The third and final Test match between Sri Lanka and India got underway this morning at the historic Brabourne stadium in Mumbai.

India leads the series 1-0 and a win here will put them at the top of the ICC Test match rankings.

Sri Lanka made a strong start to the Test match in the morning session. Although the Indian bowlers made inroads in the afternoon, they could not stop Sri Lanka from achieving a healthy position of 366 for 8, at close of play on the first day.

For Sri Lanka, that man Tillekaratne Dilshan was in fine form again, reaching 109. He was well supported by Angelo Mathews who was unbeaten on an entertaining knock of 86.

For India, Harbhajan Singh picked up 4 key wickets. And then, turned up at the press conference to say that his team mates “looked tired”.

He is nothing, if refreshingly honest, calling it the way he sees it, but I wonder if this will get him into any further controversy. Hopefully not and all the focus will be on the cricket, with 4 engrossing days to go.

Morning Session

Sri Lanka made a strong start to the Test Match, posting 117 for the loss of just one wicket at lunch.

The wicket to fall was that of Tharanga Paranavitana, whose fell to Harbhajan Singh, getting an edge.

Both Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha extracted turn and bounce from the wicket & it promises to be a testing time for batsmen on either side for the next few days.

Tags: Cricket News, India Cricket News, Sri Lanka Cricket, Test Cricket News

Team India somehow managed to make a mountain out of a molehill last week during compaq cup finals in Colombo as they almost gifted away the match to the mighty Lankans.

After the dynamic strokeplay of the little master which propelled India to a total of 319 with the loss of 5 wickets. Sri Lanka had a blistering start in the opening 8 overs largely due to aggressive batting from Jayasuriya and Dilshan. But the spinners put the brakes on to the scoring rate by taking 3 wickets inside 3 overs.

It was an interesting match as it see-sawed for the entire duration. Frankly Indians should have finished off the contest as soon as they got Sangakara’s wicket but missed catches, stumpings and run outs almost cost India the trophy. Thilina Kandamby almost pulled off the chase for Sri Lanka with some dazzling and powerfull hitting but the turbanator returned back for his third spell to finish of the lankans.

The celebrations after each wicket told the whole story. As India sniffed victory, they put a stranglehold on Sri Lanka’s tail and sure enough victory came.

But M.S Dhoni knew that his side were lucky to escape with the trophy today as the bowling and particularly the fielding weren’t up to scratch. Had the fielders taken all their chances then it wouldn’t have been such a close call. Dhoni knows this and he has tried to address this to the rest of the team.

The much needed 2 months break might have added to the rustiness but the sooner they iron it out the better it will be as in high profile tournaments such as Champions Trophy one mistake could cost Indians the match, India are ranked number 2 in the world and if they want to win in South Africa and grab the number 1 spot they have to field and bowl like their life depended on it.

If Team India can iron out those flaws it is certain that they would be able to win the tournament as they have enough talent in the squad and with that they would be able to justify people as to why they have been billed as one of the tournament favorites along with South Africa and Australia.

Posted by Abhi

Tags: Cricket News, India Cricket News, One Day Internationals News

Kumar Sangakkara scored a patient, but valuable century as Sri Lanka edged ahead on day 2 of the third Test match versus India at Colombo. In reply to India’s first innings score of 249 all out, at close of play Sri Lanka were 251 for the loss of 6 wickets.

Nightwatchman Chaminda Vaas played a valuable hand of 47 runs, before being dismissed by Harbhajan Singh, who took two quick wickets. Zaheer Khan took two wickets, those of Michael Vandort for 14 and Thilan Samaraweera for 35.

Anil Kumble dismissed Dilshan for 23.

It has also been an injury prone Test match for the Indians. Yesterday, VVS Laxman twisted his ankle, whilst Sachin Tendulkar jarred his left elbow whilst fielding. Then wicket keeper Parthiv Patel was hit in the face by the ball off an edge from Sangakkara’s bat. Ishant Sharma had also limped off the field with an injury, although it was not serious.

