New Zealand is going target on Sehwag, and Gambhir

Cricket/New Zealand,

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Daniel Vettori believe a major part of the upcoming tour will come down to the conditions, which is alien to most of the Indian team. Vettori said that though the pitches had improved a lot, the weather could play a part in deciding many of the games.

"India have come with a formidable reputation, and they've earned it over the last couple of years with the way they've played cricket," Vettori said. "But I suppose we enjoy playing at home, we feel a lot more comfortable here and we've got a pretty good record. Hopefully those things play in our favour, but we also understand this is one of our biggest challenges.
"I think it comes back to our conditions, and hopefully we know those and we can perform in them. I think the wickets are going to be very good, the weather may play a small part in it, but the ability to contain the Indian top order, with the likes of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in it, is probably going to be crucial to our success."
India have been trying to make the best of whatever time they have got to train here in their first week in New Zealand. "Usually we practise for two to two-and-half hours. Since we had four days here we wanted to make the most out of it," Dhoni said. "Especially when we are practising outdoors, maybe the next day it may rain and we won't get the same facilities so we were practising for three-and-a-half to four hours."

India get first taste of windy conditions

Team India try on the new kit

Cricket/India,

Team India, On the eve of the departure to New Zealand, got a new dress in a darker shade of blue for one-day internationals in Mumbai on Wednesday (18/02/2009). Look at the next image. The team Indian cricket board's official kit sponsor Nike unveiled the new jersey in Mumbai with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma. The new kit was developed after extensive research by designers and has been put through rigorous tests at the Nike Sports Research Laboratory.

"Nike's new ODI kit, with its technology features and bolder colours, is testament to this change in this great sport in our country. We wish our teams' greater success in the coming seasons," said Indian cricket board secretary N. Srinivasan. The current kit will be the team's alternate dress. Dhoni described the forthcoming tour of New Zealand as a tough assignment but said whether at home or away, international cricket was always a difficult proposition. "It's better to start as underdogs (in a series). It's going to be tough, but international cricket is tough whether at home or away. We have heard how beautiful it (New Zealand) is. We would enjoy the tour and hopefully would come back with a couple of trophies. We don't bother whether we are playing Sri Lanka or any other country", he said.

Kapil Devils 1983 World Cup Inspired Me: Sachin

Cricket/India,

The champion batsman Sachin said, the 1983 World Cup-winning Kapils Devils inspired me to take up to playing cricket in proper manner. I was inspired to take up playing the game with the hard ball after the 1983 World Cup victory. Had it not happened things could have been different for me," said Sachin on Friday evening at the MIG Cricket Clubs felicitation function for five triumphant of the 1983 World Cup-winning side.

Sachin said, "I have fond memories of that victory. I was just ten years old when they won the World Cup and I did not even know at that time there were eleven players in the team. It was truly an incredible experience. I also celebrated the victory till late in the night that day (June 25) after getting permission from my parents," the champion batsman said.

"That generation of cricketers was instrumental in inspiring youngsters to take up cricket," pointed out Tendulkar who was the chief guest at the ceremony. Tendulkar also fondly remembered the many afternoons he had spent at the MIG ground in its infancy and pointed out that his son Arjun was following his footsteps now.

Dhoni doesn't have keeping technique: Kirmani

The former Indian wicketkeeper Mr.Syed Kirmani, has criticised the wicketkeeping technique of Team India Captain Mr. Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He said that: Dhoni lacked the "copybook basics" of a wicketkeeper and said the flaws were not attracting attention because the Indian team has been in top form in recent months. Dhoni is improving with every match, though he is not technically sound behind the wicket. He does not have the natural instincts of an athlete, which is very important for a wicketkeeper.

Kirmani, 59, played 88 Tests for India in a 12-year career that started in 1976 and is one of India's greatest wicketkeepers.
He was also concerned about Dhoni's long-term future as a wicketkeeper.

1. No player remains the same after four years,

2. The agility and reflex of a player diminishes with age,

3. The body and muscles start wearing out, and

4. Dhoni is playing all three forms of the game round the year. At 27, it was too late for Dhoni to modify his technique.

These things have to be done at the grassroot level.

Team India's Sucess Mantra: Observe.. Play... Win

Cricket/India,

"Observe.. Play... Win" is the success mantra of the Team India. Since in the last one day series with Sri lanka, Indian players followed this success mantra. For the very first time Sehwag, Yuvraj, and Gambhir got their centuries on Sri lanka team in Sri lnka grounds. The win on the Sri lanka is the batsman's win.

