Dhoni "The 7th Wonder"

7 wonders in the match against Pakistan.
1. Dhoni wearing Jersey No.7
2. Dhoni batting at No.7
3. Dhoni completing 7000 runs in ODI
4.Dhoni becomes 7th Indian to complete 7000 runs
5. Record 125 7th wicket  partnership b/w Dhoni and Ashwin
6. Innings comprised of  7 fours
7. Had 7 centuries before this match.
       
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India-Pakistan first ODI

The Lone Warrior

On a pitch where the top order failed miserably,stood firm the lone warrior,The Indian skipper with an unbeaten 113 of 125 balls.He along with Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin took India to a respectable total of 227/6
After half the side down for a mere 29 runs Skipper Dhoni and Raina made a 73 run partnership before Raina was bowled out by Hafeez.
The first 10 overs of the match had a similar story throughout where Pakistani pacers snapped the bails of the top order of Indian batting lineup.
Junaid khan made his way through the Indian batting lineup by sending Sehwag,Kohli and Yuvraj bowling out each of them and Hafeez took a brilliant catch to dismiss Rohit Sharma who continued with his bad form.
Then came Dhoni and played one of the best knocks beautifully decorated with 7 fours and 3 sixes.The Indian skipper cyt loose during the last ten overs where India scored 76 runs.Ashwin well supported him with hia 31* as the duo put up a record 125 run partner ship for India which included Dhoni crossing 7000 runs in ODI's.

A difficult battle.

As pakistan came into bat chasing a modest total of 228,the inform batsman Hafeez was dismissed with a beautiful inswinging delively by the debutant Bhuvaneshwar Kumar.He completely misjudged the ball and thus the ball hit the top of off stump.The other pakistani batsman Azhar Ali soon went back to pavilion at the total of 21 after being caught by Rohit Sharma thus giving debutant Kumar his second wicket.
From then on Younus Khan and Nasir Jamshed made a 112 run partnership.After Yunus got Out Misbah made 16 runs before falling prey to a beautiful slower ball by Ishant cleaning his stumps.
Mean while Jamshed was dropped by Yuvraj Singh on a easy catch.
Again bad luck struck Indoa as Ashwin got the wicket of Malik but that proved to be a No-ball.
The score slowly but steadily ticked and consequently Nasir Jamshed got his second ODI hundred after facing 128 balls and spending 210 minutes on the crease.
And it all ended with a four by Shoaib Malik giving Pakistan a 6 wicket win over India giving them 1-0 lead over India.
The defeat can be adjudged by some umpiring errors and some misfields along with a no ball.
Thats all for the first Match.
India fought well after being 5 down for 29.But todays better half was Pakistan with a well deserved victory.
Hope India fights back with another good peeformance.:)

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The Countdown Begins

After The victory against Pakistan the ost hot news for the Indians will be the crowning of India as the #1 ODI team.
If India win this First ODI at Chennai,they will climb up to No.1 position in ODI's

The Current Stats:
England : 121 points
S Africa : 121 points
India      : 120 points

England and South Africa both have same points so India have to register just one win t get to the top with 121 points and a better decimal point.
However if India lose any ODI it will remain at No.3
So lets Hope India wins.

On the Other Hand Pakistan will hope to defeat India to improve their current position at #6.
Cheers INDIA

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A Win in the bag..

At last after leveling the series with England and suffering a 5 wicket defeat by Pakistan in a close encounter.India finally register a Win.
All the credit for this win should go to none other than Yuvraj Singh.
A stupendous 36 balls 72 runs innings and a the wicket of Ahmed Shehzad gave him his yet another man of the match trophy.His second in last 4 T20's.
An innings decorated beautifully with 7 sixes and 4 fours , Yuvi became the worst possible nightmare for the Pakistani Side.

The Indian openers yet again provided the base for a big score and this time the team held on to it.
Each Indian player contributed for a.nice little Cameo for this humungous total posted on board.

