KOTLA PITCH BEHAVED

BLACK DAY IN KOTLA, DELHI

It was the 5th and the last ODI of Sri Lanka India Series, venue F. Kotla New Delhi.The stadium was jam packed as it was a sunday blockbuster match of the series. Since India has already won the series in the last match so every one in Delhi wanted India to beat lank in brilliant style.

But the scene was opposite. It was an unfit pitch so the eyebrowse were already raised in the mopring and the pitch staff was inquired a lot about the pitch like how will it react and what would be the good score on the wicket. But the Indian captain won the toss and on that unfit track the ball seemed , dipped , bounced, swung very very very unevenly .

The Cricket was put on the stake for a while and many of the commentators of the BCCI TV said it on air that the pitch is not good for international games. With International stars like Jayasurya and Dilshan sent to hospital after they have been hit by uneven deliveries. The match was stopped due to unplayable conditions was hence the crowd got agitated and they were very unhappy about what they have seen in the ferozshah kotla.

India Clinches a NAILBITER

India and Sri Lanka met in the 1st ODI in Rajkot on the 15th of Dec. The pitch was a belter and batters were in no mood to spare any bowler. India having winning the toss and electing to bat. VEERU was as impressive as always. I always felt that he needs to stay on the wicket for 50 overs and India will surely cross 500 runs. He played an important role in the match and gave India the start they required in the 1st match of the series. He made a magical 146 with the Legends quick fire 50+ runs. M S DHONI also chipped and played well. Together the team posted a mamoth total of 400+ runs.

As in all the high scoring games, it seems that the team chasing such a big scores does not have anything to loose and thats what happened with Lankans reply. They batted bravely with Sangakara and Dilshan counter attacking the Indian bowlers. The Lankan chased the total of 414 runs till the last over and lost only by 3 runs in the end with Ashish Nehra playing the role of escape goat to throw the last over managed well to end up in style.

Lankan Takes revenge in the 1st T 20

Sri L anka T 20 squad cheers the lankan fans after winning the First T 20. Lankan crashed India down in an interesting T 20 match. snagkara looked like a one man army and made sure to grip the run rate at about 8-10 runs per over which really meant a lot to be chased by the Indian batters.

Lets hope for another good one in Mohali.

INDIA CRASHES LANKANS TO GET TO NO. 1

India comprehensively beat Sri Lankan Team in the final test match and made sure to get to the No.: 1 spot in the test rankings. Men in Blue truly looked hungry for the win from the day one and Veeru was outstanding in his role to put India in the driving seat and he gave the crowd the worth of their money spent on buying the tickets. He made 284 beautiful runs and looked unbeatable many times.

He laid the stone for a great Indian win and the players also enjoyed the win which was very eagerly waited for.

INDIA POCKETS VICTORY

Indian Team celebrates as they won the 2 test of the series beating Sri Lanka by an innings and good amount of runs. This is India's third biggest victory against all the team.

2nd TEST AGAINST SRI LANKA

India is up against a solid Lankan side and playing 2nd test in Kanpur. Winning the toss India Managed to put a mamoth total of 600+ runs on the board in the 1st innings. The Eyecatcher was hundred each from VEERU, GAUTI and THE WALL ( DRAVID). Starting from over 1 it looked a very promising start from Indian openers and Indian team allways looked on the driving seat.

In the first against replying to the Indian total Sri Lanka is down and out in the first innings very cheaply and now Indian team looks to roll over another kanpur victory, probably on day 4 of the match.

Which means that the players might enjoy the rest on day 5 of the test.

SACHIN BECOMES GOD FOR INDIA AGAIN

The god of cricket played to his best to save India yet again from a very humiliating deafeat this time from visitors Sri Lanka. With Indian Batsmen required to play a complete to save the Sachin not only managed to save it for them, but also created some of the new records under his belt. He played some of his masterpiece storkes in the making yet another hundred and he became the first ever person to have made 30,000 international runs.

Series now stands at draw and lets hope the Indian experience duo of Dravid and Sachin keep up the good work for the country.

1st TEST ON ROAD TO DRAW

The first test between Lanka is a very high scoring match till the time. By India making more than 400 runs in the 1st innings now Sri Lanka with the help of Mahela Jayawardene's double ton lankan's are in a very gud position at 591 for 6 with a healthy lead of 165 runs. Today is the day four of the test and lets see will Sangakara try to win or will he try to play for a draw.

1st Test DAY 1

RAHUL SHOWS THE GAME OF TEST CRICKET

The day totally started in lankan's favour and soon half of the Indian team was back in the hut for about sixty runs on the board. The lankans then found it difficult to nail a single pin in the GRET INDIAN WALL Mr. Dependable Hon'ble Shri Rahul dravid who made sure that he bat all the day and show the youngsters what test cricket is all about.

With the help of Mr. Captain Dhoni he managed to compete his 11000 test runs and a beautiful ton to take India from 5 for 60 to 385 for 6 at the end of day 1.

SERIES LOST 4-2

The ODI series between India and Australia ended with the weather playing a spoilt sport. The series went down as 4-2 and weather not giving any chance to the Indian team to recover from the loss in the 6th ODI. Now all eyes set on the different venue and different type of games, where India will take on Sri Lanka in the 5 match test series starting from today. So lets set the priorities and see what Indian team can do in the test matches.

