India Culture, Business, Sports and Food. Get all the buzz in India now

Similar M S Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist: Indian young talented batsman Rohit Sharma said that there are similarities in Deccan Chargers captain Gilchrist and Indian skipper as well as Chennai Super Kings skipper M S Dhoni. He said that both are similar in many prospects as both are cool, calm and composed and they never panic. Both of them love to enjoy their game in any circumstances without any worries. He said both have the striking similarities. Deccan Chargers had finished at bottom in the first season of Indian Premier League while in second season played at South Africa they won the competition. Rohit said that Gilchrist is good leader and his quality brought their team together in South Africa to lift the cup. Adam Gilchrist has enough experience of international cricket which helped him to take team to win the series last year. Dhoni and Gilchrist both don’t take the pressure of the conditions and have ability to play their natural games which makes both of them great skippers and player. Chennai Super Kings headed by Mahendra Singh Dhoni had finished at second rank in first season while in second season they reached fourth position.

Deccan Chargers preparing for 2010 season: Deccan Chargers had won the series last year with nine win of sixteen matches they played while in first season they finished at bottom winning just two matches of fourteen matches and were loser in twelve matches. Rohit Sharma is vice captain of the Deccan Charger and he said that their team is most dangerous team in Indian Premier League and will try to be favorite by winning the title. Rohit Sharma was confident about defending the title but at the same time he also agreed that they will have more pressure as people have more expectations from them now so they will have to work hard to stand at the expectations. He said that their skipper Adam Gilchrist has told them not to take pressure and just to enjoy their game and as long they will enjoy the game, they will be the winner. This season Hyderabad will not be venue for the IPL matches because of security fear in the wake of Telangana agitation. Rohit Sharma was disappointed for Hyderabad not to be venue for the matches which is home ground of the team and spectators had cheered them in first season whether they performed good or bad and it is always big support when people of their zone are there to cheer the team. He said that they will miss Hyderabad but they have got three matches in Mumbai which is his home ground. First match of IPL will be played between Deccan Chargers taking on Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai on March 12, 2010.

Deccan Chargers Team for this season: Rohit Sharma said that they have got players this year as well so they will try to do their best to save the title. He said that they have got Kemar Roach who is Barbadian cricketer and he is good find and also they have got Mitchell Marsh of Australia to whom they saw playing brilliantly in under-19 world cup. Adam Gilchrist will be leading the team as captain and he is also be wicket keeper for the team as well while in batsmen squad team has Tirumalasetti Suman, Herschelle Gibbs, V. V. S. Laxman, Arjun Yadav, Azhar Bilakhia, Rohit Sharma(Vice-Captain), D.B.Ravi Teja, Monish Mishra, Anirudh Singh. Team has got may all rounder player like Ryan Harris, Mitchell Marsh, Dwayne Smith, Yalaka Venugopal Rao, Andrew Symonds, Ashish Reddy and B.Sumanth while in bowling squad team has got R. P. Singh, Harmeet Singh, Chaminda Vaas, Kemar Roach, Pragyan Ojha and Rahul Sharma. Team is blend of experienced and inexperienced players both and team has got maximum run scorer of IPL Adam Gilchrist as well as highest wicket taker R.P. Singh. Team has got all rounder as well other talented batsmen and bowlers and team have got chance once again to get the title. Team will be heading towards the winning title and they will have make best possible combination from their 23 players as IPL committee had limited the squad limit to twenty three to avoid the rush in the dressing rooms.

About Rohit Sharma: Rohit Sharma is young talented player of Indian cricket team and vice captain of Deccan Chargers. He had made his debut in international one day against Ireland at Belfast on June 23, 2007 while he has still not got chance to play any test match so far. In one day international career he has played 42 matches so far and in his 39 innings he has scored 743 runs with highest of 70 runs and caught 18 catches during fielding. In T20 matches he has scored 241 runs in 14 matches. He had made his debut in T20 against England at Durban on September 19, 2007.He has brilliant Twenty20 record of scoring 1444 runs in 57 matches with highest of unbeaten 101 runs. In first class cricket he has played 36 matches and in his 52 innings he has scored 2641 runs. He said that he remember that they will were celebrating the Sachin Tendulkar’s 20 years in international cricket at Ambani’s house when Virender Sehwag had inspired him to score higher and not just looking for hundred or two hundred and in very next first class match he got maiden first class triple century against Gujarat in a Ranji Trophy match and dedicated that unbeaten 309 to Indian opener Virender Sehwag who had inspired him to get that that big score. As Rahul Dravid had recently made comment that the youngsters should play more test cricket but Rohit said that he was not talking about him or players of his age. He referred to the younger player then them who are in age group of 14 and around that. He said that cricket is everything for him and he love to play it whether it is test matches or one day of T20.

England won one day series: England won three one day international series by 3-0. First match was played on 28 February 2010 at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur in which England had chosen to field first after winning the toss and had won the match by 6 wickets. C Kieswetter from England side had started his one day career with this match. Tamim Iqbal of Bangladesh was given man of the match award for his brilliant inning of 125 runs. Second match was also played at same ground on 2 March 2010 in which England won the toss and again chosen to field first and won the match by 2 wickets when seven balls were remaining. From Bangladesh side Suhrawadi Shuvo while from England JC Tredwell started their career with this match. EJG Morgan of England, who scored unbeaten 110, was awarded with man of the match award. Last match played today i.e. on 5 March 2010 at Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong. Bangladesh won the toss and chosen to field first inviting England bat first. In 50 overs England set a target of 285 runs to win the match for Bangladeshi team but Bangladesh team unable to reach the target and scored a total of 239 runs in 50 overs which made England win third and last one day international as well by 45 runs. In this match too one player, A Shahzad, from England side made his debut in one day international. C Kieswetter was given man of the match award for his brilliant inning of 107 runs while EJG Morgan was awarded with man of match series for his excellent performance throughout the series. England won the series without losing any match in the series of three matches.

England inning: England team skipper AN Cook had lost the coin toss so they were invited to bat first by the Bangladeshi skipper. AN Cook and C Kieswetter started inning for their team but skipper AN Cook was caught by Mushfiqur Rahim on the ball of Shakib Al Hasan when he was at an individual score of 32 runs off 43 balls with 3 fours in his inning. KP Pietersen was next man to come in when team had lost one of opening batsman at a total of 59 runs. KP Pietersen added 22 runs from his bat before he was found leg before wicket on the ball of Abdur Razzak. PD Collingwood joined C Kieswetter to continue the campaign of the team to score runs and he gave contribution of 36 runs from his bat and was caught by Abdur Razzak on the ball of Suhrawadi Shuvo. Team had lost 3 wickets on total of 170 runs in 38.2 overs and EJG Morgan was next man to come in to contribute for the team. C Kieswetter was playing extremely well and scored 107 runs before losing his wicket on the ball of Abdur Razzak. In his brilliant inning he hit 9 fours and 3 sixes. Soon EJG Morgan also lost his wicket when he was at an individual score of 36 runs. Tamim Iqbal caught his catch on the ball of Shafiul Islam. LJ Wright and TT Bresnan scored unbeaten 32 and 6 runs respectively for the team. LJ Wright scored those 32 runs in just 13 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes in his inning. At the end of 50 over England had scored a total of 284 runs losing 5 wickets. From Bangladeshi team Abdur Razzak got two wickets while Shafiul Islam, Suhrawadi Shuvo and Shakib Al Hasan got one wicket each.