<b>The bowling department</b>

The bowling was not too good in the first 10 overs untill Ashwin provided India the required brekthrough.
From then on the match saw ups and downs.Downs and ups.
But in the end India held on to their nerves and registered a win.
Thanks to Dinda for his superb bowling in the Death overs.
Cmon India...:)

Nagpur Test (Day 1)

Ishant Sharma Bowled Brilliantly for his 2 wickets on 1st day

Bowlers vs Batsmen

The first day can surely and without doubt was a trouble for batsmen.The pitch played flat from the very beginning as was seen by the early dismissal of Nick Compton where he was beaten by uneven bounce because of which the ball kissed his willow and went to the hands of skipper MSD.

The second wicket fell in the form of the player with great form Alastair Cook who was given LBW to the ball of Ishant Sharma

Cook departs after being given LBW

With both there openers back to Pavilion at 17/2 England were looking at trouble straight ahead but Peiterson  and Trott had a nice partnership of 86 runs before Trott was OUT shoulder Bowled by the debutant Jadeja in which he misjudged a ball and left it and eventually the ball hit the stumps

Jonathan Trott Bowled By Jadeja 

Out came Ian Bell after the dismissal of Trott.The hero who led his team to victory the last test match did not last long and went back to pavilion after facing 28 deliveries and scoring 1 run.He was OUT  just before tea caught by Virat Kohli and Piyush Chawla thus got a wicket.

After the fall of Bell came the England's 655th Test Cap player Joe Root.

What a temperament for this youngster of just 21 years.

This youngster had a brilliant temperament playing for England.With his cover drives and other variety of shots it did not seem that he was at all tensed making his debut.Peiterson and Root came out to bat after lunch with the score 115/4 and the set Peiterson hit a boundary of Jadeja of the first ball after Lunch but Alas  just a couple deliveries later he was out caught by Jadeja.Peiterson made 73 thus scoring his 29th half century.

 Peiterson becomes 2nd prey of debutant Jadeja

After Peiterson got out on 73 at the score of 139/5 England were looking in trouble with two new with two new batsmen at crease,but Matt Prior and Joe Root did not let another wicket fall before day's play ensuring that England still had it's chances in the game.Them both added 60 runs for the 7th wicket and thus England ended 199/5 at day's play.

An Angry Amarnath

Remove Dhoni as CAPTAIN

An angry Amarnath clearly expressed his views on Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni saying that he should be removed from the post of captaincy.During a recent press conference he clearly said that All the 5 selectors were in favor of removing Dhoni from post of Captaincy,but it was BCCI chairman N Srinivasan who put down the request for change in Captaincy.

However Former Captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that it is not the right time to choose a new captain.

He says that Dhoni had the spirit of captaincy and was ready to face any results.May be BCCI should look to this matter after the Nagpur test but this is not the right time to change Captain

Is It the right time???

A question might arise whether it is the right time to remove Dhoni as captain but to be honest it does not feel so.

Why??

The answer to the WHY is because records and analysis say that he is the most successful captain at Home conditions.Here i would like to mention Daniel Vetori and Darren Samy who are the captains of New Zealand  and West Indies respectively.Under their captaincy their teams have lost more matches than they have won but still selectors show faith in them then Why Not our selectors show faith in Dhoni????????

                           

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    Well Mr. Amarnath a couple of defeats and you are ready to Sack Indian Skipper..Matter of Pity.

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                                                                                                                Blog By:

                                                                                                     Shubhojeet Mazumdar

Gambhir Not Playing For the Team But Himself:(Dhoni)

The "Gambhir" Problem For India

Just the thing India did not need at a crucial stage like this.

Players Backfiring at each other.It may seem odd to hear but it is the truth.
Lack of form was the main issue and that's what according to Dhoni is turning Gambhir to play for himself rather than the team to secure his very place in the team.

A tensed Dhoni after defeats against England said that at this stage Gambhir is playing for himself rather than the team.
The second test match where India had gambhir at the crease along with tail enders was very surprising because Gambhir was seen taking singles and giving strike to tail enders rather than himself that to to the overs of Panesar and Swann at Mumbai on a turning pitch.

