit. His feelings were shared by several Australians, including former players who weren't impressed by Ponting's conduct.

2nd Test Gavaskar/Border Series

2008-01-05T23:39:00.000-08:00

Australia retains the Gavaskar/Border Series and with it the record for 16 straight wins in a row, another record in their kitty.Congrats to Australia....but do they deserve the win??? may be if you are an Australian or one of the three umpires(thanks to some wonderful umpiring including the third umpire who couldn't spot a stumping chance when referred to him).

This is the most controversial test match, thanks to the most esteemed umpires that are standing in the middle who needs to check themselves whether they deserve to be in the fit to be at this level, may be ICC can take a look at beauty of decisions by their elite panel, not one..one after other they kept on doing the mistakes. Anyways a team with 13 players(including the umpires) will definetly have the advantage.

Most ridiculous of the decisions that were made to mention a few....

Ponting caught by wicket keeper but wasn't given out, he went on to made 50 odd runs and to add fuel to the fire his testimony was taken into consideration while giving Ganguly out :)
Symonds was out thrice for sure if not fourth time(once leg- before, once caught and once stumped most ridiculous of things is that he was not given out by third umpire this time)
Jaffer poor guy was bowled by Brett Lee of a no-ball
Dravid given out which he has not nicked....
Replay's showed that the leg before decision of Hussey was not given and he went on to make a century...well played buddy
Ganguly given out which clark has clearly grounded the ball..to add to the controversy the stand in umpire took the words of fielders(ponting and clark's who stood their ground when they are clearly out and umpire has no minimum common sense to consult the leg umpire or the third umpire and and gave ganguly out as he got the approval from fifth umpire Mr.Ponting????
Decision on Harbhajan singh's contoversy with Symonds hope he will not be banned from tests or one days by taking the words of players with out proper proofs... hope ICC will not take the decision by considering the words of fellow players and ban bhajji....

All in all a good fight by Indian's and all the best for the rest of the tournament..

Kirsten to coach India Team??

2007-11-27T08:43:00.000-08:00

Kirsten was interviewed in Delhi by the coach selection committee. Anil Kumble, India's test captain, was also present at the meeting. The committee had decided to expedite the process and see that coach is there before the tour of Australia next month.Gary Kirsten, the former South African opener, is the surprise front-runner to be India's next coach. While the Indian board said Kirsten was interviewed by the coach selection committee on Monday and a formal announcement, while board has given Kirsten a weeks time to make his decision or will he repeat Ford's story.

Kirsten has an impressive record was one of South Africa's leading batsmen, playing 101 Tests scoring 7289 runs at 45.27 and playing 185 ODIs scoring 6798 runs at 40.95 Soon after his retirement from Test cricket in March 2004, Kirsten embarked on a coaching career, taking up an assignment as Cricket South Africa's high performance manager, after which he set up the privately-run Gary Kirsten Cricket Academy.Hope India's search for coach ends here before all important Australia's tour.

India Vs Pakistan 1st test match

2007-11-26T07:44:00.000-08:00

Emerging triumphant on his debut as captain, Anil Kumble said the team performed
well during crucial stages and that proved decisive in clinching the Test.Sachin Tendulkar was unbeaten on a half-century and India chased down a target they had never managed before at the Feroz Shah Kotla with six wickets to spare.A wicket had fallen, Ganguly on 48, with 22 still needed for victory. But there would be no more heroics as Tendulkar too the lead and knocked off the required runs with a minimum of fuss. Equally, it was fitting that Anil Kumble, who picked up seven wickets
in his first match as captain, walked away with the Man-of-the-Match award.Malik responded that they will come back strongly in the second match in kolkata starting this friday, mean while in the practise session malik injured himself while trying his hand playing football.

It was a brilliant bowling effort to keep pakistan under 250 in both the innings and a very very special batting by hyderabadi(VVS) helped india put an 40 odd run lead in the first innings and a good partnership between ganguly and sachin made India win the match easily.

India squad for India Vs Pakistan Test matches

2007-11-14T21:25:00.000-08:00

India squad for first two Tests has been enounced, intrestingly Sehwag who has an thumping average against pakistan did'nt get thump's-up from selection commitee.Other than that there are'nt any surprises.Kubmle will be leading a side which has a good blend of youth and experience,dhoni will be his deputy.Selectors have given a clear idea that dhoni will be leading the test team in future by making him the deputy, and at this point they dont want to burden him with test captancy.There is no place for Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag or Irfan Pathan, with the cold weather expected for the first two test matches looking at the geographical positions, selectors have not gone in for another spinner Piysuh Chawla.Three Mediam pacers and two spinners is ideal combination.Gambhir, who didn't play the Tests in England, will have to wait for his time as Wasim Jaffer-Dinesh Karthik combination has worked splendidly so far: ten innings, 650 runs at an average of 72.22, including three century stands, was enough for the selectors to retain the pair.

Indian Squad:
1 Dinesh Karthik, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly, 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 8 Anil Kumble (capt), 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Sreesanth, 12 Yuvraj Singh, 13 RP Singh, 14 Murali Kartik.

India Vs Pakistan series poised interestingly....

2007-11-12T22:45:00.000-08:00

India Vs Pakistan series at its best with India leading the series 2-1 with two
matches to go.India gave away the 2nd match to pakistan with a target of 320 odd runs to defend and managed to lose with super batting diaply by Yousuf and last minute blisterring knock by Afridi, mainly thanks to the Indian fielding, but this was not the case in the third match mainly the bowling department, a special mention about come back boy Irfan is needed here, Afridi's Wicket in the 3rd one day is very
crucial where all the cricket fraternity knows how hard he can hit the ball,
specially the knock last time the pakistan team visited the same ground.Fielding in
the power play is the worst you can expect from the Indian team to that matter any
international team.

Intelligent bowling, good captancy and improved fielding in the latter part has
helped India win the match, but not convincingly.With the series interestingly poised at 2-1 its all about pressure which ever team handels it better will emerge out winning.

Sachin declined Indian Test captaincy

2007-11-06T08:48:00.000-08:00

Sachin Tendulkar has declined the Indian Test captaincy.The Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed that Tendulkar turned down the offer as he felt a younger captain would be better.

The board also clarified that Tendulkar didn't reject the captaincy as a mark of protest, especially after the dropping of seniors like Rahul Dravid. "We wish to clarify that Sachin has not written any letter nor has he expressed anguish about anything as is being projected in the media." Selectors are set to hand the captaincy to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has played 20 Tests. "So Dhoni looks the favourite. It's a plus that he is already the one-day and Twenty20 captain."

The selectors are due to meet at Mohali on November 8 to announce the team for subsequent one-day internationals in the current series against Pakistan, and pick a Test captain. I guess a very very special thinking by selectors will ensure captancy to VVS Lakshman. Too much of pressure on Dhoni will impact his batting, I guess VVS is the correct option for fitting in the spot.

India Vs Pakistan 1st one day

2007-11-05T10:09:00.000-08:00

India had the best of Pakistan in the first match at gawhati, restricting them to 239 and then knocking off the runs through a string of contributions from the top order. When Shoaib Malik won the toss and chose to bat it appeared to be a sound decision, given that the pitch was dry, on the slower side.The fall of Akmal's wicket, however, when he was declared lbw to Irfan Pathan changed the fortune of pakistan. Younis Khan was uncomfortable batting on this pitch - with the ball not coming on truly - and grew increasingly disturbed as India's spinners checked the flow of runs. Soon after reaching a well-paced half-century, Butt did himself no favours when he charged down the pitch after the ball speared off the leading edge towards cover, only to be sent back by his partner and run out.Mohammad Yousuf guided Pakistan to 239 with his unbeaten 83.

Shoaib Akhtar gave Pakistan some hope early on when he trapped Tendulkar in front with a slower ball, with only 14 on the board. But Sourav Ganguly and Gautam Gambhir then added 82 for the third wicket to take India towards safety. Neither Ganguly
nor Gambhir was in total control at the crease, with some streaky strokes eluding the fielders, but when the opportunity was there to score both batsmen backed their instincts and it paid off.Then came another partnership, of 105, between India's captain and vice-captain and this all but sealed the deal. Mahendra Singh Dhoni had come out in the mood to give the ball a thrash, sluggish pitch notwithstanding, and he succeeded. Both Yuvraj and Dhoni reached the half-century mark, and with only 22 needed for victory Pakistan broke the partnership. Dhoni (63) flashed at Shoaib,who returned to the attack in the 45th over, and India wobbled at the doorstep of victory. Only 15 were needed for victory at that stage, and you wondered why Malik had not re-introduced Shoaib earlier. Robin Uthappa and Pathan knocked off the remaining runs and the five-wicket win gave India a 1-0 lead in this five-match series.

Man of the Match : Dhoni

Sachin on retirement

2007-11-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

Sachin Tendulkar has dismissed speculation that he is thinking of retiring from one-day cricket."I have honestly not thought about the fact that I only need to play one version of the game to play the other longer. I am enjoying whatever I am doing at the moment. The moment I feel I am not enjoying myself, I will start thinking about it."I think I still like to do a lot of things on the cricket field. When I am bowling, I would want to do something more, surprise the batsman, beat him with a little bit of extra seam or some spin or whatever I am doing. That excitement is something else.Even today when I do that I feel happy. I donno why people and media are concerned about his retirement when he is going great guns and he being the prolofic run getter in the last 2-3 series for India.Age is not the criteria for getting selected it should be the performanance, when the youth what the selectors are inclined towards are not getting the runs it is important to nurture the talent with a blend of experience and youth,but it should not be at the cost of seniors.

India Vs Pakistan Schedule

2007-11-03T05:56:00.000-07:00

India Vs Pakistan is scheduled to begin with lot of speculations and high drama of political developments back home in pakistan.India underwent a training camp before the one day series in calcutta, while pakistan played their only warm up match against Delhi team and won it with ease, below is the schedule.