In these 5 one day series, Yuvi played well compared to all the players. he hit 38 boundaries, and 3 sixes in this series. India shows good performance in the T20 match to. Once again India proved themselves.

Jayawardene is going to resign for Captaincy

Colombo, Febraury 12,

Mahela Jayawardene decide to stand down as Sri lanka's cricket captain. he is being the captain for srilanka from febraury 2006. He told his decision after meeting with the Sri lanka national cricketer selectors. He presided over a 1-4 loss in the last one-day series with India and told selectors the time was right to hand over the captaincy, so his successor would have time to prepare the team for the coming 2011 World Cup.

Jayawardene led Sri Lanka in 26 Test matches and 97 one-day international matches and was Sri Lanka's most successful captain with a win percentage of 62.50% in Tests and 57% in one-day internationals.

Pathan Brothers Clamp India's Victory

What a thrilling finish to an exciting game of T20. The Pathan brothers have won it for India. Irfan ended with 33 off 16 balls and Yusuf ended with 22 off 10 balls. Their unbeaten stand of 59 runs was enough to win the match in 19.2 overs by 3 wickets. India were off to a flying start after the early loss of two wickets, as Yuvraj and Raina shared a brilliant partnership of 67 runs in the middle to set up for the remaining batsmen. Malinga Bandara tried his level best with figures of 3-32 off his 4 overs, but that still went for a losing cause.

Quiz-master, Dada's New Role.

February, 9th

Former Indian Cricket team captain Mr. Saurav Ganguly will be going to be quiz-master. This star would be holding a speaker in his hand and will be seen comparing a Bengali reality show on the TV screen. He already signed a contract with Z Bangla, a popular Bengali TV channel in the Kolkata city, to conduct the weekly show. According to a report published in the Bengali daily "Ananda Bazar Patrika." The report quoting Saurav said, "Yes I have agreed to this proposal. So far I know I have to conduct a quiz show." Though the exact format of the show, likely to be named "Dadagiri" is yet to be finalised, a source said it would include a quiz.

Thanks...Sachin: Yuvi

February 9th,

This is my second man of the series. Last year, i didn't played well in Srilanka tour. I faced problem to play spin bowling. Sachin and training staff helped me a lot. I really thanks to them. Coach Kirsten is doing good job.

Thanks Sachin.

- Yuvi.

ICC ODI Rankings: India Back to 3rd Place.

February 9th,
In ICC ODI rankings, India move to 3rd place. India presented themselves a very good performance in the five one day series with Srilanka. But they lost the last one day. For the last two days, India in the second place in ODI rankings. Now, Australia moved to 2nd place with 122 poiints.

Dilshan helps SL to Stop India's winning run

Finally Sri Lanka showed up, prevented their first 5-0 series whitewash, and stopped India at nine ODI wins in a row. A turnaround began at the first toss they won in the series, continued with near-centuries from Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara, and culminated in an energetic and smart show in the field.

For 62 balls Yuvraj Singh played a dream knock, keeping India in the game despite wickets falling around him. When he became the fifth Indian to fall, for a dazzling 73 out of India's 121 in the 22nd over, the 321-run target looked far away. But for that blitz from Yuvraj and a late-order collapse, Sri Lanka dominated the whole game, a feat that had looked unimaginable in the first four games.
Perhaps the toss played a big part. This was only the second time Mahela Jayawardene beat Mahendra Singh Dhoni with the coin in the last 11 occasions. On a dry track, Sanath Jayasuriya and Dilshan provided Sri Lanka with the ideal start and feasted on the wayward trio of Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, and L Balaji, making his ODI comeback after more than three years.
It was Jayasuriya who provided Sri Lanka with the springboard. During his short stay at the crease he beat the bowlers into submission. By the team Jayasuriya departed in the 11th over, after having displayed his trademark clip over midwicket, cut through point, the short-arm pull, and the loft over mid-off, Sri Lanka had reached 66.
The pyrotechnics may have stopped upon Jayasuriya's dismissal, but the runs kept coming at a fair pace. Sangakkara picked up boundaries regularly, minus the flashy strokeplay. The second ball he faced, Sangakkara reached out for a fullish delivery and cut it off the front foot for four. He also benefited from some wayward bowling from Virender Sehwag, who gave him a gift down the leg side at least once in his three overs. The fine-leg fielder was a busy man when Sehwag bowled, but in vain. Sehwag was replaced by another part-timer - India used six such bowlers, making it nine in all - but Sangakkara's paddle to fine leg kept yielding him rich results. In all, Sangakkara took 28 runs behind square on the leg side.
India tried to hustle through the middle overs, using all their dibbly-dobbly part-time spinners to bowl 21 overs between the drinks breaks, but all they managed to hurry was the scoring. Sangakkara's slog-sweeping over midwicket was effective. He hit three fours and a six there, taking 23 runs in the midwicket region. But his final slog-sweep denied him a century and ended a 143-run partnership.