Gambhir playing spin efficiently should have kept the strike to himself but alas the opposite happened.What he should have done was to go for the big shots himself.

The third test witnessed two run outs involving Gambhir 

The first being Sehwag and the other being Pujara.

Dhoni claimed that the On and Off field behavior of Gambhir is rather disappointing and BCCI will soon look to fix this.

Another source from Gambhir's side say that "It's Just another lame excuse from the captain's side.First Sehwag and now Gambhir is targeted.The captain is just in fear of losing his position to Gambhir who is the strongest contender for captaincy"

Whatever it is we hope that it is resolved soon so that India makes a strong come back as a Unit.

                                              

The Birthday Boy (12/12/12)

Yuvraj Singh

A name which all India fans Love.A name which makes even the best bowler to think twice before bowling deliveries,A name which is Complete in itself.The Prince of Indian Cricket YUVRAJ

                                Born : 12/12/1981 (Chandigarh)

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	40	62	6	1900	169	33.92	3277	57.97	3	11	260	22	31	0
ODIs	274	252	38	8051	139	37.62	9192	87.58	13	49	827	144	84	0
T20Is	29	27	5	667	70	30.31	461	144.68	0	5	39	43	8	0
First-class	104	166	18	6586	209	44.50			19	32			96	0
List A	344	317	48	10236	172	38.05			17	62			106	0
Twenty20	101	97	13	2259	71	26.89	1699	132.96	0	12	178	119	30	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	40	35	931	547	9	2/9	2/20	60.77	3.52	103.4	0	0	0
ODIs	274	150	4832	4060	109	5/31	5/31	37.24	5.04	44.3	2	1	0
T20Is	29	17	238	289	16	3/23	3/23	18.06	7.28	14.8	0	0	0
First-class	104		2406	1379	26	5/94		53.03	3.43	92.5		1	0
List A	344		5901	4936	143	5/31	5/31	34.51	5.01	41.2	2	1	0
Twenty20	101	66	862	1018	48	4/29	4/29	21.20	7.08	17.9	1	0	0

Made his ODI debut in 2000 against Kenya at Nairobi , Test debut against New Zealand at Mohali in 2003
and T20I debut against Scotland in Durban.


BEST KNOWN FOR

He is Best Known for two of his Blisterring performances.

1. Six Sixes

                

Date:19th Sept 2007

Venue:Kingsmead,Durban.

After a heated argument with Andrew Flintoff Stuart Broad  was the person who was made to witness the Havoc by Yuvraj Singh.

18th over,Ball goes to Broad 

1st ball : SIX Over Covers

2nd ball: SIX over Backward Square-leg (111 meters)

3rd ball : SIX over Extra Covers
4th ball : Same as Third SIX
5th ball : SIX flying over Mid Wicket
6th ball : SIX landing on the stands at Long-on

With these Massive SIXES Yuvraj finishes his 12 ball Half Century.

                                          Watch How Broad's Day Was Turned To Havoc

2. Man Of The Series (World Cup 2011)

Year 2011 Bringing Success to the efforts of Gary Kirsten and BCCI when India won the 2011 50 overs World Cup.The key player being Yuvraj.Scoring loads of runs and even taking wickets.His best performance being against Ireland where he made 50 runs from his willow  and sent 5 Irish batsman back to Pavilion.With his combined efforts in Batting and Bowling and exceptional Fielding he was named as Man Of The Series.

Wishing Our Prince a Very Prosperous and Happy Life Ahead.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCE OF CRICKET"

The Unsung Hero

The "Unknown" Legend Nimbalkar

Former Ranji Cricketer B.B Nimbalkar passed away the past evening just when he was about to turn 93.
Born on 12th December 1919 this former Ranji player made his highest,443(also the highest by any indian of his times) in first class cricket of his times and just missed the highest being Don Bradman's 452.
He was considered the most unlucky bats man.that is true also,because even after scoring highest runs in an innings by any Indian,he did not get a chance to play tests representing India.Such was the Irony of his life.