1st ODI: India v Pakistan at Guwahati - Nov 5, 2007 (09:00 local time (03:30 GMT)

2nd ODI: India v Pakistan at Mohali - Nov 8, 2007 (14:30 local, 09:00 GMT)

3rd ODI: India v Pakistan at Kanpur - Nov 11, 2007 (09:00 local, 03:30 GMT)

4th ODI: India v Pakistan at Gwalior - Nov 15, 2007 (14:30 local, 09:00 GMT)

5th ODI: India v Pakistan at Jaipur - Nov 18, 2007 (14:30 local, 09:00 GMT)

Shoaib fined for breach of discipline

2007-10-12T01:40:00.000-07:00

Shoaib Akhtar has been fined approximately US$57,000 and 13-match ban for breaches of discipline, including his spat with Mohammad Asif in South Africa. He has also been placed on a two-year probationary period during which any disciplinary breaches could result in a life ban. The ban, however, includes the seven matches already played at the ICC World Twenty20 and the two Tests against South Africa.

Effectively, it means he will be available for the last ODI against South Africa but more realistically, the tour to India. Shoaib is now on probation and any breach of contract or disciplinary issues could result in a life ban over the next two years. Shoaib, who was present at the press conference, has the right to appeal but said he was eager to put the matter behind him now. "Shoaib apologised to Asif, his team-mates, and the country.

India Vs Australia

2007-10-05T23:31:00.001-07:00

The series is going to the tunes of Australia, can the boys bring it backj to their
tunes and make australians dance to their tunes, for this to happen India has to
match to the skill set of Australians not only in the war of words but also on the
field performance.Sreesanth is going out of hand....no team will complain about
celebrating after getting the wicket of Symonds, but when we got him out is the point. You are a great bowler my dear but be wise enough when to celebrate and let the ball do the taking more than you do on the ground atleast.Hope India comes back strongly back with their 2-0 trailing to Australia.

Inzi to retire after 2nd test???

2007-10-05T23:29:00.000-07:00

Inzi to retire after the second test against south africa is on cards? According to the rumors floating Inzi to announce his retirement after second test.what after announcing retirement is he going to join ICL or IPL? with the lucrative offers he is looking to join one of them.what about mohammad yousuf who has recently joined back Pak team rejecting the offer from ICL but could not find place in the playing eleven. will he or wont he look for the offers from the new league started in India.Mean while South Africa has won the first test of the series against Pakistan which was lead by Shoaib malik and the former by Grame Smith.Will South Africa consider Pollock after the injury to morkel?

ICC has given new ODI rules

2007-09-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

The ICC has given new ODI playing conditions:

Well the first match that is played in any international fixture between India and Australia is washed out,well this is
Dhoni's first match of captain after his honey moon tourni as captain in T20 world cup.Below are the new rules added....

# An additional fielder will be allowed outside the fielding circle during the second or third Powerplays.

# If an ODI innings is reduced, the numbers of overs making up each of the three Powerplays shall be reduced proportionately.

# If a bowler bowls a front foot no-ball in an ODI, the following delivery will be deemed a free hit and the batsman cannot be dismissed by the bowler from that delivery. He can only be run out.

# There will be a mandatory change of the ball after 35 overs of each innings in an ODI; the replacement will be a clean used ball.

Bob Woolmer's death caused by Strangulation??

2007-03-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

Bob Woolmer's death has taken a sudden twist with the WI Mark Shields, the deputy commissioner of police in an interview told that there are traces of poision found in Autopsy and finger prints are collected from the room of woolmer.

Mean while pakistan will be playing the Zimbabwe in their last encounter of the world cup,Inzi made a statement that they will win the match and dedicate it to Bob...and Zimbabwe are really eager to win their first match of the series.

Coming to Bob's case police aleady have talked with the the entire team and taken a note of it, as well as with the media manager and the assistant coach, accoring to the report by police there are traces of poision and they are investigating the case in all nooks.

There are rumors that pakistan players are not allowed to travel after their final match, but the media manager Ali denied these things and said that they will be flying back as planned on saturday back pakistan, he also added that they were not even told that there are traces of poision as most of the reports suggesting.

An sudden and interesting twist to the case is a radio commentrator revealing that there are strangulations marks on woolmers body and according to him this is the news which he got from the internal sources, but he rejected to reveal the identity of the insider.Police have condemned the news and said that in a day or two we are expecting the autopsy reports by Mark Shields.

Sri Lanka Vs Bangladesh

2007-03-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka played really like Big brothers against the Bangladesh and won the match easily.Sri Lanka scored 318 after being put in to bat, but even the second half, interrupted by rain as it was, gave Bangladesh little hope as they caved in to a 198-run loss.Habibul Bashar's decision to put Sri Lanka in was not the most straightforward one. Upul Tharanga and Sanath Jayasuriya seemed dead set on putting a big score on the board from very early on, when the ball was doing a bit in the air and off the pitch.

Sri Lanka were off to a bright start, reaching 50 off 54 balls. There were a Rafique, coming into the attack first-change, dropped one a touch short and wide outside the off, and Tharanga could not keep the cut shot down. Aftab Ahmed juggled the catch but held onto it at point and Tharanga was gone for 26, with Sri Lanka on 98.Jayasuriya traipsed on merrily, interrupted first by the rain, and later by an injury, but never by the bowlers. When he turned quickly for a run, stopping awkwardly, Jayasuriya strained his left knee, and walked off the field on 83. . But he back after the fall of 5th wicket and scored 109.

Chamara Silva capped the Sri Lankan innings with a typically audacious knock, hitting an unbeaten 52 off 48 balls. He went after the bowling with total freedom, and his knock ensured a score of over 300 for Sri Lanka.Then, for a time, Bangladesh resisted, but Muttiah Muralitharan is the sort of bowler who you can't resist for too long. Saqibul Hasan had batted all of 20 balls for 4 runs, but he failed to pick a doosra and had his leg stump pegged back. Soon after there was more trouble as a mix-up in the running left Habibul Bashar well short of his crease. From there to oblivion it was a short, if not swift, road. Bangladesh were all out for 112, and Sri Lanka had swept to victory.

Player of the Match Sanath Jayasurya.

South Africa Vs Scotland

2007-03-22T06:38:00.000-07:00

Player of the match GC Smith (South Africa)

South Africa chose to bowl first against Scotland but could'nt accomplished what theyreally want to do..demolish the minnows for a low score but that didnt happen,Scotland, though, didn't disgrace themselves. The spirited batting by the lower order saw 55 coming off the last five overs to bring up their highest total in World Cup games.

Yet they didn't have too many answers when Smith and AB de Villiers the start SA got while chasing the, added 134 in less than 16 overs and stamping their authority at Warner Park.Having missed out on a golden opportunity to cash in on the run-orgy against Netherlands, de Villiers made up with a fire-starting 62. Whipping off his pads and scurrying between the wickets, he provided Smith good company. There were two towering sixes against the left-arm spin of Glenn Rogers but he fell to another overambitious attempt, holing out to Dougie Brown at long-on. Earlier in the day, South Africa's seamers didn't exactly tear Scotland apart but winkled out wickets at regular intervals.

Scotland's openers, Duncan Watts and Majid Haq, approached the task sensibly, biding their time on a pitch with good bounce but offering little seam movement. Makhaya Ntini,who'd missed the opening game,played this one.South Africa's second-string seamers were more successful. Andrew Hall bowled briliantly.Scotland weren't willing to fold up, though after Scotland had struggled to 71 for 4, and guided the tail impressively.

New zealand Vs Kenya

2007-03-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

New Zealand entered the next stage as they bet Kenya convincingly a 148-run victory in St Lucia. Ross Taylor struck an elegant 85 and Craig McMillan a brutal 48-ball 71, as the Kiwis compiled their highest World Cup total. Kenya's top order then fell in a heap and Ravi Shah's determined 71 only delayed the inevitable.Lou Vincent's poor start to World Cup continued with a fourth-ball duck it appeared New Zealand would be tested. but what will be more disappointing for the coach, Roger Harper, is the poor standard of fielding; at least four catches were shelled while Maurice Ouma was poor with the gloves.

Kenya's attack was toothless and second wicket came from an aberration by Fleming; Scott Styris quickly showed the confidence gained from his match-winning effort against England. Kenya again let themselves down, this time Jimmy Kamande dropping a simple chance at midwicket with Styris on 19.
The third-wicket stand with Taylor was coursing along, Taylor's half-century arriving off 80 balls, and Kenya quickly resembled a club side - not a true reflection of their ability. But Taylor, who'd bounced back after his opening duck against England, was then struck by the hamstring injury.

Kenya never had a real chance of making the runs, but their batsmen could have taken the opportunity to show their wares. Instead they were four down within 12 overs; Shah could have gone at any point in his first 20 runs - more than once to a run out - but he slowly became more fluent and unfurled some classy strokes,including a lofted drive for six off McMillan, as his half-century came off 63 balls. The margin of defeat did no favours to Kenya's net run-rate, which has now slipped below England's.

Player of the match RL Taylor (New Zealand)

Bob's Autopsy reveals traces of poision???

2007-03-21T03:46:00.000-07:00

Bob Woolmer's death has taken a sudden twist with the WI Mark Shields, the deputy commissioner of police in an interview told that there are traces of poision found in Autopsy and finger prints are collected from the room of woolmer.

Mean while pakistan will be playing the Zimbabwe in their last encounter of the world cup,Inzi made a statement that they will win the match and dedicate it to Bob...and Zimbabwe are really eager to win their first match of the series.
Coming to Bob's case police aleady have talked with the the entire team and taken a note of it, as well as with the media manager and the assistant coach, accoring to the report by police there are traces of poision and they are investigating the case in all nooks.There are rumors that pakistan players are not allowed to travel after
their final match, but the media manager Ali denied these things and said that they will be flying back as planned on saturday back pakistan, he also added that they were not even told that there are traces of poision as most of the reports suggesting.