On the other hand Indian team needs more experienced players and some good bowlers to save and win matches for Indian. Good news is some of the good bowlers are fit to play for the national side.

AUSTRALIA BEAT INDIA IN THE 5TH ODI

Australia somehow managed to clinch a last over victory against India in the last fought battle in the 5th odi and now lead the series 3-2 with two matches stil to be played. It was a very close fought match with Aussies making 350 runs to be chased by Indian team. The chase began fine with Veeru showing the way and later on the God blessing the cricket ground with Sachin's best ODI innings in last 10 years. Made a well deserved 175 with ball tonked in approximately all parts of the ground and made look the Indian victory coming to the home. But unfortunately he fell short of time and got out even the lower middle order fell cheapely and were unable to save the match.

INDIA VS AUSTRALIA

The ODI series between the teams have already started and after four matches the series stand tied at 2 all. The seven match series is as good as 3 match series now. Both teams are playing for the series win as well as the top spot in the ICC rankings. With India winning would end up at the top of the charts before the start new year.

AIRTEL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2009

Another fine tournamenng is underway in this Cricket Loving nation. This tournament will have exciting matches as the teams around the globe known for playing the best of T 20 cricket would be competing with each other for the title. Some from Australian circuit, some from African continent and some from IPL. So it would be an evenly contested tournament, so sit back and enjoyed the once again the T20 saga of sixes and short term matches.

Aussies becomes champs again

Australia regain the kings place once again andbecomes the winner of the Champions Trophy 2009. Playing with Kiwis in the finals in South Africa the Aussies only allowed opponents to score a mere 200 runs while playing first.

And then Australian Batters played well to reach home with flying colours and lot of joy. With this win Australia especially Ricky Ponting made a point to the world about their abilities regarding playing cricket extensively.

CONGRATULATIONS TO AUSSIE POWER.

EARLY EXIT FOR INDIA AND HOST SOUTH AFRICA

Host South Africa and India could not make it even to the Semi final's of the Champions Trophy 2009. With India forced exit from the tournament by arch rivals Pakistan and South Africa lost early games against their opponents. With India's one game washed out by rain which resulted in one point each so hard luck again to the Indian Cricket Team but yes a chapter learned in the run that never take any game in any tournament lightly as was done against Pakistan in this tournament.

Later on in the same tournament Pakistan lost to Kiwis another Semi finalist and England lost to Aussie cricket team. Which meant that now it would be keenly contested match between teams from down under Australia and New Zealand.

PAKISTAN BEAT INDIA

In one of the most awaited encounters of the tournament Pakistan met India in the sixth match and with the young Pakistan team Indian's really had to play to the best of their ability to win this one. But the it was not the result expected by the Indian Team. Paki's played really well to mount a hight total of 300+ runs and the bowlers were torn apart by the Paki Batsmen.

With all the things to balim to bowlers, batsmen were at the top that now if lost they could not be blaimed. But yes the batsmen have to be blaimed for not batting appropriately to attack spin bowling of Paki spinner's.

Now in an ICC tournament Pakistan have beated the Indian team.

2nd Match Pakistan versus West Indies

In the second encounter of the Champions Trophy 2009 Pakistan met WINDY power. But , the match went from two sided to one sided after inexperiecned West Indies started to collapse against the solid Pakistani bowling team. None of the Windies batsmen looked comfortable playing the Paki Bowling attack and soon the complete team faltered for a mere score of less than 200 runs which made the possibilities of a West Indian win very less.

On the other hand Pakistani's played well but also lost some wickets in the run chase. The major attration according to me was Kamran Akmal's brother Umer Akmal who played really well for his fifty and the way Shahid Afridi showed him how to bat in pressure situations.

1st MATCH OF CHAMPIONS TROPHY

Innaugral match of teh Chamopions trophy was a stunner with Sri lanka beating host South Africa through D/L method. Sri lanka made a good score of more than 300 runs, thanks to a fine knock by T. Dilshan of a ton and some more runs.

South Africa started off well but could not hold upon the run chase and rain played a spoilt sport at the end to white wash all the dreams of a great victory.

ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2009 SCHEDULE

1st Match, Group B - South Africa v Sri LankaSuperSport Park,

2nd Match - Pakistan v West IndiesThe Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

3rd Match - South Africa v New ZealandSuperSport Park, Centurion

4th Match, Group B - England v Sri LankaThe Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

5th Match, Group A - Australia v West IndiesThe Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

6th Match, Group A - India v PakistanSuperSport Park, Centurion

7th Match, Group B - New Zealand v Sri LankaThe Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

8th Match, Group B - South Africa v EnglandSuperSport Park, Centurion

9th Match, Group A - India v AustraliaSuperSport Park, Centurion

10th Match, Group B - England v New ZealandThe Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

11th Match, Group A - Pakistan v AustraliaSuperSport Park, Centurion

12th Match, Group A - India v West IndiesThe Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Oct-2009

1st Semi-Final - A1 v B2SuperSport Park, Centurion

2nd Semi-Final - B1 v A2The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Final - TBC v TBCSuperSport Park, Centurion

ENGLAND WINS THE LAST BATTLE

It was another good permormance by the English team in the 7th ODI against Australia to end the series on a winning note. Already loosing the seires to Australia with 6-0, it was the match for a psycological boost for the English camp belfore heading towards South Africa for the Champion's Trophy.