Match   Innings    N.O    Runs     Avg.     Highest     100's     50's     Stumps     Wicket     Best 
 80          118         17      4841     47.93      443            12         22         10             58         4/56

The last irony of this legend was that he could not live 93 years.Yes 93 does not seem a short span but the fact i am saying is because of his living 92 years 365 days.Just one more day and he would have turned to 93   on 12/12/12.
But nonetheless he served India through Ranji and scored loads of runs.

A last salute to this "Unknown" Legend.

R.I.P 

Bhausaheb Nimbalkar(12/12/1919  -  11/12/2012).

Here We Come Nagpur

A quick Look at Nagpur Records.

          Player                     Matches          Runs             Avg.          100's      50's

• V.sehwag                    03                  357              71.40            01          03

• S.tendulkar                  03                  289              57.80            02         01

• M.S dhoni                   03                  240              48.00            00          03

         

           Player                         Matches             Wickets              Avg.                Best

• Harbhajjan                      03                         12                   33.76                4/64

• Ishant                              03                         11                   21.63                4/43

• P.Ojha                            01                         05                   24.80                3/57                     

This record clearly shows that Big Names have lived up to their name a the WCA Stadium in Nagpur.So it will be worth seeing if the same happens in the last and final test at Nagpur.
With the inclusion of three more youngsters,India may seem the weaker side but you do not know what's up the sleeves of these young players.

It will be interesting to see if the Indian Jersey motivates these young players to perform well and help India win the 4th test.On one side where England after winning 2 test look in great motivation and cheered up,the other hand India is down to ground with two defeats somewhere breaking them from the inside.Can India make a strong comeback?

is the question in our minds and i hope all of us gets a YES for this question.Because Nagpur as the records say has been a lucky ground for Indians where they have played 3 matches , Won 2 of them and lost just 1 .

"The Sunshine of Victories VS The Mist of Defeats"

THE SUNSHINE OF VICTORIES

With Alastair Cook in swashbuckling form along with Peterson and Trott in the batting department and Panesar,Anderson and Swann taking guard as the bowling trio England has proved to be the clear winners of  this series.If India stil levels the series with a win England can proudly go back with heads high because of their Spectacular Team Effort.
All their players in a way or the other have contributed to the team.

QUICK LOOK:
Alastair Cook : 500+ runs with three centuries
Trott : Crucial 87 runs and 100+ Partnership with Cook for 2nd test
Nick Compton: Two half centuries and a 100 run partnership with Cook
Peterson: 180 runs in 2nd test helping England win the test
Panesar : 17 wickets in two matches crushing Indian top Order
Swann :  15+ wickets
Anderson: Bowled superb in Kolkata test taking priced wicket of Sachin and Others
Finn: Superb 3rd test 2nd inning Bowling crushing Indian batting lineup.

The England lineup after consecutive wins are charged up ready for yet another spectacular performance
These stats are enough to make one understand how hard will India have to Practice to make a strong Comeback in 4th and Final Test.

The Mist Of Defeats

With back to back defeats and most of their batsman failing to regain their form,the Indian lineup looks in patches.Apart from Pujara who showed consistency none other bats man impressed the selectors. Pujara who scored 206 and 135 in two test matches was rather unlucky in the third test.
The only plus points in the series is the Wicket taking of Ojha , Ashwin coming up as an All Rounder and Gambhir somewhere very close to get back to his good form with back to back half centuries and 40 runs in his last match.
Sehwag Played well for his 49 in the last match before getting out to a stunning delivery by Swann.
The Matter of Concern is the Pace department and the Silent Willows of Maestro and Captain Cool.
Besides the Team has been shuffled by replacing senior players viz. Zaheer,Yuvraj and Harbhajjan with Awana,Jadeja and Chawla..
Will these changes help team India to regain it's long lost glory?
Just one day more to wait!
Lets see how does our shaken team India cope up mentally with the defeats..
Wait and hope for the best.. :)

Day Of Showdown

The Day Of Showdown(13-12-12)

Th Day of Showdown inches close

But why exactly am i calling it as the day of showdown might be a question.
The answer to this is that though India can not win the series but can equal level the series with a win
So what is the meaning for SHOWDOWN?????? 