Bangladesh inning: Bangladesh had to chase a total of 285 runs to win the match. Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes started inning for the team but they failed to give a good start to the team and lost first wicket as Tamim Iqbal without opening the run account of the team. He was caught by Bresnan on the ball of Shahzad. Aftab Ahmed came to bat at this crucial stage and started scoring for the team. Imrul Kayes was caught by Prior on the ball of Bresnan when he was at an individual score of 17 runs. Wicket keeper Mushfiqur Rahim was next man to come in and played well with Aftab Ahmed. They made a partnership of 56 runs for third wicket before Aftab Ahmed lost his wicket during running between the wickets. He scored 46 runs off 60 balls with 7 fours in his inning. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan joined Mushfiqur Rahim in middle to continue the campaign of chasing the total score. Mushfiqur Rahim was caught by Bresnan on the ball of Swann when he was at an individual score of 40 runs off 43 balls with 2 fours. Team lost their four batsmen at a total of 125 runs and team had to go a long way still. Mahmudullah joined skipper in middle but skipper Shakib Al Hasan lost his wicket when he was at 38 runs. He was found leg before wicket on the ball of Pietersen. Naeem Islam was next man to come in but he was caught by Wright on the ball of Swann after adding just 18 runs from his bat. Mahmudullah was caught by Cook on the ball of Bresnan when he was playing at 33 runs. Team lost seven wickets at a total of 211 runs in 44.3 overs and now it was not easy for the team to get the target. Shafiul Islam was caught by Prior on the ball of Bresnan. He failed to open his run account. Abdur Razzak and Rubel Hossain scored unbeaten 17 and 2 runs respectively. At the end of 50 overs team was at a total of 239 runs while they had to make a score of 285 runs to win the match. They lost the match by 45 runs. From England side TT Bresnan was most successful bowler who took 4 wickets for the team, GP Swann clinched two wickets while A Shahzad and KP Pietersen got one wicket each.

Sobers rates Gavaskar as greatest batsman: West Indies cricket legend Gary Sobers was chief guest at a function to honour the epoch-making 1971 team under Ajit Wadekar on Thursday as the feat enters its 40th year. He said that Sunil Gavaskar was greatest batsman which he has seen as he was the man who faced terrifying Caribbean pacers in 1970s and he got breathtaking success which was really great. He said that according to his view Sunil Gavaskar is the greatest batsman he has come across in his life who has opened for the Indian team against the real fast bowlers like Michael Holding, Andy Robers, Colin Croft and Joel Garner which was not easy for every batsman in that era. Sobers said that Gavasker has scored more run while playing away from country like in the West Indies, Australia and England. Gavasker had a fair store with 1971 debut in Caribbean where he scored 774 runs at 154.80 in the series which made him hero.

Players of different era should not be compared: Gary Sobers said that the players of different era should not be compared as conditions have also changed. There is difference in technology and facilities available due to which players can look fit and can perform for longer time. In past, there was lack of such advanced technologies which are present for the players of this era. With time so many things have changed and further advancements are taking place. Sachin Tendulkar is counted among the greatest player of cricket but he has done all which was expected from him. In present era because of advancement in technology conditions have changed drastically and performance of player have increased and also technology advancement enables to take correct decisions by watching reply again and again while it was not so in past. No doubt skills matters and there are players which are really great in this era as were in past but it is not fair to compare great players of different eras.

About Gary Sobers: Sir Gary Sobers was a great all rounder of his era which world have even witnessed in cricket history. He was also captain of West Indies cricket team and had excelled in every field of cricket whether it is bowling, batting or fielding. Gary Sobers was left hand batsman and had three bowling styles left-arm fast-medium, slow left-arm orthodox, slow left-arm chinaman. He played only single one day international match against England at Leeds on September 5, 1973 but he failed to do score any run and took one catch and also clinched one wicket giving 31 runs in 63 balls. In test cricket he made his debut against England at Kingston on March 3, 1954 and became world’s greatest all-rounder ever. He played 93 international test matches in his career and in his 160 innings he batted he scored 8032 runs with his best of unbeaten 365 runs. He made these runs with an average of 57.78 which is brilliant and also took 109 catches which shows his excellence in fielding. In 93 international test matches he hit 26 centuries and 30 half centuries. He played his last test match against England at Port of Spain from March 30 to April 5, 1974. He was brilliant in bowling zone as well taking 235 wickets in 93 test matches with average of 34.03 and excellent economy rate of 2.22. He took eight times four wickets while clinched six times five or more wickets in his test career. His best inning bowling was taking six wickets off 73 runs while in a match it was 8 wickets off 80 runs. His test career data tells how great all- rounder he was of his era and counted among the greatest all-rounder of the world ever have witnessed. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1975 for his services to cricket. He won many awards during his career in cricket like West Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year for year 1958-59, Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1964, The Cricket Society Wetherall Award for the Leading All-Rounder in English First-Class Cricket in 1970, Walter Lawrence Trophy winner in 1974 and awarded the Wisden Cricketer of the Century in year 2000.

About Sunil Gavaskar: Sunil Gavaskar well known as Sunny was well known cricketer of 1970s and 1980s from India. He is regarded as greatest batsman ever for opening in test matches as well as in one day internationals and he set record of 34 centuries during his career which were most centuries scored by any batsman. He also made of record of making maximum runs and record of 34 centuries was unbeatable for about two decades and later Sachin Tendulkar broken the record in December 2005. He started his test career against West Indies at Port of Spain played from March 6 to March 10, 1971. In his test career he played 125 matches and in his 214 test innings he scored 10122 runs with an average of 51.12 and highest of unbeaten 236 runs. He hit 45 half centuries and 34 centuries in his test career and also took 108 catches during fielding. In one day career he played 108 matches scoring 3092 runs in his 102 innings with highest of unbeaten 103 runs. He hit one century and 27 half century in his one day career. He had started his one day career against England at Leeds on July 13, 1974 and played last one day international against same team at Mumbai on November 5, 1987. His last test match was against Pakistan played at Bangalore   from March 13 to 17, 1987. He was awarded with various awards like Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1980 and Padma Bhushan for his excellent performance in cricket. In his era he was among greatest batsmen of world who faced every kind of bowling attack whenever team needed. He was not so successful during his captainship but as a batsman he was brilliant and held many records in his era.  

Youngsters should be preserved: Indian selectors haves eyes for future and want to preserve the talented players. Selectors have a challenge of selecting a good squad for upcoming world cup which can make team win the cup for the country. In past too Indian selection committee chairman had preserved with a youth policy for which they were criticized at that time and team had also many series but selectors were looking for the future. Vijay Merchant had given chance to countless young players during the 1969-70 season and did not step back even after the failure of team against Australia and virtually lost the series to New Zealand as well but he did not leave his hopes from those talented players. He also continued trying the talented players in next season too and as a result the team under Ajit Wadekar notched up historic triumphs in West Indies and England in 1971. He did not care about the early losing by teams but at end he made a strong team by investing in young talents of the country. Now Indian selection committee is headed by Dilip Vengsarkar and Kris Srikkanth and they want to make a powerful squad for the world cup not bothering much about few game loss now, They are giving chance to new players and trying to found out who can be future for the team in long term and which players can be discarded. India has so many talented players and selectors need to find the real talents from them which can become part of Indian squad and can give promising results. Selectors want to give chance to more and more talented youngster now at international level so that they can test their skills. This may lead team to lose some matches for present but team will have a better future when senior players will retire from the team. Many young players were given chance in last one day match against South Africa in last one day match as team had already won the series by winning first two matches of three match series. Selectors think that they need to give some more chances to the talented players to show their skill and they will get result of it in long term.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Murli Vijay talents for future: Team selectors has found some young players who have the talents and are expected to take place in team. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma gave a partnership of 95 runs for the team against South Africa in Ahmedabad in last one day match when team needed it which shows that they have bright future and they are among the best young batsmen in country and better than other contender. They have the ability to play in pressure conditions and can tackle the tough situations with ease. Team has senior players like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid who are expected to retire from team in couple of years and these young players can take their place in the team. Virat Kohli has so far played 23 international matches for the team and in his 20 innings he has scored 847 runs with average of 52.93. He has made two centuries and six half centuries in 20 innings. Rohit Sharma has got chance in 42 one day international matches in which he played 39 innings. He failed to make big scores but he also seems to be real talent. Team management need to give the players chance in test matches as well where they will have more time to play and their skills will be tested in five day match. Murli Vijay has got chances in five test matches and also in a one day international match. He also has talent and has the ability to give team a promising future. Suresh Raina is also a talented player and can make his name in the future squad as senior player VVS Laxman can be replayed by him. He is also a good in fielding which will be also an advantage for the team. No doubt there are countless players who have the talent to give a better team to country in future. Selectors are looking for the long term and giving chances to young player to give country a better cricket team for future.