The tactics were right to put Australia to bat after winning the toss and the English Bowlers also did well to make sure that they crack early wickets and do not give away easy or extra runs. Ponting again played a captaines knock with Michael Clarke after the loss of early wickets to take the score to a respectable total. In reply England team made sure to win this one by playing well and at the end they won by 4 wickets.

Australia makes it to 5-0 against England

Australia beat England by 4 wickets in the 5th ODI and took the revenge of the Ashes Series. Aussie Captain tonked the English bowlers and tore them apart all around the ground to hit a beautiful century. He kept alive Australia's hopes of a 7-0 whitewash in their one-day series against England with his stellar century.

INDIA ON TOP OF THE CHARTS

After beating Kiwis the Indian ODI team has moved up the ladder and placed them selves on number 1 spot.

They played well aginst the Kiwis in the triangular series in Sri Lanka and made it to the top of the charts.

Hip Hip Hurray !!!!!!!!

ICC AWARDS NOMINATION 2009

The greatest players of the greatest sports of the world are nominate once again for the ICC Awards 2009.

Topping the list are players from sub continent with Indian Captain, Vice Captain and Off spinner Bhajji showing up again. Lets hope some one could bring home the honour.

ENGLISH WARRIORS BEAT AUSSIES

The Ashes 2009 concluded with an emphatic English win over the Aussies and it also ends the great Fredie saying goodbye to the great traditional English Test Career.

Trescothik playing like a king in series led the team from the front and made way to another ashes victory.

We will definetly miss the great Mr. Andrew Flintoff.

Hats off to Fredie Flintoff

Ashes has allways been a fun to watch for all cricket lovers, due its coverage and hipe that media gives it. This time around Fredie Andrew Flintoff made sure that he uses the right spirit of the game as he was playing his last test match at the Lord's the place has already witnessed many great performances of some great cricketing heroes.

England won the test comprehensively by giving Aussies 500 + runs as target to win. Never ever in the history of Ashes it was done before, so the chances were that Australia might be able to pull out a draw. But, yes the hero of the 2nd Australian Innings for England was His Highness, Andrew Flintoff who took another 5 wicket haul to claim one of the best exit from Lords test cricket.

Hats off once again to a Champion Cricketer.

GAMBHIR SNATCHES # 1 TEST RANKING

Its a great news for Indian Cricket Fans as Indians now rule both ODI and Test Rankings. With S Dhoni topping the chart for ODI, it is now the time for great Indian Opener Gautam Gambhir to top the Test Ranking chart. Gambhir with brilliant performances in the recent Indian Tour of New Zealand prooved that hard pays at the best time when you need.

He was a flopp show in the T 20 world cup, but his previous good performances counted a lot for him to lead the tables of Test Ranking.

Cheers for some good news !

DHONI STARS AT # 1 IN ICC RANKINGS

After an early exit from the T20 world cup, every body thought that magic of Magical Dhoni might have ended. But, you never know whne M S D is on field with his blazing guns. While the Indian team reached West Indies for its recent tour, they were called underdogs and were taken very lightly.

But Team India took it in a very great mood and made sure that they capture the series very dramatically. Not only this, but with this win Indian Captian became number 1 in ICC rankings with Yuvraj at number 2 and Sehwag at 8. Indian team also won 5 of its series abroad which really is a big achievement for M S Dhoni.

Team India at T 20 :- a big flopp

As already discussed by thousands of media person in hundreds of media modes, that after the IPL season 2, all major names in the World Cricket sounded very tired. Indian International team was also victim of the same franchisee and sponsorors pressure. All the players played well in IPL but yes, they were really tired after such crucial encounters amongst themselves.

Indian fans were really hoping a a bg show down by them in the T 20 world cup but instead they were disheartened to know and see their champions falling apart and were not able to even qualify to Semi's level and could not defend the cup properly.

IT'S T 20 WORLD CUP

So the wait is over for yet another episode of t20 cricket. With all the teams of the world gearing up to roar and win the t20 cup in England, Indian team also looked pretty prepared in the warm -up match against Arch Rivals Pakistan and with the help of Rohit Sharma's fine knock of 80 runs Indian's managed a must wanted win in the warm up matches to set team in the correct mode.

After the loss to Kiwis in the warm ups it seemed that the Indian team took the match very lightly, but yes Dhoni later on realized the same and said that yes they will have to play well to defend the title.

So , now all eyes on the exitement of t20 again.

Cheers !

South Africa and Australia 3rd ODI

South africa made a good all around performance while batting first and made a score of close to 300 runs and in reply autralia could not manage to do so and lost the match by 25 runs.

South Africa Vs Australia 2nd ODI

5th April both teams met again in Centurion to play another ODI. This South Africa was the champ as they only allowed Australia to make 131 runs after choosing to bat first.

South africa in reply could only make this mere total after loosing 3 wickets and winning the match by a comfortable 7 wickets.

Aus VS South Africa 1st ODI

3rd April the teams played in Kingsmead, for a day and night encounter. Australian captain won the toss and elected to bat first.Bradd Haddin and Mike Hussey run help Ausies somehow managed to get a total of 286 runs.

In reply south africa lookes parted and lost the match, when they could only managed to score a mere 145 runs all out. With the skipper showing the way with a half century but it is a team game and they were unable to play as a team.