5th One Day: India Vs Srilanka - Preview

February 07, 2009 19:00 IST

Having achieved their best-ever ODI ranking by displacing world champions Australia as the number two team, a confident India would be eyeing a series whitewash when they take on Sri Lanka in the final cricket one-dayer in Colombo on Sunday.

It has already turned out to be a dream series for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who made it to the record books by becoming the first Indian captain to win nine ODIs on the trot and the flamboyant wicket-keeper batsman would like to keep the winning momentum going in the last game.

The other thing which will be in Dhoni's mind when he takes the field is that every win from here on will bring his side one step closer to the world number one position, which is being currently occupied by South Africa (125) with a lead of just three points. And coach Gary Kirstein had no hesitation in admitting that his main aim this year is to take India to the top position.
"Getting to number one is the obvious goal this year, but You just can't think you have won the series 4-0 and be complacent in the next game.
"It doesn't happen with us. When you go onto the field you go to win and not just compete. Great teams are those that carry the momentum forward into every game," Kirsten said.
The Indians have been phenomenal in all departments of the game in the series as compared to the hosts who were rather disappointing.
While Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, and Virender Sehwag provide aggression at the top of the order, the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan and Dhoni have been rock steady at the middle.
The bowlers, on the other hand, have been disciplined all through the series. Interestingly, the most heartening thing to see was the success of young spinner Pragyan Ojha and part-time bowlers in Yuvraj, Raina, Sehwag and Yousuf.
Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar have been outstanding upfront. Irfan Pathan, who made a comeback in the last match, too joined the party, picking up three wickets.
Faced with the prospect of an embarassing a 0-5 whitewash, a demoralised Sri Lanka will look to salvage some pride before the home crowd in the last match of the series.
The hosts, who are playing non-stop cricket for five months, seemed to have forgotten their basics against the mighty Indians. The Lankans have floundered in every department of the game. If their batting and bowling has been below par, their fielding has been dreadful.
Without veteran Chaminda, the Lankan pace attack looked clueless. Nuwan Kulasekera, Thilan Thushara and Dilhara Fernando lacked sting in their bowling. The biggest disappointment, however, has been the performance of spin duo of Muttiah Muralitharan and mystery man Ajantha Mendis.
Although Murali created history in the last match by becoming the highest wicket-taker in one-day cricket, he had to toil hard to achieve the feat which gives a clear idea of his bad patch.
He never looked threatening as Indian batsmen negotiated the spin wizard with ease.

5th One Day: Sri Lanka in danger of whitewash

Match factsSunday, February 8,
The Big PictureIt's been a demoralising series for Sri Lanka, but they need to pick themselves up for Sunday's final game to avoid their first-ever whitewash in a five-match contest. Mahela Jayawardene hasn't been able to do much to arrest the slide. He tinkered with the bowling combination in the previous two games but Sri Lanka still leaked in excess of 300 in both matches. His hands have been tied as far as the batting line-up is concerned - the four senior batsmen and the promising Thilina Kandamby being undroppable, leaving little room for personnel changes.
Winning the toss could be one way he can help - the spinners have had plenty of assistance when they bowl second at the Premadasa but Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis haven't had the chance to bowl under lights.
India are on their longest winning streak in one-day internationals but have to watch out for complacency. One motivation for them is that if Australia beat New Zealand on Sunday, and India lose, they will slip back to No. 3 in the rankings.

Kirsten: India's target is No. 1

Sriram Veera in Colombo
February 6, 2009
Gary Kirsten has said that India's goal in 2009 is to be the No. 1 team in the world. India's coach, who has received praise from many in the Indian team, felt the side's biggest improvement in recent times was the way they prepared for a game.