Indian team performance against South Africa: Indian team was not having many experienced players like Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan in the series against South Africa but still team managed to win the series in their absence. First match played at Jaipur was tough fight between two teams and Indian team won the match by just one run. In second one day international match Sachin Tendulkar made all difference which his unbeaten double hundred due to which team managed to score a total of 401 runs and won the match comfortably with 153 runs. Team had won the series by winning the first two matches of three match series and team selectors gave chance to the new comers in the last one day international match. Team had given rest to Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag too while many experienced players were already not playing because of injury and Indian team played in final match with most of inexperienced players. Team was having skipper M S Dhoni was most experienced player in team in that match. It was time when selectors were looking for the future of Indian cricket. They made experiments in the last match to judge the inexperienced players and two players A Mithun and M Vijay started their one day career with this match. Team was not worried about the result of the match as team had already unassailable lead of 2-0 but they had chance to check the new players. India lost the final match by 90 runs. Fast bowling is big concern for Indian team and team need to find some good fast bowlers who can consistently bowl for the team at a speed of about 140 kmph. Team has experienced pacer Zaheer Khan but team need some more bowlers who can bowl well even in pressure conditions.

Sachin Tendulkar supports hockey team: Indian master blaster Sachin Tendulkar is supporting the Indian hockey team in the world cup and said that he is fan of hockey team captain Rajpal Singh and all of his men. He said that he is not expert of hockey but he is fan of his countries hockey team as everyone else in the country. Sachin Tendulkar wished team good luck for the rest of the tournament saying that he is in their support whether they perform well or they fail to live up to their  expectations. He was talking to media after Indian hockey team win over Pakistan team by 4-1 in the opening match and said that he has hope that team will also continue their same performance for the rest of the tournament. He said that he is talking the behalf of billion plus population of country that we will always be with you as your performance may be fluctuating but our support for the team will always be consistent. Sachin told that the there may be sometimes hard time for the hockey team but their support for the team will be increasing and they will be standing with the team in every conditions. Whole country has big hopes from the hockey team as it is our national game and we have only won one world cup title in hockey so far in 1975 and after that team failed even to make place in top three teams of world cup.

Sachin motivated hockey team by statement: Sachin Tendulkar motivated the team with his statement in media. He is true legend of India and serving countries cricket team from past two decades making many records to his name. Sachin Tendulkar boosted Indian team by his statement that whole country is with the hockey and supporting them on their way in the tournament and will be with them in any kind of circumstances. Sachin Tendulkar’s statement shows his love for his country’s national game while is cricketer but he is also a true Indian citizen who has proud on his country and supports his country. He has shown his talent in two decades and still his batting is improving and counted among greatest batsmen ever in the cricket history. He wants his country team to win the tournament and prove themselves that they are not behind in any field whether it is hockey or cricket. India is also hosting world cup so they are playing at their home ground in front of their own audience which is a huge boost for the team as well. It also increases hopes from them as well but whole country is supporting them to get the cup and make country proud on them. When legend like Sachin Tendulkar makes such statement to motivate the team showing his spirit for sports as well as love for his country is real boost for the hockey team.

Other celebrities in hockey team support: Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag is advertising for the team that he is supporting the team and he will be cheering Indian hockey team and will go to watch the matches as these are in our own country. Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra and Olympic silver medal winner Rajyavardhan Rathore also seen in advertisement supporting the Indian hockey team which a good spirit and they are making sleeping people of country awake that it is time to be with hockey team and cheer them so that they can perform better for the country. They did not fail in their target and people of country are in support of team whose result was seen in the opening match of the Indian team where stadium was houseful with spectators boosting their team to win the match and move forward for the winning the title. Hockey is our national game and sometimes games like cricket are given more appreciation which was not fare for the hockey but now the cricketers as well as many other celebrities are with team and making common people aware that they should show their nationalism supporting the team as team need them now. Team is hungry for the title Indian team had won world cup in 1975 while in 1971 and 1973 they were at runner up positions so in this championship they have golden opportunity.

Indian hockey team in world cup 2010: Indian hockey team is getting huge support from the billion plus population of the country and it also increases hopes from them. Team would like to win the title to stand on the hopes which are made by people of the country and they have shown good performance in their opening match beating Pakistan with difference of three goals while they failed in front of Australian team in second match. First match of Indian team was on the starting day of tournament i.e. February 28, 2010 against four time hockey world cup winner Pakistan but Indian team won the match because of their skill. Shivendra Singh and Prabhjot Singh had scored one goal each for the team while Sandeep Singh had scored two goals and team got an easy victory. From Pakistan side there was only one goal from Sohail in return of four goals of Indian team. Center forward Shivendra Singh was banned for the next three matches for the injury caused to Pakistani player in 39^th minute of game while he had not done it intentionally but director of tournament Ken Read took it seriously. Later after appeal jury reduced the ban to two matches and he was not allowed to play against Australia and also can’t take part against Spain. In the second match, Indian hockey team performance was not as attacking as seen against Pakistan. Indian team lost the match with difference of three goals against Australia. From Australian side De Young, Doerner and Abbott scored one goal each while Turner scored two goals in the match. Indian team was able to score just two goals which were scored by Pillay and Singh. Team has to long way yet in the tournament and billion plus people of India have hope from the hockey team.  

Shivendra Singh’s ban reduced to two matches: Shivendra Singh is Indian centre forward player of hockey team and was banned for next three consecutive matches by tournament director Ken Read which is reduced to ban of two matches by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). It was during the opening match of team which Indian team won by 4-1. Indian team management had made appeal and the three members Appeal Jury ruled on Tuesday that Shivendra Singh’s action in raising the stick was reckless but that he did not deliberately intend to cause any kind of injury to the Pakistani player Fareed Ahmed. Antonio von Ondarza, president, FIH Appeal Jury said that they found that it constitutes physical assault as referenced in the FIH Code of Conduct Guidelines of Offences and Penalties and Jury concluded that the offence was Level 2 under Article 15 of the tournament regulations and the act was reckless but it was not intentional act by the player therefore a minimum plenty of suspension of two matches. After two match suspension he can play against England but can’t play next two consecutive matches against Australia and Spain. Indian team manager and national coach Harendra Singh said that Shivendra had pleaded that his action was not intentional and he also assured that he will be more careful in future to avoid any such act.