Day 3, 4 and 5

They all ended in a great Kiwi trouble as even the rain god could not save the test for Kiwi captain D. Vettori. After just cleaning the kiwis out in the 1st innings Indian specially Gautam Gambhir batted really well to make the winning target of 617 runs. On day 4 and 5 kiwis kept loosing wickets and were unable to hold on to thier nerves and lost 8 wickets in the chase of target runs.

Then came, RAIN GOD to save Daniel Vettori's captaincy as the match could not be completed and was finally drawn in the last two hours of play.

Indian winning the series 1-0 after 41 years. Another feather in Dhoni's Cap.

DAY 2

Indian came very strong and made that they not allow Kiwis to bat for as long as they want. Zak ( Zaheer) khan made it a point to get the ball in the right areas and get wickets when need the most.

Kiwis could not even bat for more than 65 overs and were bowled out for a mere 197 runs, thanks to a firy spell by Zaheer and Harbhajan who took 5 and 3 wikects respectively.

INDIA VS NEW ZEALAND 3rd TEST, DAY 1

It was a great pressure situation for kiwi captian as he has to win the 3rd test against India in order to save the test series, else they would loose to India after 41 years. It all started well as Indian won the toss and elected to bat in Basin Reserve with heavy winds all around the ground.

Sachin, Veeru and Dravid walked out cheaply. With only three batsmen playing all over the day Indian could only managed a mere 379 runs in the 1st innings. Kiwi bowlers enjoyed bowling to Indian batters on the day and Martin got 5 wickets in the 1st innings.

2nd Test DAY 5

India played well on Day 4 , Gautam Gambhir played very well to make sure that the test match could be saved. But it all required a fine finish on the day 5. The eye catcher was Very Very Special Laxman's Ton, which not only came in very fine style but also made sure that the test is saved. He along with Yuvi took care of the Kiwi bowling and took India to home. So Indian team were able to save the test match and Kiwi went with thier hands on the heads after the test match.

2nd Test Day 3 & 4

India started day 3 with a lot a pressure to save the follow on. Kiwis bowlers did a great job to take care off the Indian batsmen and managed to give the follow on to the Indian team. This game is a great leveler the Kiwi team out of all sorts in the last test, but in this match Daniel Vettori and company are palying hard to make this series live.

Following on also Veeru missed out on a opportunity to score and gave away his wicket. On the other hand Gambhir looked rock solid and managed to score a ton, when it was much needed for his IPL captian ( acting captain) Veeru. Dravid played a brilliant knock and saved the day for India.

He now holds the record for the man involved in most century partnerships ( 75) . Approaching the end of tyhe fourth day Indian saved day four by loosing only 1 wicket of Rahul Dravid and now on day 5 they trail by 69 runs.

2nd Test Day 2

Kiwis continued to flow like a storm. Runs coming form all directions, Indian bowlers looked very tired on the day and waited for the batsmen to committ some mistakes rather than trying to get them out. Fielding was poor in the first innings, Indian team dropped many catches and Kiwis managed to pile a huge total of 600+ runs. On the second day Skipper Danny Vettori played for a well deserved knock of 50+ along with Mccullum with a ton and Ryder riding on 201.

Indian started with a plan in mind but soon openered fell apart and returned to pavillion very early. India have to play well or else they will have to follow on.

2nd Test Day 1

With Dhoni unfit to plya the second test, It was a challenge for acting skipper Virender Sehwag to make things happen in the Second Test. But things fall apart from the very begining, he lost the Toss, a very Important toss and Vettori smiled seeing his luck coming on the way.
With the desicion to bat first Kiwis looked solid with some early hickups but once the backbone for kiwis on this Indian visit Mr. Jesse Ryder stole the show with some beautiful hits all over the park. It was looking at one point in time that he is going through a net session. Day 1 truly belonged to him.

On the other hands Veeru looked a reluctant captain with very limited resources in the middle of the day 1. He could have used Tendulkar and Yuvi more for as a change bowler very often.

IPL THROWN OUT OF INDIA

IPL second season, the most awaited cricket carnival for which the cricket fans were wiating for a very long time is thrown out of India, due to lack of security personels. This is really unaccepted in a country of 115 billions you don't have security personels to guard international player, but you have those personels helping the goverment to see smooth going of elections.

When people knew that this is what is happening, they can't accept it as this is really very bad. On the other hand, now th IPl INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE would be held in South Africa.

The Indian players are very unhappy about, even for the matter of fact everybody is unhappy about it except Mr. Modi who thinks that there is a good thing hidden in it.

Last day 1st Test

Indians managed a 10 wicket win on Kiwis in the first test. Harbhajan managed to grab some quick wickets to wrap the Kiwis in the second Innings and which gave an oppurtunity to go for a win.

Sachin was judged man of the match for his brilliant innings on the day.

1st Test Day 3

Day three belonged to Indian bowlers and they did well to keep the Kiwis on the backfoot. They bowled very hard and the Kiwis could only manage a target of some runs over 30 runs.

Day 2, 1st Test

GENIUS ON WORK

Day 2 began with Kiwis trying to score some runs to have some respect on the board. In reply after taking all the wickest Indians came all guns blazing at the opponents and quickly tried to take the game away from the KIWIS.

Veeru looked strong, THE WALL batted brilliantly, YUVI looked in form. But the eye catcher was the LEGEND himself. Scoring yet another TON to save the test in a very crucial situation. Made sure that he followed all the coaching manuals made for batsmen, specially after playing for as long as 20 years of International Cricket. With fantastic batting skills Sachin managed to steal the show on day 2.

