Cricket Tournaments

The BCCI selectors decided to name the squad that was selected for Vadodara and Nagpur for the next two ODIs against Australia. This announcement was made by the chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth, following India’s series-levelling, comprehensive 99-run win at Nagpur.

There was plenty of pressure on fast bowler Ishant Sharma and medium-pacer Praveen Kumar and Suresh Raina, to some extent, to retain their places. However, impressive showing by the trio at Nagpur meant India are confident of going in with an unchanged squad, at least for the next two matches. Munaf Patel and Sudeep Tyagi continue to remain in the squad as back up for the first-choice pacers.

The third and fourth ODIs will be held in Delhi and Mohali on October 31 and November 2 respectively.

The squad

MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina, Sudeep Tyagi, Yuvraj Singh

More ‘Paine’ for Australia

Meanwhile, Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine, who has impressed in both the games played against India, is the latest in the injury list for the visiting team. The dashing batsman will miss the remainder of the series due to a broken finger. Paine picked up the injury during Australia’s disastrous 99-run defeat in the second match of the seven-game series at Nagpur.
Paine, who himself was drafted into the Australian side as a replacement for the already injured Brad Haddin, will now be replaced by Graham Manou. He is likely to feature in the third one-dayer to be held New Delhi on Saturday.
Earlier, the Aussies missed the services of pace spearhead Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes during the team’s loss at Nagpur. Also missing from the series due to injuries are vice-captain and middle-order batsman Michael Clarke as well as left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken. Owing to the injuries, New South Wales’ Moises Henriques was called in as cover by the Aussie management.

Carrying on the momentum they gained from the Harbhajan-Praveen partnership during the first ODI, India put up a near flawless performance at Nagpur They won by 99 runs to the level the series 1-1, heading into Delhi. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the standout performer for the Indians, stroking a marvellous 124. Further, there were crucial contributions from the other members of the XI too, making it an excellent team effort. Gautam Gambhir continued his good form with a fluent 76 while Suresh Raina relieved some of the pressure on him, making a whirlwind 62.

In the bowling department as well India had their heroes. Praveen Kumar made up for his shabby showing at Vadodara by bowling a probing first spell, claiming two wickets. Ishant Sharma showed further signs of improvement by picking up a couple of scalps and bowling economically, whereas part-timer Ravindra Jadeja ended up being the surprise package, bagging three Australian wickets.

On the other hand, the only thing which went right for Ricky Ponting was winning the toss. But, in hindsight, he would dearly have wanted to lose it. Punter’s decision to bowl first on a batting beauty, keeping in mind the dew factor, backfired and that too in a big way. Australia did manage to strike early when Peter Siddle got Sachin Tendulkar to edge one behind the wickets. But what followed was a fascinating and expected counterattack by Virender Sehwag and Gambhir. The Aussies smelt blood when Sehwag fell for 40, going for one of his big hits and Yuvraj Singh’s promising knock was cut short by Ben Hilfenhaus’ excellent reflex catch. That however only turned out to be the beginning of a long struggle for the Australians.

Dhoni and Gambhir joined forces to decimate the already depleted Aussies. Runs flowed with ease on a pitch that figuratively read ‘bowlers’ graveyard’. Pace spearhead Brett Lee was sorely missed and in his absence even the others were less effective. Siddle was by far the best of the bowlers, pitching the ball more often in the block hole than the others. Conversely, Mitchell Johnson’s expensive figures looked slightly better only because of the couple of wickets he picked up in the last over. That too was thanks too some splendid glovework from Tim Paine. Nathan Hauritz kept things tight but went wicketless, while Shane Watson, whom Ponting reposed faith in despite him 20-run over in the last match, was smashed for plenty yet again.

Even so, nothing can be taken away from M S Dhoni, who paced his innings to perfection. Following the unfortunate run-out of Gambhir, he and Raina steadied the innings before going on an all-out attack in the slog overs. Dhoni brought up his hundred launching a six straight down the ground, off a struggling Johnson. At the other end, Raina kept swinging his bat at everything and, luckily for India, there were more hits than misses. Both were eventually dismissed in the final over, but by then India posted a colossal 354/7.

For Australia to get anywhere close, an outstanding start was needed. Praveen ensured it never came. His inswinging deliveries accounted for Paine and Ponting while Ishant sent back Waston with a rising delivery as the Aussies stumbled to 45/3 and the game was all but decided, barring a miracle. Michael Hussey and Cameron White put on a steadying partnership. However, it was far from enough. White fell to Harbhajan for 23 in an attempt to accelerate the scoring. Hussey went on to top score for his side with a patient 53, before he ended up becoming one of Jadeja’s three victims. The left-hander was beaten in flight by the left-arm spinner and clean bowled. Later, Shaun Marsh was stumped by a long distance and Adam Voges fell going for a slog to give Jadeja his best one-day return in his short international career.

It was a thoroughly comprehensive win for the home side and one that should set up the series nicely, with scores level and everything to play for.

India won the ODI series against West Indies by 2-1

In India won the 4 ODI cricket series in Caribbean against Indies by 2-1 after the final match was expelled due to rain. Caribbean win came after seven years making it historical win over Indies on their own land.

On 5th July Sunday, at Beausejour stadium both team were ready for the final assault. It was do or die situation for Indies as India was leading the series by 2-1. India was also prepared to sway the finals to overpower World T20 Cup catastrophe. But again the Caribbean monsoon played the spoil sport and match has to be dismissed due to heavy downpour. Initially match was delayed before the start and match was reduced to 49 overs per side match.

India won the toss and put the Indies to bat first. Dhoni took the sensible decision to utilize the moisture for taking wickets in the initial overs. Ishant Sharma gave an initial jolt to the Indies by taking the ducked wicket of skipper Chris Gayle. Ramnaresh Sarwan (12) and Runako Morton (12) continued till 7.4 overs at 27 runs off 1 wicket when play was suspended indefinitely by heavy downpour.

Later rainfall stopped but the ground was too wet to continue the game. Umpires decided to wait but soon after two hours they evaluated and declared the outfield unfit and too wet for the game. Consequently India won the series by 2-1 after 7 years and the 5th ODI series win consecutively. Afterwards match ceremony preceded and Indian captain M.S. Dhoni raised the cup.

India back fired in the Caribbean series after it was forced out of the World T20 Championship. Indian fans which were furious because of the early exit of the World T20 now have something to cheer about.

In the first ODI at Kingston India showcased its dexterity in the game but the Indies were also able to came closer to the 340 run target but succumbed just by 20runs. Yuvraj Singh knocked stunning ton proving himself to be match winner for India. The second ODI came as the realization as India was still weaker and some kind of restlessness taking over them when they lost by eight wickets to Indies. Dhoni performed well in the second ODI but of no consequence, his rest of the teammates were not able to support him. In the third ODI Dhoni and his teammates were prepared to back fire and they did. Dhoni again blasted with bat and chased with the stronger hold of nerve, eventually leading for six wickets victory.

India is having lot of player injuries and whole team is retarded due to constant playing. Now soon in September cricket fans going to have ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa. ICC Champions Trophy takes place after every two years, often been won by different side on every occasion. India has bet to make for it but before that they need relaxation. On the other hand Indies need to do homework regarding team planning.