Ken Reads had suspended for 3 matches: Australian Ken Read is director of the tournament and he had suspended Indian hockey player Shivendra Singh after hearing of breach of the code of conduct in the match against Pakistan played on February 28, 2010. Ken Read wrote in his letter that in the 39^th minute of the match Pakistan vs India, Pakistani player Fareed Ahmed was in possession of the ball and Indian player Shivendra Singh successfully jab tackled Fareed and move off on the counter attack. As he moved past Fareed his lifted his stick and struck Fareed above the eye causing a small cut. He has written that as Shivendra viewed the video of the incident and showed his team video frame by frame. At the time the stick was lifted the ball was ahead of Shivendra on the ground and away from the players. These facts were agreed to by Shivendra at the hearing. Shivendra argued at the hearing that the stick was lifted when he put his second hand on the stick It was argued that an accident happened. Shivendra stated that he had no intention to hit Fareed after the jabbing and just wanted to run faster and for that to hold his stick in the both hands. Ken Read rejected his argument with reason that there was no need for the stick to be lifted and Ken found that the stick was deliberately raised and that the behaviour of Shivendra was reckless as to the safety of Fareed. Ken mentioned in the official letter that he was asked to take into account the fact that Shivendra commenced to represent India in 2006 and played in the 2006 world cup. He has played 110 games without suspension and he was also told that he has not had a single card in his career, that he is a very disciplined player on and off the ground. Ken Read found that the attitude of Shivendra at the hearing was respectful and he took this into account in his favour together with his past record. According to Ken Read the guidelines put this as a level 2 offence having physical assault without serious injury. He wrote in the official letter that the penalty suggested is a minimum of 2 matches but in his view this is not a case to apply the minimum because the ball remained on the ground at all times and was clear of the players when the Fareed was struck. The action of lifting the stick was deliberate. A 4 match suspension is appropriate but given the history of this player he considers that a suspension of 3 matches is appropriate. As no penalty was incurred by Shivendra during the match there can be no discount under 4 (iii) of the Guidelines to Tournament Director’s. He decided to suspend Shivendra Singh for next three matches which were to be played against Australia, England and Spain.

Indian team missed Shivendra Singh in match against Australia: India had won their first match of the tournament in which Shivendra Singh had scored one goal for the team and team had won the match by 4-1 but team lost their match against Australia played on March 2, 2010. Team missed Shivendra Singh in the second match as he is good played and his presence makes the difference. He is center forward player and because of his absence another player was given his position for the match but team failed to do much in the match and lost the match. In the opening match against Pakistan, Indian team had shown good game and team had scored four goals. Shivendra Singh and Prabhjot Singh had scored one goal each for the team while Sandeep Singh had scored two goals and team got an easy victory over four time world cup winner Pakistan. In the second match Indian team failed to continue same game which they shown in first match. Team was looking helpless in front of Australian team and lost the match with difference of three goals. In the match De Young made the first score for Australia very early in the game in second minute and in tenth minute Turner increased their lead by scoring goal. In 26^th minute Australian player Abbott scored goal which made their team in a comfortable lead of three goals but just before the end of first half Pillay scored first goal for Indian team. After half time Australian team was heavier on Indian team and scored two more goals. Doerner scored goal in 42^nd minute while Turner scored his second goal of the match in 43^rd minute which made the score of 5-1. Later Singh scored goal for Indian hockey team in 53^rd minute and after that failed to score any goal and lost the match with final score of 2 goals from Indian side against 5 goals from Australia. Team missed Shivendra Singh and he also can’t play in next match against Spain which is big setback for the team but team will try to win the match.

Bowling not settled yet: Indian cricket team is worried about the fast bowlers in the team for the world cup. As other than Zaheer Khan there is no bowler on whom team can rely in the match. In the series against South Africa team made many experiments with young talented fast bowlers and some were given chances against Bangladesh but team has still failed to find someone who can take the command of team in fast bowling sphere. Team needs some good fast bowlers for the world cup squad who can bowl consistently for the team at a speed of about 140 kmph. Team had witnessed how Indian bowlers failed against South Africa in final match and no doubt team can’t dream to win world cup with such fast bowlers who gives away so many runs and not have ability to take break through for the team whenever team needs. Team has many fast bowlers but not any consistent bowler which can take permanent place in the team as last season team had many fast bowlers like Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Sudeep Tyagi, S Sreesanth, L Balaji, Ashoke Dinda and Abhimanyu Mithun who were going through some matches but were unable to make a permanent place in the team. There are so many talented players in the country and selectors need to select the right players which can make team India win the world cup as team has not got this honor after 1983. Before the world cup tournament team has to play many matches but team has not much time to do much experiments as it will be not a good deal to make a completely fresh player to launch straightway in world cup tournament. More over team needs a bowler who can have the ability to bowl in any conditions and even in condition of pressure team can rely on them. Team management as well as skipper M S Dhoni is worried about the Indian fast bowling attack as not have any pacer other than Zaheer Khan who can make place in team permanently.

Worried about economy: It is important concern for the team as bowlers gives away so many runs whether it is power play over or other over of the match. If team has to win the match then team need that a bowler not only take the wickets but also able to restrict the opponents from scoring much runs. It is not seen with most of Indian pacers and most of Indian pacers have poor economy rate which is not a good sign for the team. In the last three one-day series, the pacer’s economy rates read: Nehra (7.05), Praveen (5.92) and Sreesanth (7.38). In the tri-series in Bangladesh, the pacers’s struggle was more pronounced than ever. Nehra’s series economy rate was 6.27 while Sreesanth finished with figures of 6.68 in five matches. This shows how bad Indian bowlers are performing at international level and team can’t hope from such bowlers to bring the world cup at home. Skipper M S Dhoni has also expressed his disappointment with the bowlers as they don’t have any fast bowler who can give good performance in the overs when team needs that. Most of the bowlers prove to be very expensive in those critical overs when they are given the ball to save the runs for the team but under pressure they fails and results into dismal show of bowling and sometimes also lead team to lose the match. Team selectors would like to search some good bowlers who can be part of Indian team in the world cup tournament which will be taking place next year. Team management will also have a big concern about the injuries of the bowlers as so many times bowlers have to miss the matches and sometimes whole series because of injuries so they will need some extra players with excellent quality skills in their game. Team should have the options that if one bowler is not in form then they can replace by another for the match and experience of international cricket will also be a big factor for the world cup competition.

Powerful batting line: Indian batting line up contains some of the world’s best batsmen who can change the conditions of the match anytime. Indian team can boast on their batting line up having players like master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, skipper M S Dhoni and many other who can play role of match winner player and can hide the weakness of their fast bowlers. How long team can hide the weakness of the fast bowlers and they will need to find some fast bowlers for the team who can give excellent performance for the team. Team has many options for the batting squad of the team for the world cup as there are many young talents coming through and also many experienced players in the team but when it comes to the squad of the pace bowlers there are many names but none of them are not still able to make permanent place in the team. Team will need to find the fast bowlers as soon as possible before time runs away and will have to test them well through various matches and in different circumstances that how they can tackle the problems and can become a match winner player. Selectors need not to worry much about the batting squad having wide options with them. It will be last world cup tournament for master blaster Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar who have played with passion from last two decades and have made his name among the greatest players of cricket in the world. He has taken the team close to win seven years back in South Africa and this time he has got chance to fulfill his dream to be part of world cup winning squad of the Indian team. Indian cricket coach Gary Kristen is also worried regarding the pacers for the team and trying to find the real talents for the team.

Time to savour each inning of Sachin: Sachin Tendulkar is playing international cricket from decade and with increasing age he will have to take retirement one day from cricket. He is the man who makes the difference in almost every match and every team has fear of Sachin Tendulkar. As he will retire it will affect Indian cricket to a large extent which other players retirement did not affect so much. It is time we savour his every inning he plays for the team and enjoy every moment of his game whether it is score from his bat or his catches during the fielding. He wants his team to win world cup 2011 as this will be his last world cup match before his retirement. He had almost did it about seven years back in South Africa but team failed to lift the cup in that world cup and now in year 2011 team has got chance to win the cup for the country. World cup 2011 will be after one year and he has still many matches to play before that and he is improving with every game he plays. He has still stamina to stand on the ground for the team for complete 50 over of batting as he proved with his double hundred against South Africa in second one day international match played in month of February. His retirement from the international cricket will be a big setback to Indian team and there is no other player who can take his place.