DAY 1, Ist Test

Vettori leads the way

New zealand could not bat well on the first day of the 1st Test. Could only manage 279 with the help of Ton from Skipper Dan Vettori and Ryder. Ishant bowled a beautiful line and length and managed 3 wickets to push the Kiwis on backfoot.

Ishant celebrates after taking wickets

IPL MATCH SCHEDULE 2009

Apr 10: Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils at Jaipur 8PM - 11PM
Apr 11: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers at Kolkata4M - 7PM
Apr 11: Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers at Chennai 4pm - 7pm
Apr 12: Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab at Delhi8PM - 11PM
Apr 12: Mumbai Indians Vs Rajasthan Royals at Mumbai8PM - 11PM
Apr 13: Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings at Hyderabad8PM - 11PM
Apr 14: Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Bangalore8PM - 11PM
Apr 15: Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians at Mohali8PM - 11PM
Apr 16: Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils at Hyderabad4PM - 7PM
Apr 16: Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals at Chennai8PM - 11PM
Apr 17: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers at Mumbai8PM - 11PM
Apr 18: Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers at Mohali4PM - 7PM
Apr 18: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Darevils at Kolkata8PM - 11PM
Apr 19: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings at Mumbai8PM - 11PM
Apr 19: Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals at Bangalore4PM - 7PM
Apr 20: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab at Kolkata8PM - 11PM
Apr 21: Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians at Delhi8PM - 11PM
Apr 22: Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers at Jaipur8PM - 11PM
Apr 23: Royal Challengers vs Kings XI Punjab at Bangalore8PM - 11PM
Apr 24: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Mumbai8PM - 11PM
Apr 25: Delhi Daredevils vs Royals Challeners at Delhi8PM - 11PM
Apr 25: Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab at Chennai4PM - 7PM
Apr 26: Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Jaipur8PM - 11PM
Apr 26: Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians at Hyderabad8PM - 11PM
Apr 27: Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers at Mohali8PM - 11PM
Apr 28: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils at Mumbai8PM - 11PM
Apr 29: Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals at Mohali8PM - 11PM
Apr 29: Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Chennai4PM - 7PM
Apr 30: Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers at Hyderabad8PM - 11PM
May 1: Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils at Chennai8PM - 11PM
May 2: Mumbai Indians vs Deccan Chargers at Mumbai4PM - 7PM
May 2: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajhasthan Royals at Kolkata8PM - 11PM
May 3: Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings at Mohali8PM - 11PM
May 3: Royal Challengers vs Delhi Daredevils at Bangalore8PM - 11PM
May 4: Deccan Chargers vs Rajsathan Royals at Hyderabad8PM - 11PM
May 5: Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings at Delhi8PM - 11PM
May 6: Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab at Jaipur8PM - 11PM
May 6: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians at Kolkata4PM - 7PM
May 7: Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers at Bangalore8PM - 11PM
May 8: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings at Kolkata8PM - 11PM
May 9: Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians at Jaipur8PM - 11PM
May 9: Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils at Mohali4PM - 7PM
May 10: Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Hyderabad8PM - 11PM
May 11: Delhi Daredevils vs Rajsathan Royals at Delhi8PM - 11PM
May 12: Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab at Mumbai4PM - 7PM
May 12: Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers at Chennai8PM - 11PM
May 13: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers at Kolkata8PM - 11PM
May 14: Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings at Jaipur4PM - 7PM
May 14: Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers at Delhi8PM - 11PM
May 15: Royal Challengers vs Mumbai Indians at Bangalore8PM - 11PM
May 16: Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Delhi4PM - 7PM
May 16: Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab at Hyderabad8PM - 11PM
May 17: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers at Jaipur4PM - 7PM
May 17: Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians at Chennai8PM - 11PM
May 18: Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Mohali8PM - 11PM
May 19: Royal Challengers vs Chennai Super Kings at Bangalore8PM - 11PM
————————————-
May 21: Semi FInal 1 at Chennai8PM - 11PM
May 22: Semi FInal 2 at Chennai8PM - 11PM
May 24: FINALS at Mumbai8PM - 11PM

NZ Wins the 5th ODI

With the help of two splendid half-centuries by Guptill (57) and Ryder (63), New Zealand thrashed India by 8 wickets in the 5th ODI at Auckland. Ryder performed well in the bolwing department too, fetching three crucial wickets - Yuvraj Singh (11), MS Dhoni (9) and Yusuf Pathan (0) and was named Man of the Match.India had defeated the Kiwis in the first ODI (by 53 runs (D/L)), third ODI (by 58 runs) and fourth ODI (by 84 runs (D/L)), thereby, they win the series 3-1. Second ODI was abandoned due to heavy rains.