Flintoff sacked as England's VC....

2007-03-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

Andrew Flintoff has been sacked as England's vice-captain and will not now take over the leadership in the event of an injury to Michael Vaughan.Flintoff later apologised for his actions: "I know that what I did on Friday night was completely wrong and I have to take full responsibility for it," he said.

"To my team-mates and the England supporters that I let down, all I can say is that I am extremely sorry and assure everyone that I will be giving 110 per cent for England for the rest of this tournament." Flintoff was one of several members of the squad to be fined for a "breach of team discipline" in the aftermath of that match, although the other players alleged to have been involved were named against Canada.

Ravi Bopara, the young Essex allrounder, stepped into Flintoff's role for his second ODI, and first World Cup outing. "Andrew Flintoff has been given warnings about his conduct and disciplined for previous incidents of this nature," said England's coach, Duncan Fletcher. "In light of this and due to the serious nature of the
incident which he was involved in at the hotel on Friday night, we have decided to take further disciplinary action against him. "Andrew has been made fully aware of the team management's concerns and the fact that the ECB considers this type of behaviour to be totally unacceptable. He will remain with the World Cup squad and be available for selection for our next match against Kenya.

WestIndies Vs Zimbabwe

2007-03-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

West Indies overcame a determined challenge from Zimbabwe to book their place in the Super Eights, and although the Zimbabweans are still in the competition, they are holding on by their fingernails. They need to beat Pakistan on Wednesday and then rely on having a better run-rate than Ireland.

The match never really got out of second gear, which was perhaps understandable given events in Kingston over the last 24 hours. The only time the large crowd really came to life was when Chris Gayle hammered three consecutive sixes off Tawanda Mupariwa, but the fireworks were short lived and the remainder of the proceedings were decidedly low key.

There was a very brief moment - when Marlon Samuels drove loosely to point and West Indies were 129 for 4 chasing 203 - that the spectators' lethargy turned to anxiety. But Brian Lara, aided by Dwayne Bravo, steadied the ship and then eased West Indies home. Zimbabwe had chances, twice Lara should have been run-out when a long way from home, and then late - probably too late to make any difference - Elton Chigumbura spilt a tough return catch. The final insult came when substitute Gary Brent
dropped Bravo at third man, the ball spilling out of his hands as he hit the ground.

That they eventually posted 202 for 5 was thanks to Brendan Taylor, who played a vital anchoring knock when the innings was coming apart at the seams, Sean Williams, who chanced his arm to good effect to finish with a career-best 70 not out, and Elton Chigumbura, whose boldness was rewarded even if he never really looked settled.

Full credit to Zimbabwe, who never gave up even after they slid to 59 for 4. Against Ireland their middle order and tail gave up the ghost. Here they battled. It wasn't pretty but it did a job. And when Taylor was run-out for the second match running - and last week that had been the turning point - Chigumbura took up the challenge.

Ramnaresh Sarwan drove a return catch to Ireland and Samuels holed out. But Lara is clearly determined to make his mark in this tournament, and he was not about to let the likes of Zimbabwe spoil his day out, even if it meant playing a very un-Laralike innings. It wasn't pretty, although he finished proceedings with a glorious six, but it was good enough.

Player of the match SC Williams

India Vs Bermuda

2007-03-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

India played virtually perfect cricket against Bermuda at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad. A display of creative and powerful batting, where four of the big six fired India to 413, a record total in World Cups and the bowlers then did their
job, bundling Bermuda out for 156, winning the game by 257 runs, the largest margin in terms of runs in all ODI cricket. David Hemp resisted with an unbeaten 76.

Virender Sehwag, pushed down to the middle-order he settled down, and began thumping the ball over the off side with the same lack of footwork that has been his undoing in recent times. But the straight strikes down the pitch, and one loft over extra-cover that landed in the second tier, suggested that it would be Sehwag's day. And it most certainly was. Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar played strokes of such purity and majesty that it was batting at its very best. The crowd were on their
feet for the duration of their association.

Yuvraj was quick to plant one knee down and scorch the ball over the ropes in the arc from square-leg to midwicket, hitting cleanly as anyone has in this tournament. Tendulkar lofted one delectable six over long-off, swept one startling six over fine-leg, and almost unnoticed got to 57. And it's not often that you score 57 off only 29 balls without using brute force.

Yuvraj certainly used excessive force, but not one of his 83 runs, which came off only 43 balls, with seven sixes, came off an ugly shot. Rahul Dravid, who pushed himself down the order, finished the innings of with a six, and India had 413 for 5,
something that would have gone some way in erasing the memory of the forgettable batting against Bangladesh.

Bermuda never had any realistic chance of chasing 414, yet India's aim was not a simple victory. Rather, they needed to win by at least 243 runs, the margin Sri Lanka beat Bermuda by. And they achieved that without too much difficulty. Dean Minors and David Hemp added 43 for the sixth wicket, the best stand of the innings, but Minors was dismissed mis-hitting a pull to mid-off. Lionel Cann was then smartly snapped up by Uthappa in a slightly controversial catch at short cover, where the ball was snatched up very close to the turf. From there on there was little to play for, and Bermuda only managed 156, handing India victory by 257 runs.

Highlights of the match:

Sehwag's 2nd Century in the last 3 years.
Victory by Highest Margin.
Highest score in World Cup.
Highesr score for India.
Equals Maximum number of Sixes in an innings.

Player of the match V Sehwag

Bob Woolmer's death stuns cricket world

2007-03-19T21:21:00.001-07:00

A dark shadow over the World Cup on Sunday following the death of Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, in hospital in Jamaica on Sunday, after he was found unconscious in his hotel room. He was 58.

Woolmer was known as an innovative coach and a scholar of the game. The Pakistan team, already liminated from the World Cup on Saturday, said it would play its final match, against Zimbabwe, on Wednesday as scheduled.
a couple of hours after it first became known that he had been taken ill. "Bob Woolmer has passed away."Bob's family and wife were informed by the management about his condition when he was brought to hospital", Mir said, adding that Woolmer's wife was on her way from South Africa.

Woolmer's death comes less than 24 hours after Pakistan were knocked out of the World Cup following their defeat by Ireland. After the match, Woolmer spoke of the pressures of coaching. "Doing it internationally, it takes a toll on you," he said. "The endless travelling and the non-stop living out of hotels.

"I am deeply hurt and cannot tell you how it is going to affect me," Woolmer told.And it was |Mir who announced the news to media,he added that Pakistan would still play their final World Cup group match on Wednesday. "The Pakistan team will continue its participation in the tournament. We are due to play Zimbabwe and we will play that match," according to Mir..he added that theentire team was in shok after the news that Bob was no more there...

Its sad that it happened to a fantastic player and coach like Bob, who played crucial role in moulding SA and after that he tried his hand on Pakistan for the last 3 years but the internal politics had'nt made thinga easier for him and he has to fought with the board to get things work in favour of Crciket in Pakistan and finally with the teams's performance in the World Cup has upset and most propably cardiac arrest was the reason for his demise."There was a lot of stress in his job and it may have been stress that caused the demise.

Australia Vs Netherlands

2007-03-19T21:20:00.001-07:00

The bating given by Australia was not as brutal as South Africa's, but Australia motored along nicely and exploded during the final overs to bat. The Netherlands were set a target of 359. After being stranded in the nineties twice this year, Brad Hodge reached his maiden one-day hundred during what was a perfectly paced innings. Defending 359 was always going to be a cake walk and Australia's battery of fast bowlers was too hot for The Netherlands to handle and they were all out for 129.

The pitch was a belter and Ricky Ponting jumped at the chance of more batting practice. Adam Gilchrist provided the propulsion at the start, but once Australia lost him and Ponting with the score on 116, Michael Clarke and Hodge were impossible to contain during their partnership of 204.

Hodge who is a replacement for symonds proced again that he is a player worth to be in the team with a wonderful century.Hodge finished with 123 off 89 balls with seven sixes, one short of equalling Ponting's World Cup record. He had taken 61 deliveries to get to 50, but in his next 28 hammered 73.The Netherlands did themselves no favours by dropping both Gilchrist, on 34, and Ponting, who continued where he had left off against Scotland. Fortunately for them Gilchrist holed out on 57 and Ponting (23) was caught and bowled splendidly by Ryan ten Doeschate.

The Netherlands openers showed stomach for a fight when Bas Zuiderent and Darron Reekers managed 36 for the first wicket at nearly six an over. But when Nathan Bracken deceived Reekers with a slower ball and trapped Alexei Kervezee leg before two balls later, and then at 36 for 3 when Glenn McGrath was brought on at first change. Two balls later he nailed Luuk van Troost before making Daan van Bunge his 50th World Cup wicket and finally folded Netherlands for 129 in 26.5.

Player of the match BJ Hodge.

England Vs Canada

2007-03-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

After the disciplinary problems after their first match England managed to keep their focus, dispatching Canada by 51 runs in St Lucia, to open their World Cup account. Ed Joyce and Paul Collingwood made 50 in themiddle order and helped England reach a good score.But while England have avoided adding their name to the list of upsets from Saturday, the performance didn't quell the major doubts surrounding the team.

After Liam Plunkett grabbed two in his first spell, Ashif Mulla provided the England attack with a wake-up call as he launched 58 off 60 balls in a fifth-wicket stand of 97 with Abdool Samad. The runs came with ease, but after falling to 65 for 4 in the 17th over the target was always out of reach, although the lower-order kept the entertainment going. It highlighted the importance of the breathing space created by the 81-run stand between Collingwood and Ravi Bopara plus the eight-ball 23 from Paul Nixon.