I just coined this term because of the fightback India is gonna put.
On one side where England will look to Win or Draw this match,India has no other option but to win this.

This will be a tough test for the Indian youngsters.
The young Indian lineup became more feeble by dropping Yuvraj,Zaheer and Harbhajan .This lack of experience can be fatal,but cross your fingers and hope for the best.

New Names:

1. Parvinder Awana 

This young lad will be wearing the Indian jersey for the very first time

Had an exceptionally well Ranji season bagging loads of wickets

Will be under pressure to perform well in his first match.

As history tells,most of the legendary bowlers were hit to every part of the ground on their debut match.We hope that the same does not happens with him.

2.Ravinder Jadeja (A past villian Or a Present Hero)

                                              

In many news and channels i have been hearing the name "PAST VILLIAN".But why is he called so?
To know it let's look back to the match.We all remember Sachin's epic knock of 175 vs Australia.India was well poised for victory with that innings.then India took the powerplay and in came Jadeja.What he should have done was to give the strike to Sachin but instead he retained most deliveries and wasted them,in course Sachin had to go for risky big shots and thus he lost his wicket and India the Match.
But that is all past now,Jadeja has quite improved now and recently equalled the records of Bradman and Wally Hammond by scoring three triple centuries.What impression does he leave on 13th of december will be interesting to watch.

3. Piyush Chawla 

Once a crucial part of Indian bowling lineup is now a name lost in the mists of uncerttainity.Brought in as a replacement for Harbhajjan,can he stand tall and prove this decission right???

That is all a matter of time to see what role does he plays if he gets a chance to play..

Hope for the best..:)

"GOOD LUCK TEAM INDIA"

                             

                                                

It's A "CAPTAIN's TALE

It's A "CAPTAIN's TALE".....

Long awaited answer to this question of "Who is eligible to REPLACE M.S.D??" is yet Unanswered.
MSD a name which reflects cool and calmness,a name which reflects leadership,a name which reflects captaincy and yet a name which reflects the strength to overcome criticism.
Stats show that he is the most succesful captain at home soil,then why does this question of replacing him arise???
Is it that he has lost his Potential?
Is it that he do not support his team?
Is it that he do not play well?
No,it is simply because of criticism.....
A word which we use regularly.
The Media,News,and critics takes criticism to such a level that we are compelled to think "Are we supporting the right person"??
Its a pity to see that our own captain is being criticized.
One or two series defeat does not mean that a captain is bad.

	Matches	Won	Lost	Tie	No Result	Win percentage
Test	42	20	12	0	10	47.62
ODI	127	73	43	3	8	57.48
T20	37	18	17	1	1	48.65
IPL	78	46	31	0	1	58.97
CLT20	13	7	5	1	0	53.85

Are not these Stats enough to prove that he is the most eligible captain for India.???

Contenders for Captaincy:

1.Gautam Gambhir: 

Opening Batsman for India...One of the contenders for captain's post.A very good batsman against spin,Attacking as well as defensive.Good for all three formats.

Plus+: Leads the team from the front.Ready to take risks at appropriate times.Motivator as well as a good mentor

 CONS-:Can't handle pressure situations and sometimes breaks his cool and calmness

2.Virat Kohli: 

                                  

Lead the U19 Cricket team to victory in 2008.Had a superb 2012 scoring 1000 runs with scores like 133,183,and many quick centuries.Was promoted to the post of Vice Captain after these fantastic innings..
Is yet to be tested as captain of the National Side.But Cricket Experts say that leaving him as a player rather than a captain will help him improve his cricket more and more.

Final Verdict ::::: From the above stats it is now clear that at present state DHONI is the best possible captain for our Indian side .And hence this question for NEXT CAPTAIN should be left aside for next couple years.::)