In the morning, there were showers at Auckland which delayed the match between India and New Zealand. The play was shortened to 43-overs a side. Dhoni elected to bat first, Indian opener Virender Sehwag looked in his dangerous form once again and started to give India a solid start. His shots all over the ground made India cross 50-run mark. But on the other end wickets kept tumbling around - Gautam Gambhir could not support the gutsy right-hander and gifted his wicket early to Mills for just 5 runs.Suresh Raina came in next to partner confident-looking Sehwag. But was soon removed by Jacob Oram with the help of a brilliant Styris catch, for just 8 runs. Sehwag continued his aggressive batting, smashed a confident set of 40 runs off 57 balls and as he looked to get settled, Oram struck for the second time to send him back to pavilion.Yuvraj Singh stepped in to revive Indian innings but was in vain. Ryder took the charge and caught him in slips by McGlashan when he was on 11. India then struggled at 84/3.Skipper Dhoni was expected of a captain's innings but failed to deliver. He misread a Ryder delivery to get clean bowled on 9 runs. This was Jesse Ryder's second wicket for the day.Ryder also removed the new man Pathan for a duck to leave India depleted. Rohit Sharma, at the other end on 21, felt the heat when the batting line-up was exhausted after Pathan's departure.The bottom four Indian wickets tumbled one after the other in regular intervals to wipe off hopes of a fighting total. Harbhajan Singh (1) and Zaheer Khan (5) threw away their wickets when they fell short of crease.

So kiwis got their victory after a long wait.

INDIA CRUISING ON TOP IN ICC RANKINGS

Dhoni's brigade continues to play well and cruise to the top of the ICC ODI Rankings. Presently the stands at number 3 and if they beta Kiwis tomorrow they will step up one more rank to number 2 in the Rankings. Another achievement of MSD to motivate the young guns to be allways on top.

Tomorrow they have all the chance to beat the home team as they are suffering from wounds of last matches.

SEHWAG CRUCIFIES KIWI BOWLER'S

Its yet another feather in Dhoni's cap as India makes sure to take away the series away from the home team. The Kiwi Captain won the toss and decided to do something very uncommon which Indian's have never done in the series so far that is to chase the runs. But the total put on the board was not enough to be defended by the Kiwi bowling attack. The Kiwis could only make a minimal total and even the rain god could not help them to win the match.

In the rain interupted match Veeru and Gambhir made sure that the run rate was never less and they never loose thier wicket. Veeru like allways in this series batted brilliantly and scored a ton and became the Indian to score the fastest hundred in ODI beating Azhar's record.

Gambhir also stood by and after the last rain delay India was comfortably placed at 201 for no loss hence ducworth luis made Indian victorious.

SO HAPPY HOLI , ENJOY CRICKET.
CHEERS!

A TRIBUTE TO HIS HIGHNESS "SACHIN"

No one knew 19 years ago that a tiny thin guy who gave an interview to Tom Alter saying he loves cricket other than anything else would mean it by, like this, that his International Career would last as a king of all times for the almost 2 Decades now. Yes Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar a phenomenon of Cricket himself, believed to be the backbone of Indian Cricket team for ages now. After a gloomy start to his career he made the world think again about his presense in the game.

Many great Legends of the game has the same sort of temprament and love tpwards the game. Be it Don Bradman, Viv Richards, Rohan Kanhai , Javed Miandad, Kapil Dev or be it Sunil Gavaskar. These not only played the game for their country but played and worshiped for themselves just like Sachin allways does.

I still remember one anchor in an awards nite saying that "it is very hard to keep out of controversies for such a long time when you have reached the top of the tree".But yes in Sachin's case he has been a tremendous individual for youngsters to follow. Learn how to keep out of gossips and learn how to plan a career.

Top International players also finds him very calm and learner of the game till date. Who would forget the batting display against Aussies in Sharjah. Shane Warne the then number 1 spinner of the world admitting in the front of camera that after that series he was unable to sleep for many nights as he could see Sachin hitting him across all parts of the ground. Not only players but the fans club extends to the Umpires also. After India played Australia in a Chennai (then Madras) test match Umpire David Sheppard told the press that he has never ever seen a batsmen of Sachin's caliber as it was the first time in his career he has seen the ball being hit for a six in the first session of the first days play.

I salute to you YOUR HIGHNESS and pray for your early recovery to see you back in action on the HOLI DAY.

SACHIN BURRIES KIWIS IN CHRISTCHURCH ODI

India played their 3rd ODI against host KIWIS in Christchurch today. India have already won one match and one match is abandoned due to rain. This was a crucial match for the hos team. But, it started all wrong. Captain Vettori gave way to Mccullum as he was not playing the match today.

As DHONI allways likes to bat first, so here he was again making a choice to bat first on a track which looked in questions due to some dark patches. Even the pitch report could not tell more about the tendency of the pitch. India started badly with VEERU failing and getting out to KYLE MILLS trying to pull without any footwork.

On the other end THE LEGEND ( SACHIN) was playing watchfully. Gambhir also made a mess of a delivery and got out. In came the "SINGH" YUVRAJ SINGH. He along with the senior partner Tendulkar, made efforts to keep teh runrate upto 6 an over. Yuvi showed extraordinary talent to hit a cricket ball out of the park. He smashed 6 swashbuckling sixes. On teh other end Sachin also trying to cut loose and looked to promise and ton. Yuvi made this match look as if he is batting in the nets. On the contrary Kiwi were thinking that its a highlights package on air. With dot balls very hard to come by Yuvi made an error and gave away his wicket.

THE LEGEND continued and broke many records, one of them being a player who made centuries in all international cricket playing countries. Sachin with Dhoni and made the score look awesome and at one point it seemed that Indian can score 400+ rns today. But soon Sachin got reitred hurt and Indians managed to put 373 runs on board which was quite enough for the Kiwis to chase.