Collingwood was his usual self, biding his time before unleashing in the closing overs as Canada lost their disciplines. Samad was banned from the attack in his sixth over after bowling two waist-high full tosses, although England didn't have much trouble scoring off them with Collingwood's fifty taking 41 balls. The 65-ball stand put England into a comfort zone, then Nixon provided a thumping finish as he reverse-hit the death bowlers over the ropes. The final ten overs brought 98 runs. Bopara continued to impress in his first World Cup match with a delivery that nipped away to take Ian Billcliff's offstump.

Player of the match PD Collingwood

Inzamam-ul-Haq retires from One day Cricket

2007-03-19T04:10:00.000-07:00

Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan's shattered captain, has announced his retirement from one-day cricket. The match against Zimbabwe, Pakistan's last of this World Cup, following their shock defeat against Ireland on Saturday, will be his valedictory appearance in that form of the game.

The announcement was made on the same day that Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's coach, tragically collapsed and died at the team hotel in Kingston, Jamaica. Inzamam, visibly distraught at the news, told reporters: "I am shocked and badly hurt. We have lost a good coach and a good person, he added that he is very close to the team and always helped members to come out of lean patches."

Afridi said that he is the best captain he has ever been with and said that he isa good team member and always helped us to come out of bad patches of form..he also added that returning back from the world cup in the first round also hurts h
im.
Inzamam's one-day career was legendary. He played 377 matches over a 15-year career, scoring 11702 runs at 39.53 including 10 hundreds and 83 fifties. He shot to fame as a 22-year-old in Pakistan's triumphant World Cup campaign in 1992, belting his side into the final with a blistering 60 from 37 balls in the semi-final against New Zealand at Auckland.

Ireland Vs Pakistan.....

2007-03-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

This is another upset for pakistani's after their first defeat to WI.Pakistan batted first and they were going well with 72-2 but the pack of cards they started to collapse and they ended up at 132 allout, could'nt even bat out the full quota of overs...for a first time cricket watcher it looks as if pakistan is playing the world cup first time and Ireland is the experienced side.

Pakistan fought back but the total they have put up is not enough for their bowlers.and finally Ireland won the match and this is their first Internation match win..that too in an world cup against Pakistan there was no stopping Ireland hopefully from entering the next round after drawing their first match...

Player of the match NJ O'Brien

Bangladesh Vs India....

2007-03-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

A day of big upsets on this day for the sub continent gaints(atleast for our satisfaction I called them atleast from the perspective of revenue generation).The day started badly for India as they lost the most out of form batsman for an inside edge and it all started to collapse till there was decent enough partnership between Yuvi and Dada...but after the strong on paper and fragile middle order was exposed to the minnows and they made the most and never allowed India to make a come back.Finally India were allout for 191 leaving Bangladesh to score 192 from 50 overs.

Frankly speaking Bangladesh were in control right from the start of the match,Indian bowlers could not stop them from scoring runs briskly, and thanks to wonderful Fielding from Dhoni,Munaf who dropped catches all added to the woes and bangladesh made it look easy and won the match by 5 wickets.

Player of the match Mashrafe Mortaza

Pakistan Vs West Indies World Cup 2007

2007-03-14T02:47:00.000-07:00

At last the world cup 2007 started and I am back in business...blogging....Every one eagerly started for the world cup to start and the match started between the hosts and indian arch rivals(pakistan),WI batted first but to the disappointment of the hosts Gayle was caught by kamran akmal when the score was 6 in second over, to the anguish of pakistan's the next ball a catch was dropped by the slip fielder, this proved to be costly as Sarwan went on to score 49 valuable runs.

Things turned the other way and west went on scoring steadily with a run rate of 3-4 runs per over.Later the pair of Lara and samuels scored briskly and in trying to increase the tempo further they lost 3 quick wickets, but Dwyane Bravo 30 runs from 15 balls helped the WI reach a fighting total of 241/9 in 50 overs.

It was a challenging total for pakistani batsman, to the deligh of the pakistan's first ball went for six but this is for a very brief period of time as they lost their first wicket in the first over, and two more to follow before the team score was 40, however Inzi and Yousuf tried to steady the ship, but they were never in control specially checking the required run rate.Finally Yousuf was out for 39 runs and in the next over

Inzi was trapped leg before by Smith.The hopes of pakistani victory were over with the fall of Inzi bhai..even Shoaib Malik's resistance could'nt bring the smile back on pakistani's.Finally pakistan were all out for 187 in the 42nd over of the match.

Score Card:

West Indies innings
Total (9 wickets; 50 overs) 241

Pakistan innings
Total (all out; 47.2 overs) 187

Man of the match: DR Smith (West Indies) fo his quick fire 30 runs and 3 crucial wickets.

Does captaincy excite ganguly any more????

2007-03-04T19:47:00.001-08:00

Does captaincy excite ganguly any more...to him it is no more exciting as he has done for it for a longer period of time
and Ganguly downplayed his comeback,and said that he'd made a few changes with his technique. "I have changed my technique, bit with my stance, bit with my initial movement. I use a slightly lighter bat compared to my earlier days.

But he insisted that captaincy hadn't affected his batting but hinted that he might have given it up had he not been dropped. Certain phases as captain I've played outstandingly, certain phases I've not played well but that is more to do with a career over a longer period of time that it's with captaincy. But I have made useful contributions as captain. Obviously when you're not captain, things are different. I've always said captaincy is hard work.

Remarks by Vengsarkar on Viru's inclusion

2007-03-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

Remark by Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, regarding Virender Sehwag's inclusion in India's World Cup squad. Vengsarkar in his interview to a news channel on Saturday as saying that the out-of-form Sehwag was selected only because of the insistence Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain .He admitted Sehwag did not feature in the initial scheme of things due to his prolonged run-drought but enjoyed backing from some quarters in the team. "It was a bit of gamble and hop it works in our favour ... but I think he has done extremely well in the past. Besides, he has won a lot of matches for India. We are hoping that he would do well in the World Cup."On Irfan he has no issues, it seems he said that the team needs the like of these two players and importantly all-rounders(Irfan) that help them bring back the glory of 1983.

Reacting sharply to this "It is not right to comment on team selection now," said Ratnakar Shetty, the chief administrative officer of the board. "I wish Vengsarkar had refrained from making such comments at a time when the team had already left for the event. The Code of Conduct applies to everybody, players and selectors.", it only creates unnecessary controversy before the Cup.

Shoaib and Asif Bowled out finally...

2007-03-01T03:01:00.000-08:00

Shoaid Akthar and Asif are finally clean bowled by the in-swinging yorker

finally by PCB? may be the pair tested positive last year for Nandrolone

in internal dope tests conducted just before the Champions Trophy is this

is the main reason for them to be out of the pakistan world cup team?

It was announced that Asif is down with an elbow injury while Shoaib is

nursing a crocked knee.What ever may be the reasons minutes before the

pakistan teams departure to west indies this as come as a schok to

Pakistani fans and to the millions of fans around the world who love

these two bowlers firing in their yorkers, and making the ball to talk

with their swing.PCB has to think a lot before making this decision as

this has become the major issue for couple of days with Mathew Hayden and

Symonds aired their views over the duo's participation in WC despite

being caught in the dope tests.

This time ICC has decided to conduct dope test randomly during the world

cup. Doping has never been conducted in cricket but these days this has

been the regular practise by the organisers as more and more allegations

of drugs being used by the players.As questioned rightly by Hayden for

players to be more athletic this should'nt be the correct path for

players to choose.

World Cup 2003

2007-02-25T20:57:00.000-08:00

Fourteen teams played in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. In the first round,

they were divided into two groups of 7 teams.Australia struggled their

way to 212 against tight Sri Lankan bowling,thanks mainly to 91 from

Andrew Symonds. Chaminda Vaas, continuing his excellent tournament, took

three wickets. Australia's pace attack then ripped through the Sri Lankan

top order, with Brett Lee taking three early wickets and Glenn McGrath

taking one. By the time rain arrived in the thirty-ninth over, continued

tight bowling had squeezed Sri Lanka to 7/123, well behind the target

given by the Duckworth-Lewis method.

The fairytale finally ended for the Kenyan team, the first and only non

to date. Sachin Tendulkar, with 83 runs, and Sourav Ganguly with 111 off

114 balls, batted the Kenyans out of the game as India careered to Under

the Durban lights, the newly potent Indian seam attack of Zaheer Khan,

the experienced Javagal Srinath, and Ashish Nehra careered through the

Kenyan top order, who were never in the hunt and were bowled out for 179.

It all started in Australia's favor with wayward bowling and then the

attacking batting display by australian's, Ponting in particular

dispatching the bowling over the fence with fearsome regularity making

140 from 121 balls. The final Australian total of 2-359(at that time) was

their second highest ever in ODI history.The Australian total looke

impregnable, particularly after India's trump card Sachin Tendulkar was

out in the first over after skying a pull shot, Glenn completing the

caught and bowled. Nevertheless, Viru's run-a-ball half century gave

India respectability maintained a high scoring rate,but their only

realistic hope—a washout—looked a possibility as the game was interrupted

by rain in the eighteenth over. However, the rain proved fleeting, and

India's hopes were dashed when Sehwag was run out by Darren Lehmann for

82. India's batsmen continued to throw wickets away in the chase and were

finally bowled out for 234 giving Australia an emphatic victory by a

record margin (in World Cup finals thus far) of 125 runs,underlining

their dominance of the tournament. Ponting was named "Man Of The Match",

and Sachin Tendulkar, for his demolition of bowling attacks, was named

"Player Of The Tournament."

World Cup 1999

2007-02-25T20:55:00.000-08:00

The 1999 Cricket World Cup was hosted primarily by England, but Ireland,

Scotland and the Netherlands also hosted some games. The World Cup was

won by Australia. Australia beat Pakistan by 8 wickets in a one-sided

final at Lord's Cricket Ground in London. New Zealand and South Africa

were the other semifinalists.