The day’s play has been absorbing and tomorrow’s events could decide the course of this series.

Tags: Cricket News, India Cricket News, Sri Lanka Cricket, Test Cricket News

In a pulsating match that went down to the wire, India beat Pakistan in a bowl off, after scores were tied at the end of 20 overs.

India started badly losing 4 early wickets, before Robin Uthappa & Captain MS Dhoni guided India to a score of 141 for 9 (Uthappa 50, Asif 4-18). Pakistan looked to be on track early on, but India came back into the game with wickets and eventually Pakistan made 141 for 7 (Misbah 53, Pathan 2-20). Misbah was run out off the last ball of the match.

In the bowl off, Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa all nailed the stumps, but the Pakistan bowlers while Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi all missed as a sell-out crowd celebrated an enthralling finale.

You can view a video of the finish at the official world twenty 20 site here.

Tags: Cricket News, India Cricket News, Pakistan Cricket News

Rahul Dravid photo courtesy of Flickr and Rajaram S

The pressures that go with captaining the Indian cricket team are enormous. And it has just taken it’s toll on ‘The Wall’, Rahul Dravid.

In a move that surprised everybody, Dravid stepped down as Indian captain today from both forms of the game. The move is to enable him to focus on his batting. The BBC quoted him as saying, “I enjoyed the captaincy, I loved it, but it can get tough after a while and some of the enjoyment can go away. So, I thought it was the right time to step aside.”

According to the BCCI “Rahul Dravid met Sharad Pawar (the Indian Board President) at Delhi on September 13 and expressed his desire to step down as the captain of the Indian team and requested that he should not be considered for the job from the ensuing Australia series.”

The 33-year-old Dravid assured that he would extend full co-operation to his successor and contribute as a batsman and senior player, the statement added.

BCCI president Sharad Pawar said he has forwarded Dravid’s resignation to the Board.”

The big question now of course is, who will captain India going forward?

In my mind, the contenders are:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni – the current India 20 20 captain. However he is quite inexperienced in Test Cricket. Wearing the gloves, looking after his batting and undertaking the captaincy would be too large a burden.

The other two options are Sachin Tendulkar and dare I say it, Sourav Ganguly once again. Purely looking at the series coming up, against Pakistan and Australia, either of the two would be the best for the job – if they want to do it.

Sachin’s batting did suffer when he was captain, as did Ganguly’s. However Ganguly has a very good captaincy record.

It will be interesting to see which way the board goes.

Stay tuned for more on this….

Tags: Cricket News, India Cricket News, One Day Internationals News, Test Cricket News

Sachin Tendulkar, photo courtesy of Flickr and mangalorecity.com

Shane Warne has completed his list of the 50 greatest players. At the very top of his list is Sachin Tendulkar, just ahead of Brian Lara at number 2.

Warne put Tendulkar ahead of Lara, because of his mental toughness. An example that Warne provides refers to Tendulkar’s 248 in Australia in 2003-04. Warne mentions “he (Tendulkar) was worried about getting out cover driving so he decided to cut out the shot. I saw the wagon wheel for his next innings: he scored 248 without a single cover drive.

Like Lara, he has scored runs all over the world. I have seen him run down the pitch and hit Glenn McGrath over the top for six, and I have seen him hit me for six against the spin going around the wicket. I have been lucky to get to know him off the field as well. He is quiet and humble. A great player and a great man”.

Read about the full list in Warne’s column in the Times.

Tags: Cricket News, India Cricket News, One Day Internationals News, Test Cricket News

Well, the first Test between Bangladesh and India is about to kick off.

The Indian selectors in their infinite wisdom have ended up with a situation, where there is only one recognised opener Wasim Jaffer, in the 15.

So the age old question persists – who will open the batting for India along with Jaffer?

It could be Dravid, it could be Yuvraj Singh making a comeback, it could be Dinesh Karthick or even Sourav Ganguly? Adding to this of course is the possibility that India might go in with fiver bowlers on a flat pitch in hot conditions.

Anyone’s guess I think.