The home team did try to start with all guns blazing on the top but again the middle collapsed and kiwi went down the drain. Series stands as 2-0 after 3 matches in India's favour. Its all or nothing for Kiwis now.

Lets see what happens in the next encounter.

IPL 2009

Due to GENERAL ELECTIONS and less security personnels at one point in time, it looked that we would not been able to watch IPL 2009. But yes now after a heavy dialogue between government agencies and IPL Commisioner Mr. Lalit Modi it is now confirmed that the IPL will take place in the same time but with some changes in the venues and days of the matches. This is just because the states are going to host General election in the same time of the IPL matches. But yes cricket fever is back on as the Governement and IPL have agreed for the same.

We would try to cover each and every match and see who makes the most of the money this year. Will it be Rajasthan Royals or somebody else.

We would update you with the timings and days of the tournament as soon as we could.

Till the time CHILL and CHEERS !

NAPIER ODI WASHED OUT

2nd ODI in Napier was a must watch for all Indian Fans. It was a great way to start the morning in India, to see players of great caliber like VEERU, GAMBHIR , THE LEGEND (Sachin) and other members too, blazing away all the bowlers of NZ for runs.

As expected Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat and then Veeru started in the similar fashion blazing all cylinders, caressing and pulling the bowl like the last match outing. Indian started absolutely brilliantly. But the rain started to save the host team by poundering agin and again.

The match was abandoned in the later stages after many haults in play but, really the momnet for the Indian fans was Veeru's batting. He displayed an impressive amount of control on shot making and it was really fun to watch.

Lets wait n watch the next one on SUNDAY, the BIG DAY.

Sehwag Scripts 1st ODI Victory For India

It was a pressure situation for Indian Captain after 2 humiliating loss in the T20 matches. Dhoni wanted to proove that yes he and the touring boys deserve to be ob the top of ICC rankings. The boys did the same as captain ordered , VEERU started in style and literally murdered KIWIS bowlers and burried them in all corners of the ground. It was a fantastic knock which made India to get a total of 273 for loss of 6 wickets in an 38 overs a side match ( rain affected).

In the later hald ZACK and KUMAR bowled impressively to make sure that the last nail is thumped in the coffin of the KIWI team and the chapter is closed for the first win in New Zealand in 2009. The team moves one step closer to make history if they clinch the
series.

So lets wait n watch.

Sri Lanka Team Attacked in Pakistan

Brave Hearts

It will be remembered a black day in the history of International Cricket. The Sri Lankan team after all odds went to Pakistan to make a good gesture in the terms of cricket. The Lankan was travelling from the Hotel to the National Stadium in Lahore where near the stadium the visitors team bus was attacked by some unknown people. This resulted in an expected action from the Sri Lankan Board to call off the tour. The incident resulted in six of the major players of the Lankan team injured badly with bullets wound.

Again the sportsmen will show the world that the win allways favours the braves.

Hats Off to all the Pakistani Soldiers who fought against the terrorrists and to the Sri Lankan Team.

INDIA STRUGGLE AGAINST KIWIS

As we all know that the Indian Cricket Team has arrived in New Zealand for the Schedule to Play T 20 , ODI 's and Test matches against the home team. The tour began with the T20 matches. Two matches have already been played and Dhoni's Army has failed to proove a single point. It is getting harder and harder for the Indian Boys to proove the world that they are the T20 Champs.

In the 1st and 2nd T 20 encounters Kiwis really outplayed the T20 Champs and prooved that they are the ones who started the t20 games. They are really the boss of this arena.

On the other hand Indians played very badly, VEERU managed to play a bit as he has already palyed some matches there but the DHONI brigade fell short of experience in the first 2 matches and played in the hands of KIWIS.

In both matches India was unable to put on a great total on the board and however, even the bowlers could not manage to defend the total. Now, its all upon the experienced guys to play well in the last and final T20 encounter tomorrow to get to atlease the lead from 2-0 to 2-1.

So, lets wait and watch what happens.

You can catch the action live on SET MAX.

PATHAN BROS STEALS THE T20

The only t20 encounter took place in Colombo today. As expected after a shameful performace Sri Lanka was expected to come perform with all guns blazing. After winning the toss the Lankans decided to bat first on a very good looking wicket. With a mixture of expreinced and new squad Dhoni's brigade looked ordinary on the field on the day while bowling. They let Jayasurya and Captain Dilshan to score quickly for Sril lanka and scored 171-4 at the end of Sri lanka's 20 over.

It was Dilshan's half century the pic of the moment. With a handsome total on the board Sri lanka just needed to tak some early wickets to get the hold of the match and it also happened in the same way as VEERU and GAMBHIR departed early. The pressure was all on Yuvi and Dhoni to make the best for the team. But Yuvi played a good knock in a small time and Dhoni tried to stabelize the innings both got out. Raina impressed with some huge sixes in his batting but got out in order to incease the run rate. Then came the Pathan DUO on the crease.

It was highly expected as both of them are hard hitters of the cricket ball, action was soon coming and they really hit the ball brilliantly. Scoring almost every over to meet the required run rate which was at times above 11 run sper over. They played well and with some huge hitting from both the brothers they made sure to get India home comfortably.

They have made the WORLD T20 CHAMPIONS TEAM AND NATION PROUD.

They have really made India and thier family proud too.

Time to celebrate, so enjoy!!!!!

CHEERS !