The format of the world cup was as follows: The 12 contestants were

divided into 2 groups, in each of which teams played each other in the

league stage. The top three from each group advanced to the Super Sixes,

a new concept brought about in this World Cup, where each qualifier from

group A played with each qualifier from group B. The teams also carried

forward their points from games against each qualifer from their group.

The top four in the Super Sixes contested the semifinals.

World Cup 1996

2007-02-23T03:42:00.000-08:00

The 1996 Cricket World Cup was won by Sri Lanka who beat Australia by 7

wickets at the final in Lahore.The 1996 World Cup was played in India,

Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Three teams made their World Cup debuts in 1996:

the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Kenya. The Netherlands lost

each of their five matches while the U.A.E. only beat the Dutch. Kenya,

however, recorded a surprise victory over the West Indies in Pune.

The Sri Lankans, coached by Dav Whatmore and captained by Arjuna

Ranatunga, used Player of the Tournament Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh

Kaluwitharana as opening batsmen to take advantage of the fielding

restrictions during the first 15 overs of each innings.Sri Lanka won the

first semi-final over India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in front of a crowd

estimated at 100,000. Chasing Sri Lanka's innings of 251 for 8, India had

slumped to 120 for 8 in the 35th over when sections of crowd began to

throw fruit and plastic bottles onto the field. The players left the

field for 20 minutes in an attempt to quieten the crowd. When the players

returned for play, more bottles were thrown onto the field and fires were

lit in the stand. Match referee Clive Lloyd awarded the match to Sri

Lanka, the first default ever in a Test or One-day international.

In the second semi-final in Mohali, Australia recovered from 15 for 4 to

reach 207 for 8 from their 50 overs. The West Indians had reached 165 for

2 in the 42nd over before losing their last 8 wickets for 37 runs in 50

balls.

Sri Lanka won the toss in the final and sent Australia in to bat despite

the team batting first having won all five previous World Cup finals.

Mark Taylor top scored with 74 in Australia's total of 241 for 7. After

Australia had put down no fewer than five catches, Sri Lanka won the

match in the 47th over with Aravinda de Silva following his 3 for 42 with

an unbeaten 107 to win the Player of the Match award.

World Cup 1992

2007-02-23T03:30:00.000-08:00

The 1992 World Cup was won by Pakistan, captained by Imran Khan, who beat

England by 22 runs in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Pakistan won just one of their first five matches and only qualified for

the semi-finals by beating the previously undefeated New Zealand side in

their final round robin game. New Zealand and South Africa were the

losing semi-finalists.

South Africa's semi-final against England ended in controversial

circumstances when, after a rain delay, the rule in use for revising

target scores in rain-affected matches revised their target from 22 runs

from 13 balls to an impossible 21 runs from one ball. This rule was

replaced for One-day International matches in Australia after the World

Cup, and it was eventually superseded by the Duckworth-Lewis method for

the 1999 World Cup onwards.

Participating Teams:

Australia
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
South Africa
Sri Lanka
West Indies
Zimbabwe

World Cup 1987

2007-02-23T03:18:00.000-08:00

The Cricket World Cup in 1987 was the fourth edition of the tournament.

It was held from October 9 to November 8, 1987 in India and Pakistan -

the first held outside England. The format was unchanged from 1983 except

for a reduction in the number of overs a team played from 60 to 50, the

current standard. 8 countries participated in the event.The top two teams

in each group qualified for the semifinals, whose winners played the

final. The matches were played with traditional white clothing and red

balls. They were all played during the day.

The 1987 World Cup was lifted by Allan Border, captain of Australia who

won against arch-rivals England by 7 runs in the most closely fought

World Cup final to date in the Eden Gardens stadium in Calcutta. The

other semifinalists, India and Pakistan failed to bring about an eagerly

awaited India-Pakistan final. The West Indies failed to live up to

expectations by not even qualifying for the semifinals (in part because

of Courtney Walsh's refusal to mankad Saleem Jaffar). David Boon was man

of the match.

Participating Teams:

Australia
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
West Indies
Zimbabwe

World Cup 1983

2007-02-23T03:15:00.000-08:00

The Cricket World Cup in 1983 (aka Prudential Cup, 1983) was the third

edition of the tournament. It was held 1983-06-09 – 1983-06-25 in

England. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary

matches were played in two groups of four teams each, and each country

played the others in its group twice. The top two teams in each group

qualified for the semi-finals.The matches consisted of 60 overs per team

and were played in traditional white uniform and with red balls. They

were all played during the day.

The 1983 World Cup was full of dramatic cricket right from the start.

Underdogs India and Zimbabwe scored upset victories over the West Indies

and Australia respectively. England, Pakistan, India and tournament

favourites West Indies qualified for the semifinals.

Participating Teams:

Australia
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
West Indies
Zimbabwe

World Cup 1979

2007-02-23T03:10:00.000-08:00

World Cup 1979

The Cricket World Cup in 1979 was the second edition of the tournament.

It was held from June 9 to June 23, 1979 in England. The format had

remained unchanged from 1975. 8 countries participated in the event. The

preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4 each. The top two teams

in each group played the semifinals, whose winners played the final.

The matches played consisted of 60 overs per team and were played in

traditional white uniform and red balls. They were all played during the

day and hence started early.

The Prudential Cup was lifted by Clive Lloyd, captain of the West Indies

who started as the favorites to win the cup again.

The countries participating were:

Participants:

Australia
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
West Indies
Sri Lanka
Canada

World Cup 1975

2007-02-23T03:02:00.000-08:00

The Prudential Cup was lifted by Clive Lloyd, captain of the West Indies, runners being Australia.The Cricket World Cup in 1975 (aka Prudential Cup, 1975) was the first edition of the tournament. It was held from June 7 to June 21, 1975 in England.

8 countries participated in the event. The matches played consisted of 60 overs per team and were played in traditional white uniform and red balls. They were all played during the day and hence started early.

Participants:
Australia
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
West Indies
Sri Lanka
East Africa

World Cup 2007 Schedule

2007-02-22T02:19:00.003-08:00

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Match Schedule

Group Stage - Match Schedule

DATE	TEAM	VENUES
Tue 13 Mar	West Indies v Pakistan	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Wed 14 Mar	Australia v Scotland	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	Canada v Kenya	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
Thur 15 Mar	Bermuda v Sri Lanka	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago
	Ireland v Zimbabwe	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
Fri 16 Mar	Netherlands v South Africa	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	Ireland v Zimbabwe	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Fri 17 Mar	Bangladesh v India	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago
	Ireland v Pakistan	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Sat 18 Mar	Australia v Netherlands	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	Canada v England	Beausejour Stadium, St. Lucia
Mon 19 Mar	Bermuda v India	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago
	West Indies v Zimbabwe	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Tue 20 Mar	Scotland v South Africa	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	Kenya v New Zealand	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
Wed 21 Mar	Bangladesh v Sri Lanka	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago
	Pakistan v Zimbabwe	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Thu 22 Mar	Netherlands v Scotland	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	Canada v New Zealand	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
Fri 23 Mar	India v Sri Lanka	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago
	Ireland v West Indies	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Sat 24 Mar	Australia v South Africa	Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts & Nevis
	England v Kenya	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
Sun 25 Mar	Bangladesh v Bermuda	Queens Park Oval, Trinidad & Tobago

Second Stage - Super Eight Match Schedule

DATE	TEAM	VENUES
Tue 27 Mar	D2 v A1	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Wed 28 Mar	A2 v B1	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Thu 29 Mar	D2 v C1	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Fri 30 Mar	D1 v C2	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Sat 31 Mar	A1 v B2	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Sun 01 Apr	D2 v B1	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Mon 02 Apr	B2 v C1	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Tue 03 Apr	D1 v A2	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Wed 04 Apr	C2 v B1	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Sat 07 Apr	B2 v A2	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Sun 08 Apr	A1 v C2	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua & Barbuda
Mon 09 Apr	D1 v C1	Providence Stadium, Guyana
Tue 10 Apr	D2 v A2	Queen's Park, Grenada
Wed 11 Apr	C2 v B2	Kensington Oval, Barbados
Thu 12 Apr	B1 v C1	Queen's Park, Grenada
Fri 13 Apr	A1 v D1	Kensington Oval, Barbados
Sat 14 Apr	A2 v C1	Queen's Park, Grenada
Sun 15 Apr	B2 v D1	Kensington Oval, Barbados
Mon 16 Apr	A1 v B1	Queen's Park, Grenada
Tue 17 Apr	A2 v C2	Kensington Oval, Barbados
Wed 18 Apr	D1 v B1	Queen's Park, Grenada
Thu 19 Apr	D2 v B2	Kensington Oval, Barbados
Fri 20 Apr	A1 v C1	Queen's Park, Grenada
Sat 21 Apr	D2 v C2	Kensington Oval, Barbados

Semi–Finals - Match Schedule

DATE	SEMI-FINALS	VENUES
Tue 24 Apr	2nd Vs. 3rd	Sabina Park, Jamaica
Wed 25 Apr	1st Vs. 4th	Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia

ICC World Cup Final - Match Schedule

DATE	FINAL	VENUES
Sat 28 Apr	Semi-Finalist 1 Vs. 2	Kensington Oval, Barbados

Cricketer's contract after World Cup!......

2007-02-21T02:22:00.000-08:00

Indian cricketer's annual contracts were delayed and would now be signed after the World Cup is over by April-end according to Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). At the meeting today with Team-India, the draft agreement was discussed in detail and the views of the board and players were also exchanged..according to which Players in Grade A receive a guaranteed amount of Rs.5 million annually, Grade B players get Rs.3.5 million while players in Grade C are entitled for Rs.2 million. Besides this, those who play in Test matches and one-day internationals (ODIs) are paid their match fees as well.