Sachin Tendulkar or Sir Donald Bradman: Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar is counted among greatest cricketer and he has been playing in the international match from last two decades and made many records. He is compared with greatest players of world like Sir Donald Bradman and Vivian Richards. It is not easy to decide who has been greatest player of cricket ever whether it is Sachin Tendulkar or someone else as there are also legends like Sir Donald Bradman. There are many debates regarding it and it is not easy to decide one. Sachin Tendulkar has scored 93 international hundreds while playing for the country under the pressure of more than billion people who were having big hopes from him with every match. He became the first batsman ever to score a double hundred in one day international match. He is great player no doubt but he can never hope to equal Sir Donald who had test match batting average of 99.94 but the adaptability which Sachin has shown is not something which Sir Donald Bradman never needed to display. The way he has played throughout his career in last two decades under various circumstances of pressure and whenever team needed has made him great player. Sir Donald Bradman’s test batting average had fallen drastically in one series and had reached to 56 plus in which he had looked deadly while while faced with the guile of the shrewd Douglas Jardine and his bowling spearhead Harold Larwood. Sir Donald Bradman had never pressure of billions of fan as Sachin Tendulkar have but he had launched Australia from the conditions of depression and had fought in way in which no other can never. Sachin is really great as he is one who knows that billion plus people of country has expectations from him.

Sachin’s nationalism: Sachin Tendulkar is among greatest players and he is proud to be citizen of India. Sachin always have tricolor flag on his helmet and gloves which are specially designed with the colours of flag of India. He has also a flag pinned to his cricket coffin which shows his nationalism. He never boasts for anything and says that his name is Sachin Tendulkar and player for his country, India. India is a secular country and Sachin is the player fulfilling the passion of billion plus fans from India from last two decades. Sachin is not just a cricketer but an icon and a phenomenon to whom we are blessed to watch practicing his art in front of us. He had said after his double hundred during the award ceremony that he dedicates his century to people of his country that were always with his in ups and downs of his career. He gave credit of it to whole nation for what he is and people have shown trust in him in various conditions.

Sachin Tendulkar-A Legend: Sachin Tendulkar is player with great strength and he is a true legend. He had started his international career in test against Pakistan at Karachi played from November 15-20 in year 1989 and started one day career against Pakistan at Gujranwala on Dec 18, 1989. After that he has played 442 one day international matches and has scored 17598 runs in his 431 innings with 46 hundreds and 93 half centuries. He is highest run scorer in international one day cricket and maximum hundreds record is also at his name. He is the only man who has scored double hundred in a one day international match. He has caught 134 catches in his one day fielding and taken 154 wickets as well in one day bowling career with his best of 5 wickets at 32 runs. He is equally great in test cricket as well and he has played so far 166 international test matches. He has scored 13447 runs in his 271 innings of test cricket with highest of unbeaten 248 runs. He has 47 hundreds and 54 half centuries in his test career and has caught 104 catches during fielding. He has also taken 44 wickets while bowling in test cricket matches with his best of clinching 3 wickets giving away just 10 runs. He has batting average of 45.12 in one day matches while in test average of 55.56 which shows how consistent he is with his game. He still loves to bat and he is really a superhuman with such an ability and talent with his batting as well as with his physical strength. Sachin has said after double century, in which he was on pitch for 50 over of match against South Africa, that he would like to play such an inning again standing 50 over for the team which is true test of his physical fitness.

India beats Pakistan in opening match: It was third match of the world cup started at 20:35 according to Indian Standard Time between the teams of pool B India and four time world cup winner Pakistan at Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Indian team got a clear victory against Pakistan in their opening match with final goal score of 4-1. Indian team started their campaign of goals with first goal by Shivendra Singh in the 27^th minute of the match and Sandeep Singh further continued the campaign and extended the lead of the team by scoring another goal in 35^th minute, just before the half time break. India was leading in the game by two goals at the end of first half of the game because of excellent performance of the Indian hockey team and they did not let score any goal to Pakistani team before first half. Just after two minutes after end of half time break Prabhjot Singh scored goal for the team and further extended the lead of the team by 3-0. Pakistan team was looking helpless in scoring any goal and Indian team was extending their lead over them and later Sandeep Singh scored his second goal of the game and made team lead with 4-0 in 57^th minute of the game. Now team was in comfortable zone and victory was almost sure for the team as 13 minutes were left in the end of the game time. Sohail of Pakistan succeeded to score the only goal from Pakistani team in 65^th minute and India won the match with comfort with final scores of goal as 4-1. Sandeep Singh who scored two goals in the match in 35^th and 57^th minute of match was awarded with man of the match award for his excellent performance in the match. Indian team will face Australia on March 2 and Indian team has got confidence by winning first match and Australia has lost first match against England.

Chak De moment of Indian hockey team: The Indian Hockey Team played extremely well in their opening match against Pakistan of hockey world cup 2010. As the team shown their unity and excellent performance in the match which made people talk about it. Well known internet site Twitter saw most passionate posts on the sites regarding the performance of Indian team in the match. Cricket is very popular game and most of people tweet about cricket but with the performance of Indian hockey team sports lovers started making tweets on the performance of the Indian hockey team after a clear victory over four time world cup winner Pakistan. On the day of match there was house full during the match and there were Indians to support their team. It was like a chak de moment for the team with such a three goal difference victory in front of own supporters from across the country. It was real time when players proved their talent in front of people with house full stadium and proved that they are not weaker than anyone and are strong competitor for hockey world cup title. Whole country was in colour of hockey and people appreciated the performance of the team that they are trying to make the name of country with national game.

India in hockey so far: India is a country with population of billion plus people and eyes of people were on the team as team has not won hockey world cup since 1975. Indian hockey team had won hockey world cup beating Pakistan by 2-1 played at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Team was in bad conditions from long time but they woke up on time before the world cup. India is hosting the hockey world cup this year and they have also benefit of having home ground so have chances to win the world cup tournament. Hockey is national game of India but team has really failed in hockey in world cup as in previous 11 world cup Indian team was able to win only one while Pakistan has honor to win world cup for four times, Netherland have won three times while Germany has won the titles two times and Indian team was able to win hockey world only once as Australia did. India was at rank three in year 1971 beating Kenya which was hosted by Spain while team got rank two in year 1973 which was hosted by Netherlands and Netherlands was also the winner of the world cup that year. India has so far won eight gold, one silver and two bronze in summer Olympics and in Asian games Indian hockey team has won total twelve medals which contains two gold, nine silver and one bronze medal while in Asian Cup Indian team has honor of winning gold medal for two times, silver for four times and bronze once but in hockey world cup team has one medal of each three type.

About movie Chak De! India: Chak De! India is movie released in year 2007 and it was based upon the field hockey in India. Movie was directed by Shimit Amin and produced by Yash Raj Films with star actor Shahrukh Khan as Kabir Khan who was former captain of the Indian hockey team. As Indian team loses against the Pakistan hockey team, Kabir Khan is disliked in the sport and he is further forced from their ancestral home along with his mother by the angry neighbors. After seven year Kabir Khan attempts to redeem himself and becomes the coach of Indian women’s hockey team with the goal to make his team of sixteen player making the a champion team. He works hard with the woman players of the team and prepare them well for the game and make them win the goal after which he restores his reputation and decide to return back to his home with his mother. He was welcomed by his neighbors who had shunned him some years back. Movie was proved to be blockbuster of year 2007 and had earned third maximum gross income in that year.