INDIA AT THE BEST

After three out of three wins in the ODI's Indian team again played at its best to take 10th straight win on the roll and made it to the 2nd spot on ICC ranking. But Sri Lankan's Managed to get the hold of thier basics and managed to clinch a most wanted win in the last one dayer.

So the series was won by India 4-0. Men in blue are in the best of form and would like to repeat the same in the one and only T 20 match.

INDIA WASHES LANKA OUT OF ODI'S

India went in with a possitive frame of mind in the 3rd ODI in Colombo on the 3rd feb. After winning the toss Dhoni elected to bat and with VEERU in a flambouyant mode made an unstoppable ton. On the other hand YUVI impressed with his ton and Indian team achived a EVEREST total of 360+. With Sri Lanka in the must win situation to keep the series alive decided to attack with the openers, but patience pays the most and India got home with flying colors between the home team with a huge margin of 147 runs. Indian defended the huge total well and defeated the Lankans in all departments.

In the 4th ODI today again India managed to win an important toss, same game plan elected to bat put on 330+ on board and kept Lankans away from the target by getting timely wickets.

India has alreasy won the series and are looking to wrapp things out in the best fashion that is 5-0.

CHEERS !

India Won against all odds

2nd ODI between India and Sri Lanka was a must watch match for cricket lovers. Although India managed to clinch the match from Sri lankan team, but the match saw many drastic umpiring decisions and many flaws of Sri Lankan cricketing infrastructure.

First Tendulkar judged lbw on a delivery going down th leg side and then to give the right taste Yuvi adjudged lbw on an inside edge. Later on India managed to score a good 250+ score and made it count by keeping Sri Lankans away from the required run rate.


There was one time when Zaheer bowled to Maharoof, he missed the ball and the ball clipped the stumps but could not dislodge the bails. Everyone was stunned seeing this. Later on even Dhoni tried to run another batsmen out but, he could not dislodge the bails too. Isn't it interesting that besides the ball hitting the stumps by a fast bowler and a run out attempt, the bails were still not dislodged. No matter what but yes India won the second match and are up by 2-0 in the seires.



Zaheer Khan was awarded his 5th Odi man of the match award for his efforts in the match.



Lets wait n watch the next one.

INDIA WON THE 1st MATCH

Indian team made sure to get the match in thier hands as they took control while batting and made sure that the match ends in a win for them. Chasing a score of mere 246 captain Dhoni took the charge and after Sachin went cheapely for just 5 runs he and two of his finds in the Indian team Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir made half centuries each to take a lead of 1-0 i nthe series. Gautam Gambhir is in the form of his life he really batted well and made sure that he with Raina creates a good platform for Dhoni and Yuvi to come and exploit the Lankan spinners and win the match.

Sanath Jayasurya was awarded the man of the match for his outstanding 107 runs. He still looks fitter than ever at the age of 39 and posts real trouble for Indian bowlers today.

So, all in all a good amtch to watch. Next match is on 31st Jan 2009.

INDIA Vs SRI LANKA

Indian and Sri lankas team are supposed to play 5 ODIs and 1 t20 match in the present schedule of the Indian tour of Sri Lanka. Today is the first match of the series India won the toss and elected to field and have managed to restrict the Lankans to mere 246 runs.

But the eye catcher was Sanath Jayasurya's ton. He made hundred at the age of 39 years probably that would be another kind of a record which nobody has done before. Catch us for the latest on this series.

You can catch the live action on NEO SPORTS as well.

CHEERS !

GOOD BYE MATT HAYDEN

Australian Opener Matthew Hayden shake hands and says I'm Done. Yes, he has raised his voice to say goodbye. This came straight after he was dropped both from ODI and T 20 squad. He played many matches and was the author of Australian victory under his captian Ponting. Started his career under Steven Waugh but yes he was known to the world after his spectacuar performance in the past two world cups.

He has given many good memories to Australian cricket and to all cricket lovers.

This Blog really salutes his effort for the game.

Thank you, Matty for whatever you've done to cricket.

AUSSIE FIGHTS BACK

The third test was all about how to handle pressure for Ponting and Co. The match was a thriller ending just ten balls before a scheduled draw. Aussies set a huge target in front of the Proteas keeping the injured captain (G. Smith) in mind. But, yes I am glad to write this that the South African team played to the best of their skills but yes the better team on the day was the Australian team.

The eye catcher was the desperate Aussie bowlers for a wicket , worried Ricky Ponting and above when the team needed he came out to bat with a fractured finger he was Graeme Smith. But, he wud feel bad as aggressive Ntini also cud not save the match for the country with him.

But, yes by winning the test series 2-1 south africans has raised many for the australian cricket now.

Cheers !

South Africa Washes Ausies Down-N-Out

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all.

Great news for cricket fans as South Africa plays Ausies down n out in the 1st two test matches of their Australian tour. As expected that proteas did all the home work that was needed after humiliating loss to England when they were in England. But, yes these wins counts more than any other victory said the South African captain. Really the game was worth watching as South Africa sucessfully chased a huge score in the fourth innings.

Pressure now increases on Aussie captain Ricky Pointing and now media also reports that it could be possible by the end this season many big names would fall down under a list of scrutinity. Already Brett Lee and Symonds are taking a bit of media blows as they are charged of under performing in the first two test matches.

Lets see what happens in the third match.

Till then, cheers !