Who said IT jobs are very lucrative look at the staggering figures and the attention, following and the image cricketers carry.. God who wants to be an IT professional..be a cricketer and you will be going onsite atleast 3-4 times an year. ;))

World Cup Fever

2007-02-20T23:01:00.000-08:00

Nike, the official apparel sponsor for Team India, unveiled the team's new national attire for the ICC World Cup 2007 on Tuesday.

The kit was made public at a press conference, attended by some team members -- captain Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Kaarthick, Zaheer Khan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and S Sreesanth and officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Speaking at the unveiling, BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi said: "Great cricket is inspiring, on the street and in the stadium, and we are here today to celebrate the game that is India's passion.

The colours of the graphics on the new jersey take inspiration from the Indian flag and represent speed and motion.

Over the period of the match, this means greater comfort, as the players remain drier and less distracted. The engineered mesh at the back of the jersey and under the collar ensures better breath-ability in the high sweat zones

Zee Telefilms Bags five year Contract

2006-04-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

Zee Telefilms Limited have won the global media rights to broadcast India's overseas cricket series on neutral venues.Zee won the tender after quoting a bid of US$219.15 million for five years - from April 1, 2006 to Mar 31, 2011 - during which they will show a minimum of 25 matches.

The first series Zee will broadcast is for India's brief one-day trip to Pakistan at Abu Dhabi on April 18 and 19. The neutral venues identified by the BCCI include Dubai, Holland, Singapore, England, Canada, the USA, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

Tendulkar returns after surgery

2006-04-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Sachin Tendulkar has returned to India following a successful operation on his right shoulder.He was assessed prior to leaving London by the surgeon, Dr Andrew Wallace, who was reported to be very happy with his progress to date.

He said that the tissue to fully heal and bind, Tendulkar will begin to initiate more movement through light jogging and swimming, under the supervision of the team physio, John Gloster. It is expected that he should be able to pick up a bat by the beginning of May.

India sweep to series win

2006-04-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

India wins the match and with it the series over England in kochi, taking an unassailable 4-0 lead in this seven-match series with a four-wicket win at the Nehru Stadium in Kochi. The stifling heat and humidity had its say on both teams but where most of India's gambles paid off.

Indian captain is rested for the next two one day matches and Sehwag will lead the team, and one can expect both Uthappa and Venugopal Rao need to be given their chances in the upcoming games. With the exception of Yuvraj and Irfan Pathan, no man in this batting line-up is irreplaceable, and a break from the tour merry-go-round will probably help both Sehwag and Kaif to get their head around what's been going wrong.

Man of the match : Yuvraj Singh
India 238 for 6 (Dravid 65) beat England 237 (Pietersen 77) by 4 wickets

Gillespie recalled to Australian side

2006-04-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

Jason Gillespie has been recalled to the Australian squad for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh. Gillespie, 30, was dropped from the side during last summer's Ashes in England, but has been added along with Phil Jaques and Mitchell Johnson, who could make his Test debut. The trio will replace Shaun Tait, Michael Kasprowicz and Justin Langer.

The two-Test series starts in Fatullah on Sunday.

Pakistan to victory in Second Test

2006-04-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

Pakistan registerd the vicory in second test and with it the series 1-0.The day didn't start that well for srilanka, as they main stay in the batting line up couldn't turn up as he was badly injured while fielding in the first innings.

Half-centuries from Younis Khan and Imran Farhat, Pakistan strolled to an ultimately comfortable eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka on the third afternoon of the final Test. With it they won the series - their third in succession - and kept their remarkable record of not having lost a series, or even a Test, in Sri Lanka for 20 years.

Result: Pakistan won by 8 wickets
Series: Pakistan wins the 2-Test series 1-0

Man of the Match: Mohammad Asif
Player of the Series: Mohammad Asif

Australia wins a two-wicket thriller against South Africa

2006-04-04T02:34:00.000-07:00

Australia want 44 runs and South Africa need three wickets(Langer Injured) - to win a tense final Test at Johannesburg. Damien Martyn's unbeaten 93 guided Australia towards their target of 292, but what seemed like a comfortable chase turned when Makhaya Ntini knocked over Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne as the tourists lost 4 for 39 late on day four.

Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz with a 19-run eighth-wicket partnership to secure a gripping victory and earn a 3-0 cleansweep against South Africa.Man of the Match Lee batted beatufully in both innings and bowled well, to bring Australia a memorable victory, which they could not acheive (clean sweep) in their previous two encounters in South Africa.

Man of the Match : Brett Lee
Final Score:
Australia 270 and 294 for 8 (Martyn 101, Lee 24*, Kasprowicz 7*) beat South Africa 303 and 258 by two wickets

Champions Trophy Groups

2006-04-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

The groupings were decided by the current one-day rankings table, which has Australia first, India third and England sixth. They form group A and will be joined by one of the teams from the qualifying tournament which consists of West Indies, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

The second qualifier who makes it through will join Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand in group B for the tournament. The competition is scheduled to start on October 7, with the qualifying matches, finishing on November 5 and includes 22 matches in 21 days.The groups were announced by Ehsan Mani, the president of the ICC, at a press conference in Goa.

Uthappa In Gambhir Out

2006-04-03T23:57:00.000-07:00

ndia's selectors made only one change to their 15-man squad for the remaining four ODIs against England, bringing in Robin Uthappa for Gautam Gambhir. The squad will be the same for the two ODIs in Abu Dhabi which immediately follow the conclusion of the on going England series.

Team India:

Rahul Dravid (capt), Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel, Venugopal Rao, S Sreesanth, RP Singh.

Yuvraj leads India to 3-0 lead

2006-04-03T23:48:00.000-07:00

Yuvraj Singh played an inspired innings after Rahul Dravid won an important toss on a sluggish pitch as India posted a mammoth 294 and overwhelmed England by 49 runs to take an impressive 3-0 lead in this seven-match series.

Dravid went into open the innings with Sehwag and and realised that protecting his stumps was priority No.1 with the ball being up and down. Another thing that worked for India was pushing Irfan Pathan up the order. His uncomplicated technique worked well, and a partnership of 78 for the second wicket set things up nicely before Dravid (46) dragged Paul Collingwood back onto his stumps.

Soon England sniffed a chance as Pathan failed to clear the infield and the out-of-form Mohammad Kaif tickled one to the keeper and India wobbled at 131 for 4. What they would not have accounted for was Yuvraj Singh playing as superbly as he did, using his power and free-stroking ability to best effect on a pitch where run-making was desperately difficult. Suresh Raina chipped in with a vital half-century

Yuvraj's knock of 76-ball 103 that included 10 fours and 3 sixes, made a mockery of the tough batting conditions. He was assisted by Raina, who shared in a 142-run partnership in making 61 very compact runs of his own, Yuvraj had taken India to a score that would take some getting on a flat deck, forget about a slow crumbler. Mahendra Dhoni had his say in the few balls that he faced and India ended very comfortably placed.

With a big score on the board India only had to bowl sensibly given the conditions to put the pressure firmly on England. Pathan showed that he was the man for the job, his well-disguised slower deliveries proving to be the undoing of the top order. With the ball gripping the surface all Pathan had to do was put the ball in areas where a mistake in timing would create problems and he did just that.

Three slower deliveries accounted for Andrew Strauss, who tickled one to the 'keeper, Ian Blackwell, who was bowled playing and missing early, and Owais Shah, who failed to get to the pitch of the ball and chipped to point. Matt Prior had battled hard for 37 and when he was run out in a mix up with Andrew Flintoff, England were in deep trouble at 48 for 4.

Collingwood batted well for his 93 but there was just too much for him to do after the top-order had failed. After he holed out going for a big one England folded for 245 and India closed out the match by 49 runs.

Jayasuriya to retire from Tests

2006-04-02T05:36:00.000-07:00

Jayasuriya, 36, has been one of the stars of Sri Lanka's batting for over a decade. His decision means he won't be touring England this summer, he is Sri Lanka's most prolific batsman in both forms of the game.

Sanath Jayasuriya, the Sri Lankan opener, has announced that he will retire from Test cricket following the current series against Pakistan. However, he will continue his one-day international career and is available for the World Cup next year.

Jayasuriya of late has injury problems and only made the first Test against Pakistan after a late fitness test. However, he made just six and 13 in Colombo and that performance, along with the development of young batsmen such as Upul Tharanga, probably played a part in his decision.

Pakistan Vs Srilanka 1st Test

2006-03-31T04:53:00.000-08:00

Shoaib Malik's composed maiden Test hundred steered Pakistan to an spirited draw on the final day of the first Test against Sri Lanka. Malik was given support by Faisal Iqbal in a 115-run partnership, with whom he defied Sri Lanka for much of the morning and afternoon. The draw thus ended Sri Lankan hopes of a first Test victory against Pakistan at home for 20 years, confirmed Pakistan's recently acquired resolve and displayed Malik's versatility.

Malik played beautifully for148* which made sure that pakistan managed with a draw which could have been the other way had he given out leg-before which many think was out, had there noyt been an interruption because of rain.

Final score looks like this:

Pakistan 176 and 337 for 4 (Malik 148*, Iqbal 60) drew with Sri Lanka 185 and 448 for 5 dec

Raina carries India home

2006-03-31T04:43:00.000-08:00

A 118-run stand between Raina and Dhnoi has made sure that India reach home comfortably with 4 wickets in hand and 1 over remaining, India's latest teenage prodigy, and the wicketkeeper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, rescued India from a middle-order collapse and carried them to a comfortable four-wicket victory in the second one-day international at Faridabad.

Indian Bolwers bowled magnificantly particularly powar who was brought in place of VRV Singh, he bowled well for and took 3 wickets for 30 runs in his alloted 10 overs.Yuvraj too bowled well and ground fielding was excellent but the catching is a concern.

India started off beautifully with 61-0, but after the break of this partnership they slipped to 95-5 with Dhoni and Raina at crease, but these played well and added 118 runs for 6th wicket.Finally Dhoni was out but Raina made sure he was there till the end, and India won the match.