Following Australia's loss to New Zealand in the second ODI at the MCG, India have moved to second place in the ICC's official ODI rankings. "Getting to No. 1 is the obvious goal for this year," said Kirsten, "but it's not playing too much on our minds. To do that, it's important for the basics to be right. We are just trying to focus on taking it game by game and series by series. The team ethic is great. Everyone is preparing really well for a game and we are moving in the right direction."
Today's was an optional nets session at the R Premadasa, and the attendees included Sachin Tendulkar, L Balaji, Irfan Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja. Tendulkar batted for 45 minutes and was constantly chatting with the bowlers on the correct line to bowl. Venkatesh Prasad, India's bowling coach, spent lots of time with Irfan, primarily working on his length. Tendulkar even bowled to Jadeja and passed some tips now and then to the young allrounder.

IPL 2009: Flintoff and Pietersen are Most Costly Players

The second IPL auction, held in Goa on Friday, has made Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff the highest-paid cricketers. Each fetched bids of US$ 1.55 million in an event that lacked the glamour and sheer drama of last year's auction but had its moments of surprise. The bidding war for Mashrafe Mortaza, the 25-year-old fast bowler from Bangladesh, stole the show; he eventually went for $600,000 to the Kolkata Knight Riders - 12 times his base price; a close second was Tyron Henderson, a relative unknown but actually the world's leading wicket-taker in this format, who was snapped up by Rajasthan for $650,000.
Shaun Tait was the first player to go under the hammer with the Rajasthan Royals snapping up the Australian fast bowler for $375,000. Next up was JP Duminy, the South African batsman, who turned out to be one of the star buys at the auction. Most people had predicted Duminy (base price: $300,000) would breach the $1 million barrier and he nearly did. But in buying Duminy for $950,000 the Mumbai Indians effectively ruled themselves out from the bidding for Pietersen and Flintoff, who took home a combined purse of $3.1 million.

When the Bangalore Royal Challengers didn't even enter the bidding for Flintoff, it was obvious which way the cards were going to fall. The Royals tried to keep pace, but after buying Tait they had only $1.5 million left. The Deccan Chargers showed no interest in Flintoff, and the Chennai Super Kings had their man, even if he ended up costing more than MS Dhoni had at the first auction.

India beat SriLanka by 67 runs - 4th One Day

February 05, 2009 19:15 IST
Gautam Gambhir smashed a career-best 150 and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni 94 as India posted a comfortable 332 for 5 in the inconsequential fourth One-Day International against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Thursday.
After winning the toss for the fourth successive time, the Indians launched another merciless assault on the home team, with Gambhir and Dhoni being the architects in an imposing total from where the team can push for a record-breaking ninth consecutive ODI victory.
Despite being on the backfoot for most part of the innings, spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan had something to cheer about at the fag end of the Indian innings when he broke Wasim Akram's world record for the highest one-day scalps. Muralitharan dismissed Gambhir to take his one-day tally to 503 in his 328th match.
The visitors, who have already clinched the five-match series by taking an unassailable 3-0 lead, relied on Gambhir and Dhoni's record 188-run second wicket partnership to steer themselves to a competitive total.
The 27-year-old Gambhir notched his sixth ODI century and his third against Sri Lanka, who now need to score at a stiff asking rate of 6.66 runs per over to record a face-saving victory.

India Vs SriLanka 4th One Day - Photos - 2

India Vs SriLanka 4th One Day - Photos

Struggling Sri Lanka look for morale boost

The Big PictureHow do lift your side less than two days after their worst-ever home defeat - that too for a dead rubber? That's what Mahela Jayawardene has to figure out ahead of the fourth one-dayer at the R Premadasa Stadium. Of particular concern is their bowling, which was toothless against the rampaging Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag on Tuesday. Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis were handled with ease and even the usually accurate Farveez Maharoof leaked runs. The fielding has been below par as well, grassing chances on a regular basis, and the batting is inconsistent.

Sri Lanka's ODI record against major teams since the 2007 World Cup makes for sorry reading - the Asia Cup triumph and the recent win against a turmoil-ridden Pakistan are outweighed by home losses to India (twice) and England, the poor show at last year's CB series, and defeat in the Caribbean.
India, on the other hand, have little to worry about; even their spinners, who hadn't been among the wickets till the third game, are firing. Another victory will help them break the record for most wins on the trot by an Indian side in ODIs but Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said the focus is more on testing the bench strength.

India beat SriLanka by 147 runs.

Colombo, Feb 3 (IANS) India beat Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the third one-day International to win the five-match ODI series here Tuesday. Riding on twin centuries by Yuvraj Singh (117 not out) and Virender Sehwag (116), India set a mammoth 364-run target for the hosts, who were dismissed for 216 in 41.4 overs. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha took 4 for 38. India have taken a 3-0 lead in the series.

3rd One Day International Match - Photos

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3rd One Day Internation Match