IPL 2010 from March 12: Third season of Indian Premier League will be starting from March 12, 2010 and will last till April 25. There will be total 60 matches. IPL is a T20 cricket competition created by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and chaired by the Chairman & Commissioner IPL, BCCI Vice President Lalit Modi. First season was ended with victory of Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in the final at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai while in year 2009 it was organized in South Africa because of date coinciding with election due to which proper security management was not possible. Second season was ended with win of Deccan Chargers. IPL currently has eight teams which are owned by some popular bollywood personalities or some business tycoons. This year IPL will be held in India and will last for 45 days and for this year four venues are added to 2008 year venues for IPL. New added venues are Nagpur, Vishakhapatnam, Ahmedabad and Dharamsala. IPL has also signed agreement with You Tube for the live streaming of all 60 IPL matches for 2 years. These matches will be shown little late in countries where broadcast rights are also given to television channels and there will be no broadcast on You Tube in USA.

IPL authorities to restrict playing squad: The Indian Premier League is about to start from March 12, 2010 and after receiving the feedback from most of the teams about the crowded dressing rooms authority has asked all franchises to restrict their playing squad. IPL authority has told to all eight franchises that for this third edition of the IPL they should restrict their playing team to 23 players so that dressing room is not crowded. Now all franchises are making the optimum size of their playing squad for the third season. Jonty Rhodes, fielding coach of Mumbai Indians welcomed the decision made by IPL authority to restrict the playing squad. He said at Cricket Club of India that it is really difficult thing for a coach to have a big squad of 30 players and how you can make all of them practice and keep them in form for the matches to make team win the matches. He said there is not much space in the dressing rooms because of big squads and while we are playing in a country like India the replacement is every easy as there are so many talented players available but with 30 players in squad it is really difficult to have a health meeting.

Mumbai Indians relied on international players: Mumbai Indians is most expensive IPL team but they even failed to get into top four teams in first two seasons of IPL. Mumbai Indians had finished at fifth rank in first season while in second season they were at rank seven in eight teams competing in the league. Team was dependent on most of the international players like Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Sanath Jayasuriya, Dilhara Fernando. Fielding coach of team said that poor performance of the domestic players was the primary reason for the poor show of the team. He said that if team has to win then local players will have to contribute for the team and last year most of youngsters showed poor performance which made them lose the matches. He said Abhishek Nayar playes some good shots towards the end but it was not still to mark which is expected from the younger players. He said team was completely relied on the international player in batting as well as bowling and there was not much contribution from the young local players who were selected with big hopes. Team also has many local players this year too with many well known international players but to win the matches they just can’t rely on the international players only and every man from the team will have to prove their talent to make the name of team.

About Mumbai Indians: The Mumbai Indians team is most expensive team of Indian Premier League as it was purchased by Reliance Industries Limited at a total of 111.9 million dollars during auction on January 24, 2008. Director of Mumbai Indians is TA Sekhar while brand ambassador is bollywood star actor Hrithik Roshan. Mumbai Indian has world’s highest paid cricket Sachin Tendulkar who is known as the Icon Player of the team. Team has head coach Robin Singh and deputy coach Paras Mhambrey with assistant coach Pravin Amre. For the bowling and fielding coaching for the team Shaun Pollock and Jonty Rhodes are in staff respectively. Team was unable to make their name in first two seasons but they have hopes to win the competition this year. Team has bought West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard for USD 750,000 during auction for year 2010 and team has chosen Harshal Patel from under-19 team for price of Rs. 800, 000. For the 2010 IPL, Mumbai Indians squad of 23 playerswill be having batsmen as Sachin Tendulkar who is also skipper for team as well, Saurabh Tiwary, Jean-Paul Duminy, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu and all-rounder like Sanath Jayasuriya, Ryan McLaren, Graham Napier, Rajagopal Sathish, Abhishek Nayar, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Ali Murtaza. Team has kept two wicket keepers in the squad which are Chandan Madan and Aditya Tare while bowlers in the squad are Harbhajan Singh, Syed Sahabuddin, Dilhara Fernando, Dhawal Kulkarni, Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga, Ishan Malhotra and Rahul Shukla. Team has many great players of the world in bowling and batting squad like master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, South African sensation, Jean Paul Duminy, Sri Lankan all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya, West Indies all- rounder Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard while in bowling squad are Indian well experienced spinner Harbhajan Singh, Sri Lankan fast bowler Dilhara Fernando and Lasith Malinga. To win the title and prove themselves team will have to work hard and they can’t just depend on one man of the team and they will need a team effort for winning the matches and make their registered as winners.

Last match of series: South Africa beaten in last match by 90 runs of the three one day match series. It was day night match played at Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahemdabad. India was leading in the series by 2-0 and team had given rest to senior players in the match as team had already won the series. Team management had given the chance to the new players and some other player who were less experienced but they failed to make team win the match and lost the final match. South African skipper won the coin toss and elected to bat first inviting Indian team to field first. South African team scored 365 runs losing 2 wickets in 50 over game and in return Indian team lost all wickets at a total of 275 runs in 44.3 over. From South African team two players hit centuries while bowlers also shown their game which made them win the last match at least as they had already lost the first two matches. AB de Villiers was awarded with man of the match award for his excellent performance in match while Sachin Tendulkar got man of the series award for his double century in second one day international.

South Africa Inning: South African skipper has elected to bat first after winning the toss. Team had already lost first two matches and now they were not in mood to lose this last match. LL Bosman and HM Amla opened the inning for the South African team and they had come with intension to make a big score so that they can pressurize the Indian team. They played extremely well and did not let any Indian bowler get into rhythm and hit shots all the way. LL Bosman was first man to lose his wicket when Ravinder Jadeja caught him on the ball of Yusuf Pathan. He scored 68 runs on 46 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes in his inning. Team was at 113 when they lost first wicket and skipper JH Kallis continued the inning for the team with HM Amla. Skipper played his role very well and did not give any chances to Indian bowler to take his wicket. HM Amla lost his wicket when team was at a total of 192 runs and he was at an individual score of 87 runs with 8 fours in his inning. AB de Villiers joined skipper JH Kallis in middle and shown his magic from his bat. AB de Villiers and JH Kallis both completed their century and hit big shots. None of Indian bowler was able to take their wicket and both batsmen were on fire from their bats. JH Kallis scored unbeaten 104 runs in 94 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes in his inning while AB de Villiers was just brilliant and scored unbeaten 102 runs in just 59 balls with 11 fours and 3 sixes in his inning. They made team reach a score of 365 runs at end of 50 over which was not an easy target to get for India. From Indian side only Jadeja and Pathan were able to take one wicket each while all other experiments used by skipper failed to do much for team.