India 230 for 6 in 49 overs(Raina 81*, Dhoni 38) beat England 226 (Pietersen 71, Strauss 61) by four wickets

Man of the match: Suresh Raina

Srilanks Vs Pakistan 1st Test

2006-03-29T10:03:00.000-08:00

Sangakarra's special follwed by murali's magic has placed them close to a victory over pakistan.Beautiful batting display by Sangakarra 185 and good supporting roles by mahela and few others has really put srilanks on the top in first test over pakistan.

Having played well for 59 without loss, Pakistan lost two quick wickets to Muralitharan to end the day a little forlorn at 89 for 2.We have to wait and see what will happen at the end of days play.

Harbhajan spins India to win

2006-03-29T09:46:00.000-08:00

Harbhajan spins India to a fantastic win over England in 1st one day international at delhi.Harbhajan took 5 wickets to give india victory and lead in the one day series.

It didn't started that well for India specially the middle order played horibly placed at 147 for 7 before Harbhajan got stuck the blows with the bat and then with his spin, finally india managed a meagre total of 203.

Irfan pathan set the tone with superb display of swing and removed two quick in the form of Andrew Strauss and Owais Shah.Later the tempo taken away by Prior, but he was out when the score was 57, and England lost 3 wickets at 57 and are in a bit of trouble, but Kevin peterson joined with his new captain Flintioff took the attack to opposition and really batted beautifully.

A mis calculated sweep from Kevin is what India is looking for, and middle order is exposed to turbonator who really bowled well to take 5 wickets, and finally India are victorious.

Scores look like this at the end of the day:

India 203 (Harbhajan 37, Kabir Ali 4-45) beat England 164 (Pietersen 46, Harbhajan 5-31) by 39 runs

Man of the match:Harbhajan Singh

Kallis and Develliers leading the day

2006-03-25T23:23:00.000-08:00

Kallis the allrounder and Devilliers are leading the day after a poor display of batting by Gibbs and Smith.Kallis raced to his half-century from just 49 balls, and devilliers played well for his 48*.Kallis is at his best after coming back from injury, and scored 12 boundaries ans ended up 72*.

Australia sensed a top order collapse as Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz both picked up early wickets to drop South Africa to 10 for 2, but Kallis hit back and the tourists. Warne bowled below his best and will be seeking fast improvement as his side defends the first-innings 369.

Day 3 South Africa 140 for 2 (Kallis 72*, de Villiers 48*) trail Australia 369 (Ponting 103, Hussey 75, Martyn 57, Ntini 3-81, Nel 3-83) by 229 runs

Tendulkar rules out retirement

2006-03-25T23:14:00.000-08:00

Sachin ruled out his chances of retirement after getting booed by his home fans.He said issue was blown out of proportion by the media.He added that it was small part of the crowd that did this,maximum capacity of Wankade stadium is with me.We need to ignore this and concentrate on cricket.

I think I am middiling the ball great, and from the bottom of my heart I know I am giving 100 percent then why should I think of retirement, the day I think I am not contributing that will be the last day of my cricketing.

Sachin left for London to undergo a surgery on his shoulder.He was accompinied by his wife Anjali.It was Dr. Wallace who had operated on Tendulkar's tennis elbow will be operating him. Because of this sachin has to miss the One day series against England, sachin could also miss the early part of the tour of West Indies, starting on May 18, as it would take at least eight weeks for him to recuperate.

England level series against India

2006-03-22T10:05:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

England pulled off a magnificent series-levelling 212-run win, their biggest victory in the subcontinent.The target of 313 was almost like impossible as it was not acheived in the last 216 test matches that were played in India.But the patriotism and the recent run chase by South Africa against Australia in one day series made me beleive that records are there to be break.

But things didn't went India's way right from the first over, impressive Hoggard was moving the ball both ways to make things tough for India, and he got the break in the form of Kumble who was out leg before.soon after followed by Wasim jaffer, but things look rosy when sachin was playing with ease and India moved to Lunch with 75/3.

Flintoff after lunch proved too good for Dravid and dravid was caught by jones and sachin followed him soon by poking a ball outside off stump,and the famous middle order collapse which we have forgotten for the last 5-6 months was on the picture, not even in form batsman yuvraj and dhoni could stop it, and this brings England victory by 212 runs.

Man of the Match: A Flintoff
Player of the Series: A Flintoff

Tendulkar out of ODIs against England

2006-03-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

Sachin Tendulkar is out of the One day serious not because of his poor form in the ongoing test serious, but his labrum tear* and cyst in his right shoulder for which he was adviced to undergo a surgery on his right shoulder.

This turned to be good for Andhra Batsman Venugopal rao, who was dropped for pakistan series, he got a recall from BCCI, and munaf patel after impressing in the test matches has been given a green signal by selectors for One day series.

Team India for first three one days is as follows:

Rahul Dravid (Capt),Virender Sehwag(Vice-Capt), Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Venugopal Rao, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Rudra Pratap Singh

Rahul Dravid appointed captain till World Cup

2006-03-19T00:38:00.000-08:00

Rahul Dravid has been appointed as the captain of team Inida till World Cup 2007.He will be the captain in Both forms of cricket announced by the BCCI president Sharad Pawar.

BCCI has the tradition of announcing the captain for the series which they have broke it just thrice once with Mohammad Azharuddin, and it happened twice with Dravid.In 1998 BCCI handed over captaincy to Azhar for one year, and the next time it happened is with Dravid when he was handed over the captaincy for two one-day series, against Sri Lanka and South Africa.

All the Best Dravid for the World cup and the current series against England.

Clark drives Aussies to Victory

2006-03-19T00:31:00.000-08:00

Stuart Clark display with bowl in both the innings has made sure that Australia win the first test match easily, they won the match with two days to spare.It was a splendid performace by Stuart clarke on debut to pick up 5 wickets in the first innings and 4 wickets to follow up in the second innings.

Stuart ended up with figures of 9 for 89, whom everone thought will be a twelfth man,but Ricky has other plans in mind and it really payed off this time.Australia won the match comfortably with seven wickets in hand.

Australia 308 and 95 for 3 (Ntini 3-28) beat South Africa 205 and 197 (Rudolph 41, Clark 4-34) by 7 wickets

Man of the Match: SR Clark

Strauss gives England Edge in Mumbai

2006-03-18T05:44:00.000-08:00

It's the decision to bowl after winning the toss by Rahul Dravid first was monumental if this has any negative effects on th result on the match.England right from ball one are confident and truely played professionally and gave Indian bolwers hard time.

It all started by Strauss who delivered for the team with a superb 128, to add to him debutant Shah played magnificently for his 50 after which he retired.Later a quick fire by Pieterson ensured there in a raise in the run rate, finally flintof and paul collingwood ensured there is no more wicket loss, so that they can capitalize the next morning.

From Inidan point of view Sree santh bowled well, and got 2 crucial wickets and finally score looks like this at the end of days play.

Total 272/3 from 89 overs

Misappropriation of funds during the 1996 World Cup

2006-03-16T11:20:00.000-08:00

The Indian board has filed a formal complaint with the police against Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former board president, accusing him of misappropriation of funds during the 1996 World Cup.

A few hours after the complaint was lodged, Dalmiya said that there was "no truth in their allegations" and that they were based on "malicious intent".

"It is all the more surprising that such action has been taken by the BCCI even when the matter is sub-judice," said Dalmiya.

The board headed by Sharad Pawar had recently appointed a three-member committee to look into irregularities in the PILCOM (Pakistan-India-Lanka Committee) account. The PILCOM had overseen the conduct of the1996 World Cup held in the subcontinent.

Last week the board issued a show-cause notice to Dalmia on this issue and gave him 15 days to reply to it. Dalmiya then obtained a stay order from the Calcutta City Civil Court against the show-cause notice. Subsequently, the board's lawyers challenged the stay order at the Calcutta High Court and today a division bench comprising Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice PN Sinha, refusing to pass any interim order on the matter, directed that the appeal would be heard tomorrow.

The reviewing of the PILCOM account had raised several pertinent questions. These include: the absence of proper audits from 1996 to 2006; the fact that the Kolkata bank account meant for legal expenses relating to PILCOM was wound up on February 4, 2006, when Dalmiya was not authorised to do so as he ceased to be convenor secretary from January 23, 2006; Rs 65,000 was withdrawn in cash every month from April 2005 to December 2005 without any voucher or supporting documents.

Injury Blow for Srilanka

2006-03-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

Sri Lanka have suffered a triple blow ahead of their opening one-day against Pakistan, on Friday, with Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas and Ruchira Perera being ruled out.Vaas and Perera are carrying shoulder strains, while Jayasuriya had originally been cleared to play in the match, but aggravated a thigh problem during practice.

Farveez Maharoof and Dammika Prasad, who were given opportunities on the tour of Bangladesh, could now be given a further chance to play for their nation.

Squad:*Marvan Atapattu , Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga,
Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan , Russel Arnold, Chamara Kapugedera
Farveez Maharoof , Chaminda Vaas , Malinga Bandara, Muttiah Muralitharan
Ruchira Perera , Nuwan Kulasekara, Kaushal Lokuarachchi

India retain squad for Mumbai Test

2006-03-14T02:20:00.000-08:00

After a thumping win in the second test India’s Selection panel headed by Kiran More have decided not to change the squad. He is satisfied by the performances of Munaf Patel and Piyush Chawla although the latter bowled just 14.1 overs in the match. He said that both these players have the capability to with stand the pressure and make big in the international cricket.

He mentioned about the form these players are in the domestic level with 88 first-class wickets in the last couple of seasons by Munaf Patel and 40 wickets this season by Piyush Chawla.

Squad - Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh, Piyush Chawla

India to victory Over England in Second Test

2006-03-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

India to victory Over England in Second Test, thanks to good bowling performances by Munaf Patel and Kubmle.They bowled exceptionally well and restricted England to 181.England started the day with 112/5 (Flintoff 16*, Jones 1*; 51 overs), but things went India's way and they cleaned up the England to 181.