Read more about it here via Rediff

Also interestingly, Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar is trying to play the psychological card, saying that India could beat them 2 zip. Is it mental games or does he truly believe that?

Read more via Cricinfo

Tags: Bangladesh Cricket News, India Cricket News, Test Cricket News

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has said his brother Greg’s decision to resign as India coach was the right one to make but probably left him with a tinge of regret.

“As much as it would seem that Greg is probably better off without all the angst that comes with one of the most demanding jobs in cricket, I doubt he’ll feel completely fulfilled,” the older Chappell wrote in his column in Mumbai tabloid Mid Day on Thursday.

“A perfectionist, even one who has mellowed, is never going to be happy with under-achieving on his expectations.”

Read the full text of Ian Chappell’s comments in his column at the Mumbai based Mid-day paper

Tags: Cricket News, India Cricket News, One Day Internationals News, World Cup Cricket 2007

After India’s disastrous World Cup campaign, Ian Chappell, the brother of current Indian coach, Greg Chappell has suggested that it is time for Sachin Tendulkar to retire.

Ian Chappell who is always forthright and not known to mince his words, suggested in his column in the Mumbai based Mid-day news paper that “At the moment he (Sachin Tendulkar) looks like a player trying to eke out a career; build on a glittering array of statistics.

If he really is playing for that reason and not to help win as many matches as he can for India then he is wasting his time and should retire immediately.”

He also said that Sachin’s form was in direct contrast to that of Brian Lara, who was fleet footed and aggressive in his play. Age and injuries have appeared to take a toll on the Indian, whilst the West Indian has continued to play in the natural style that has been his trademark for long.

Read the full text of Chappell’s article here

Chappell’s comments have been slammed by former players in the Indian media.

Former Indian wicketkeeper batsman Chandrakant Pandit said Tendulkar has played the game for long to judge himself and decide on retirement.

“Sachin Tendulkar is good enough to know his ability and approach towards the game. He is an experienced player and knows how long he should carry on playing,” Pandit said.

“With his experience, he knows what is required at that level, he is very much aware. He can judge himself better than anybody else. I don’t think anybody should advice him whether to continue or not,” he added.

Read more about the reactions to Ian Chappell’s comments here.

Tags: Cricket News, India Cricket News, One Day Internationals News, Test Cricket News, World Cup Cricket 2007

Well, India are almost out of the Cricket World Cup 2007 now, after losing to Sri Lanka by 69 runs in a crucial match today. The only chance that they have is to have Bermuda beat Bangladesh on Sunday, which does look a very, very remote possibility.

So in all likelihood, India will become the second fancied team from the sub continent, to bow out from the tournament in the first round itself.

At the start of the day, Indian captain Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to put Sri Lanka in. The Indian bowlers started well, extracting pace and bounce off the wicket. Danger man Sanath Jayasuriya was snaffled by Zaheer Khan early, to leave Sri Lanka 33 for 1 off 7 overs.

At one stage Sri Lanka were 133 for 4 (off 32.2 overs), but Chamara Silva and Dilshan combined well to preserve wickets and put together a crucial partnership of 83 runs.

Sri Lanka finished on 254 for 6 off their alloted 50 overs.

The Indian reply never really got off to a good start, losing 3 wickets for 44 runs in 12 overs, including the prized wickets of Sachin Tendulkar for zero and Sourav Ganguly for 7.

Captain Rahul Dravid scored a brave 60 and Virender Sehwag put up a fight with 48 runs off 46 balls. However Sehwag’s dismissal, followed quickly by the run out of Yuvraj Singh and then Dhoni LBW to Murali sealed India’s fate.

Eventually India were bowled out for 185 in 43.3 runs. Muralitharan was the man of the match taking 3 wickets for 41 runs.

With the Indian batting failing to fire, when it was most needed, it seems that the hopes of a billion people now vanish with it.

Read the full story of the match here.

Tags: Cricket News, India Cricket News, One Day Internationals News, Sri Lanka Cricket, World Cup Cricket 2007