Indian inning: Indian team had given rest to senior players and two players debuted in this match A Mithun and Murli Vijay. Team had to chase a big target and most of players in the team were inexperienced.  Dinesh Karthik and Murli Vijay opened the inning for Indian team but they failed to give a good start to team and lost first wicket as Dinesh Karthik very early when team was at total of 22 runs. Amla caught his catch on the ball of Steyn when he was at an individual score of 11 runs. Virat Kohli joined Murli Vijay at this crucial stage when team needed a big partnership but Murli Vijay lost his wicket when he was at an individual score of 25 runs off 16 balls with 5 fours. He was caught by wicket keeper Boucher on the ball of Tsotsobe. Team was chasing a big total and lost openers very early at total of 40 runs. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli tried to control the condition and tried to become stable on the pitch but Rohit Sharma also lost his wicket when he was at 48 runs. He was caught by Tsotsobe on the ball of Botha. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma made a partnership of 95 runs for the third wicket. Indian skipper M S Dhoni was next man to walk in but he failed to play role of a skipper when team needed and was caught by Boucher on the ball of Steyn scoring just 9 runs from his bat. On the last bowl of same over Styne also clinched wicket of Virat Kohli who was playing at 57 runs. Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan were in middle now but Yusuf also lost his wicket early adding just 5 runs from his bat. He was caught by Styne on the ball of Tsotsobe when team was at a total of 179 runs. Now team was in terrible condition as team had to chase such a big score and had lost 6 wickets. Jadeja and Suresh Raina still tried to handle the circumstances and made a partnership of 54 runs for seventh wicket before team lost Raina. Raina scored 49 runs with 5 fours and 1 six in his inning. He was caught by substitute player WD Parnell on the bowl of Botha. Team was at total of 233 now and had lost seven wickets and chances were rare for any magic. Sreesanth was found leg before wicket on the ball of van der Merwe when he had just scored 1 run. A Mithun also tried to contribute for team but was caught by Boucher on the ball of van der Merwe when he was at an individual score of 24 runs. Just after him Jadeja was caught by Boucher on the ball of Tsotsobe and team lost all its wickets at a total of 275 runs in 44.3 over. From South African team DW Steyn and LL Tsotsobe took three wickets each while RE van der Merwe and J Botha got two wickets each. India won the series but lost the last match/ 

Sachin and Sehwag have given rest: Master blaster player Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Shewag has been given rest for the last one day international match against South Africa which will be played on February 27, 2010 at Ahmedabad. India is already leading in the series and even has won the series by 2-0 and only one match is left of three one match series. Sachin Tendulkar was failed to do much in first one day match played in Jaipur but in second match he had made world record of scoring first time double hundred in one day international match. He was on the wicket from opening to end of Indian inning which shown his fitness at this age even and how much talent he has is shown by his brilliant inning which will be always remembered. He had broken the previous highest total of 194 runs which were at the name of Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar and Zimbabwe’s Charles Conventry. Sachin Tendulkar’s previous highest score was 186 run unbeaten while not it is 200 runs unbeaten. He played brilliant inning showing magic from his bat and proving himself fit for the 2011 world cup. He dedicated his record inning to people of India who were along with him in ups and downs of life and supported him always. For last match he is given rest as team is not having much pressure now as team has already taken unassailable 2-0 lead and series is in their hand. Virender Sehwag has also given rest while he did not do much for team in second one day match and given contribution of just 9 runs from his bat.

Harbhajan Singh and Parveen Kumar have also given rest: Harbhajan Singh was not available for first two matches because of some personal reasons and now he was available for the last one day international match but his rest is extended. Parveen Kumar is also given rest for the last one day match of series and Karnataka pace bowler Abhimanyu Mithun is given chance at his place in the squad. Parveen Kumar had taken in first one day while in second one day he was able to pick up only one wicket. It is time when team can test the new comers while they have already clinched the series for South Africa and keeping it in mind many good players are given rest. Harbhajan Singh was on rest and he is considered as best spinner for the team at present and even in absence team won the both first matches and decided to continue without him in last match as well.

Time to test inexperienced players: Team would be looking towards the next year’s world cup and to win the cup team will need a good squad so that if some experienced players are not fit then other players can be taken into the squad. Players which are not much experienced or are new comers are given chance in the last one day match to check their skills and it is good time when team can make test on them. Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Abhimanyu Mithun and R Ashwin are given the chance in 14 man squad. They have got good chance to show their skills while team management has decided to give them chance to show their talent at this stage and they can become the part of upcoming world cup squad for Indian team. No doubt it is golden opportunity for them while many key players are injured and some top players are given rest so it is their time to make team win the match with the skills they have to lead the team. Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh   and Zaheer Khan are not playing in series while Sachin Tendulkar, Virendar Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Parveen Kumar are given rest. The team will be having only skipper M S Dhoni who have scored century and played 161 matches while among bowlers Ashish Nehra is most experienced in squad with 99 one day international matches.

Eyes on last one day: Every time team wants to win the match while now Indian team is already in comfortable zone having unassailable 2-0 lead in the three one day match series and have also chance to win the last match as well. Team is not having much senior player in the last one day match but still team is not weak and they will try to win the last match as well. It is time for team to show that when the senior players will not be there still they can lead the country and prove in cricket world that Indian team stands among the best teams of cricket. Many new players are given chance as well and some of players who have played before but did not get much chance to show their talent are given chance again in the last match so that their talent can be judged well. Match can’t be win by just one man’s effort and it will require the whole team contribution to win the match and team has got chance to win series with 3-0 by winning the last match. South Africa has already lost the series with losing previous two one day matches of series but that is counted among the best teams in cricket world and had also given tough fight in first one day match in Jaipur which India won by just 1 run and they will definitely try that they will not lose at least this last match of the series. In second one day match AB de Villiers was only man to score for the team and rest of players failed to do much but for the Indian squad it was a team effort which made them win the match as Sachin Tendulkar proved himself with first double hundred in one day international cricket history and other players also giving their contribution to the team as well. It is expected that it will be still a tough fight between the two teams in the absence of many senior players in the Indian team.

India won first one day match: India won first one day match by 1 run played at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on February 21, 2010. It was a good contest between the two teams and Indian team finally clinched day night match taking lead by 1-0 in the series. Many players which are in form were not playing from both sides but still both teams were well balanced to give tough fights to each other. In the absence of Graeme Smith, JH Kallis was taking the command of the team and won the coin toss. He selected to bowl first inviting Indian team to bat first. Indian team batting first scored 298 runs losing 9 wickets in 50 over much and in return South Africa made 297 runs and lost the match by 1 run. Ravindra Jadeja was given man of the match award for his brilliant performance in the match. Now India has lead in the series of three matches and next match is scheduled on February 24 in at Gwalior.Indian Inning: India was playing the match without key players like Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir. Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar opened for Indian side but starting was not as good as Sachin Tendulkar lost his wicket very early during running between the wickets. He gave contribution of 4 runs to the team. Dinesh Karthik and Sehwag handled the inning then for the team and gave a partnership of 79 runs for the second wicket. V Sehwag also lost his wicket during running between the wickets when he was at 46 runs with 6 fours and 2 sixes in his inning. Skipper M S Dhoni was next to came in to bat for the team when team had lost two important wickets already. Dinesh Karthik also lost his wicketwhen he was at 44 runs with 5 fours and 1 six. He was caught by Petersen on the ball of Langeveldt. Virat Kohli got chance to show his talent after him but soon Dhoni also lost his wicket on the ball of Kallis. Morkel caught his catch when he was at 26 runs. Indian team had lost 4 wickets now at a total of 138 runs. Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli tried to handle the situation and they did well. Virat Kohli was caught by Gibbs on the ball of Morkel when he was at an individual score of 31 runs. Youshuf Pathan was next man to join Suresh Raina in middle but he failed to do much for the team but made fast 18 runs of 13 balls with 2 fours and 1 six in his inning. Ravindra Jadeja came to bat after Pathan and tried to show magic from his bat. Suresh Raina played well and he was caught by Boucher on the ball of Kallis when he was at an individual score of 58 runs with 6 fours and 1 six in his inning. India lost their seventh wicket at a total of 260 as Suresh Raina and soon Jadeja also lost his wicket on the ball of Kallis after giving contribution of 22 runs from his bat. Parveen Kumar added 13 runs before he lost his wicket during running between the wickets in last over. Ashish Nehra scored unbeaten 16 runs while Sreesanth did not get chance to play any ball. At the end of 50 over, India was at a total of 298 runs losing 9 wickets. From South African side JH Kallis took 3 wickets while Parnell, Langeveldt and Morkel got one wicket each.