Then India batted well with Sehwag firing with all clyinders, he lived up the expectations and batted brilliantly to score 76 from 89 balls.He got great support from Indian captain Dravid 42 from 77 balls.

Positives from the test are that Munaf Patel took seven wickets and piyush chawla bowled pretty well.Sehwag back to form and batted beautifully for his 76 with 9 fours and a six.

Result: India won by 9 wickets
Series: India leads the 3-Test series 1-0
Man of the Match: A Kumble

Bond's 5 Wickets seals victory for New Zealand

2006-03-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

Bond's Express deliveries with swing added has brought victory to New Zealand by 27 runs.Needing 54 runs with two wickets left west Indies were bowled out with 27 runs short of the target.

This is how the score board looks after the match:

New Zealand 275 (Styris 103*, Astle 51) and 272 (McCullum 74, Gayle 4-71) beat West Indies 257 (Sarwan 62, Bravo 59) and 263 (Gayle 82, Ganga 95, Bond 5-69) by 27 runs

Australia Vs South Africa 5th ODI

2006-03-12T22:30:00.000-08:00

On a given day Records tumble like pack of cards…..It happened in the match between South Africa and Australia, where records were surpassed. These are the records

• Most sixes in a match: 26

• Most fours in a match: 87

• Mick Lewis, who conceded a whopping 113 runs, has the most expensive bowling figures in a ten-over spell in ODIs

• A total of 872 runs were scored in this match, making it the highest match aggregate in ODIs, going past the previous highest of 693, made by India and Pakistan at Karachi in 2004.

• South Africa has broken the world record for the highest successful chase in ODIs.

• South Africa's 438 for 9 is the highest total in ODIs beating the previous best by Australia in the same match 434/4

• This is the only match in which both the teams have crossed 400 plus runs

• This also equals the highest total in List-A games (inclusive of domestic ODI’s games): Surrey had made 438 for 5 against Glamorgan at The Oval in 2002.

• This is the highest total batting second in a One day Match.

BCCI eye’s SMS business in India

2006-03-12T22:29:00.000-08:00

The BCCI today said that it would ask all telecom operators who provide scores and match updates through SMS to enter into commercial agreements. If telecom companies are offering SMS free, we have no issue. If they are charging for this, then the information is the property of the board. We should get appropriate share of revenue from it,"

On any playing day the estimate SMS business in India to generate Rs 20-22 crore and the board expects Rs 8-10 crore a day from it. Legal notices were sent by the board last week to the concerned telecom companies, including Bharti Televentures, Reliance Infocomm and Idea, questioning their circulation of scores without its approval. "We will be constrained to take appropriate legal action and take the matter to its logical conclusion," a BCCI counsel said.

South Africa win the greatest match

2006-03-12T09:26:00.000-08:00

South Africa won the greatest match and with it the series 3-2.It was a nail biting finish where boucher has done justice to his experience and South Africa and brought the home side to shore.Needing 435 to win in 50 overs South African captain started the innings with Boeta Dippenar but they lost their first wicket with 3 runs on the board.Then came Herschele Gibbs he played a gem of an innings and made the dream come true for South Africa chasing 435.

The match went to the last over needing 7 runs to win the series Telemachus skied the ball and was well taken by Hussey.Then came AJ Hall seem to have the match in control when he pulled Brett Lee for four through the vacant midwicket region but, with two runs needed from four balls and two wickets in the bag, he spooned his very next delivery to Michael Clarke at mid-on. That meant that it would be the No. 11, Makhaya Ntini, on strike to face the decisive deliveries, but this time there was no mistake from Number 11 and he guided the ball to third man and mark boucher hit Brett Lee for four bringing the home side a memorable victory.

Shane Bond has the final say in West Indies in New Zealand, 2005-06, 1st Test

2006-03-12T05:09:00.000-08:00

Shane Bond put New Zealand on top what should be Wset Indies Position at the end of day.His Bolwing with fierce pace and swing, swung the match in New Zealand's favour.

Bowling extended spells with accurate pace, in a scintillating display of fast bowling, Bond's four-wicket burst broke the back of the West Indian chase. The collapse that ensued frittered away a perfect platform that Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga had laid with dominant half-centuries. However, with 70 runs to get and three wickets in hand, Denesh Ramdin and Ian Bradshaw defied New Zealand, after Bond had been taken off, during a 25-run partnership.

Lara's Wicket was the turn around in the run chase he was bowled first ball by Bond,then Astle took the crucial wicket of Daren Ganga who was out on 95, he played well for his 95 and desevres 100.West Indies require another 45 runs with 2 wickets remaining we have to wait and see whether west Indies can pull up the victory which seemed easy at one moment of time(especially after their first wicket stand).

England Vs India 2nd Test Interestingly Poised

2006-03-12T04:59:00.000-08:00

The day didn't start that well for India losing Dhoni in the first half-hour of the play, but things improved and India managed to take 38 runs lead, thanks to fine display of batting lower middle order especially by Irfan,Harbhajan,Kumble. Not to forget the Wall's(Dravid's) effort 95 splendid innings from him.

England's Batting started woefully buy loosing wicket of Cook(First test centurion) cheaply this time.But the credit should be given to the Indian pacers, they maintained superb line and length.Both the spinners got considerable purchase out of the wicket, and troubled the batsmen with turn and bounce and reduced England 112 for 5.

England's hopes of a fightback rest on the last recognised pair, Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones, who are at the crease. With the Indians pushing hard for a victory on a helpful pitch, an engrossing final day's play is on the cards.

Ponting Lead his Team to first 400-plus score in ODI history

2006-03-12T04:56:00.000-08:00

Ricky Ponting produced most sensational one-day innings of all time to power Australia to the first 400-plus score in ODI history (previously by Srilanka). Ponting had creamed 164 sublime runs from 105 balls, with 13 fours and an astonishing nine sixes. It was the finest exhibition of clean-hitting.

Ricky Ponting launched a furious assault on South Africa's bowlers, as Australia hurtled towards a vast total in the fifth and decisive one-day international at the Wanderers. After 39 overs, the total stood at an imposing 293 for 2, and Ponting himself was 109 not out, having brought up his 20th one-day hundred from just 71 balls.

To all intents and purposes, Ponting was producing a re-run of his thrilling World-Cup winning 140 not out, on this very ground three years ago. After a comparatively measured start to his innings, he launched Jacques Kallis for consecutive sixes over the leg side to bring up his half-century from 43 balls, and then set about destroying the South African morale, with the Test series getting underway in just four days' time.

Australia's batsmen made a flying start to the fifth and final one-day international at the Wanderers, reaching 183 for 1 after 27 overs of their innings. After Ricky Ponting had won the toss and chosen to take first use of a fine straw-coloured batting track, Adam Gilchrist led the way with a blazing 35-ball half-century, before Simon Katich and Ponting picked up an already frenetic tempo with a blistering 119-run partnership.

Kumble's hour of glory- What a Crciketer

2006-03-11T02:40:00.000-08:00

Kumble reached 500 wickets mark in test cricket by taking the wicket of SJ Harmison.
He was given Leg before by Simion Tuafel.Today he became the first to take 500 Test wickets in Indian cricket history, and joins Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath and Courtney Walsh in an exclusive club.He is the second-fastest to reach the 500 mark in terms of matches played, ahead of Warne, McGrath and Walsh. The only bowler to do it in fewer matches is Murali, who achieved the feat in 87 Tests.

As of Today his stands are

Anil Kumble 105* 5493.1 501 28.87/65.7

Sachin Legend of Cricketing World

2006-03-11T01:23:00.000-08:00

Born in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) into a middle class family, Tendulkar was named after his family's favorite music director Sachin Dev Burman. He went to Sharadashram Vidyamandir School where he started his cricketing career. He, when in school was involved in a mammoth 664 run partnership in a Harris Shield game with friend and International team mate Vinod Kambli, and in 1988/89 scored 100 not out in his first first-class match, for Bombay against Gujurat. Aged 15 years 232 days, he was then by some distance the youngest player ever to score a century on debut.

He played his first international match against Pakistan in Karachi facing up to the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. He scored just 15 runs and was bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match. It was an innings very different from how the rest of his career went. He followed it up with his maiden test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad. However he could not get a century in that series. His One-day International (ODI) debut on December 18 was equally disappointing where he was dismissed without scoring a run again by Waqar Younis. The series was followed by a non-descript tour of New Zealand in which he did not make remarkable contribution. In the tour of England in 1990 he scored his maiden test century but the other scores were not remarkable. It was in the 1991/1992 tour of Australia that he made his mark as a remarkable batsman

He than became the first batsman to score 50 hundreds in international cricket, Sachin Tendulkar established himself as the greatest of all Indian cricketers. Recognised by Sir Donald Bradman as his modern incarnation, Tendulkar has a skill - a genius - which only a handful have possessed. It was not a skill that he was simply born with, but one which was developed by his intelligence and an infinite capacity for taking pains.

Sachin Tendulkar Legend of World Cricket

2006-03-10T11:21:00.000-08:00

Full name Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born April 24, 1973, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Age 33 years
Major teams India, ACC Asian XI, Mumbai, Yorkshire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak googly

Test Debut: India v Pakistan at Karachi, 1st Test, 1989/90

ODI Debut: India v Pakistan at Gujranwala, 2nd ODI, 1989/90

At the tender age of 16, Tendulkar was thrust into the international spotlight in his debut test match. Now he is a living legend and continues to amaze India and the world with his incredible cricket skills.

Called "The Little Champion" and "The Greatest Batsman Alive," Tendulkar stands at only 5'4. However, in spirit and talent, he towers over his colleagues. He was made captain of the Indian cricket team from 1996-1997, and was the second youngest captain in Indian cricket history.

more to come........