South African inning: South Africa had to score 299 runs to win the match and they were also missing some key players like skipper Graeme Smith and other batsmen Hashim Amla who had shown good game in test series and winning man of match and man of the series award. LL Bosman and HH Gibbs started the inning for South Africa and gave a partnership of 58 runs for the first wicket. LL Bosman was sent back to pavilion by Parveen Kumar when he was at an individual score of 29 runs. Skipper in the match JH Kallis came to bat at number three and after showing his magic with ball he also played a role of skipper in batting as well. Gibbs also lost his wicket after Bosman. He was caught by Virat Kohli on ball of Jadeja when he was at a score of 27 runs. AB de Villiers was next man to join in middle but he lost his wicket after adding just 25 runs from his bat. He was shown way to pavilion by Jadeja. AN Petersen also failed to do much for the team and lost his wicket during running between the wickets when he was at 9 runs. JA Morkel was next Man to make the walk and was found leg before the wicket on the ball of Ashish Nehra. Wicket keeper MV Boucher was caught by Dhoni on the ball of Sreesanth when he was at an individual score of 5 runs. J Botha was next man to join Kallis in middle but he also lost his wicket after adding just 10 runs to the teams total from his bat. He was found leg before the wicket on the ball of Pathan. WD Parnell showed magic from his bat when team had lost 7 wickets at a total of 180 runs. Kallis played extremely well but Sreesanth finally shown him way to pavilion when he was at an individual score of 89 runs with 6 fours and 1 six in his inning. DW Styne and Parnell shown good game at end and tried to reach the target score. Styne lost his wicket on ball of Parveen Kumar when he was at 35 runs with 1 four and 3 sixes in just 19 balls. It was last over and they South Africa had lost their 9 wickets. Now team needed 9 runs of 4 balls to win the match and they almost reached it but on the last ball Parnell also lost his wicket during running between the wickets. He scored 49 runs of 47 balls while CK Langeveldt was unbeaten at 4 runs. Parveen Kumar, Ravinder Jadeja and Sreesanth took 2 wickets each for the team while Ashish Nehra and Pathan got one wicket each.

India levels series: India won the second test match against South Africa which is played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It was a big victory for Indian team as they won the match by an inning and 57 runs difference. This victory was required as well to keep their first rank in test ranking. India had lost first test match in Nagpur with inning and 6 runs difference in two test match series but Indian taken the revenge of their last defeat by winning this match. Hashim Amla tried to save the match for the team but his all efforts went waste as at the other end all batsmen lost their wickets one after another. Hashim Amla was awarded with man of the match award for his brilliant performance in match as well as got man of the series award for scoring runs throughout the series. In second test match he made 114 runs in first inning while he was unbeaten in second inning scoring 123 runs. His tones did not work for the team in this match but due to him they were able to make Indian team fight till last day of match.

Fourth day of test match: South Africa started from third day score of 6 runs without any loss as they were already trailing from Indian team. India had declared their first inning at a total of 643 and they had got a lead of 347 runs. Fourth day game was not much longer because of bad light conditions it was stopped just after 35 over and 98 over were to be bowled on last day. On fourth day skipper GC Smith and AN Petersen started from the last day game but skipper lost his wicket early scoring 20 runs from his bat for the team. He was found leg before the wicket on the ball of Indian spinner Amit Mishra. Just after 5 over of skipper dismissal AN Petersen also lost his wicket giving contribution of 21 runs. He was caught by Badrinath on the ball of Harbhajan Singh. HM Amla was on one side and JH Kallis came to bat with him. They were playing well and gave a contribution of 57 runs before Kallis lost his wicket. Kallis was caught by M S Dhoni on the ball of Amit Mishra when he was at an individual score of 20 runs. South Africa lost their three wickets of second inning on a total of 111 runs. Soon after that match was stopped due to bad light conditions and at that moment they were at 115 runs losing 3 wickets. HM Amla was playing at 49 while AG Prince had still not opened his account.

Last day of test match: Last day, South Africa continued their second inning from last day score of 115 runs and seven wickets were in their hand. Harbhajan Singh took the first wicket on fifth day of AG Prince when he was at an individual score of 23 runs. He was caught by Ishant Sharma on ball of Harbhajan Singh. South Africa lost their fourth wicket as AG Prince while they were at a total of 158 runs and still had to go a long way to save the match. South African wicket keeper AB de Villiers was next man to come in middle but failed to contribute much for the team and was found leg before the wicket on the ball of Amit Mishra. He scored just 3 runs for his team. JP Duminy joined HM Amla after but he also did not contribute much for the team and was found leg before the wicket on the ball of Harbhajan Singh when he was playing at 6 runs. Next man to come to bat was DW Steyn and he also failed in front of Harbhajan Singh and lost his wicket after making just 1 run. He was found leg before wicket on the ball of Harbhajan Singh. WD Parnell came to bat in these conditions when team had lost seven wickets already and still many over of bowling team had to face. He tried to save match with HM Amla and scored 22 runs playing 64 balls. He was caught by Harbhajan Singh on the ball of Ishant Sharma. PL Harris failed to do much and played 24 balls and scored 4 runs. Now South Africa had lost 9 wickets and they were even trailing from Indian first inning total. M Morkel tried to pass few over with HM Amla but was found leg before wicket on the ball on Harbhajan Singh when he was playing at 12 runs on 76 balls. With wicket of M Morkel, India won the match with inning and 57 runs difference.

Bowlers did good job on last day: On the last day Indian bowlers had to take seven wickets to reach the victory and Indian bowlers finally did it. Zaheer Khan was injured and did not bowled last day as he had hurt his right knee on fourth day of match just before tea break. In first inning Zaheer Khan had impressed with his bowling taking four wickets for the team. In the second inning Harbhajan Singh was hero in bowling squad taking five wickets giving away 59 runs. He had got three wickets in first inning as well. He showed his magic from his spin in both the inning. Amit Mishra took three wickets in second inning while he had got just one wicket in first inning. Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma took two wickets in second inning while he had got only one wicket in the first inning. It was overall effort of Indian team which kept them at rank one in test ranking. Firstly bowlers had done good job in first inning limiting the South African team at just a total of 296 runs and in return Indian batsmen played their role very well with four batsmen hitting centuries for the team and made a total of 643 which made team lead by 347 runs. In second inning too again bowler played their role well and took all wickets before the end of last day.

Second test match: First day game ended with South Africa on 266 runs losing nine wickets with M Morkel and WD Parnell in middle. South African skipper Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat first. In the first test match South African team had beaten India with inning and 6 run difference which was biggest defeat of Indian team from a long time and it was first defeat of M S Dhoni as skipper in test matches. Indian team had shown very poor performance with bat as well as with ball in the first test match but in the second test match they had a lot of pressure to improve the performance and to take the revenge from the South African team. Second test match started at Eden Garden in Kolkata and was stopped after 81 over game after bad light conditions.

South African Inning: After winning the toss South African skipper decided to bat and they were in confidence as they were already in the series by winning the first test match of two test match series. South Africa lost the opening wicket of skipper Graeme Smith very early when he had just scored 4 runs and team was on a total score of 9 runs. Zaheer Khan showed him the way to pavilion. Hashim Amla and debutant Alviro Petersen took the command of the team. They played extremely well and hit shots in all directions and did not give any chances to the bowlers to take their wickets. They had made the game in their control with their batting before the tea break as both of these batsmen were playing well and both hit quick hundreds which made team to reach in very strong condition. All Indian bowlers were looking helpless in the front of South African batsmen who were well set in the middle and were not giving chance to the bowlers. South Africa was in very strong condition as they had scored 218 runs losing just one wicket. Before tea they lost one more wicket as Alviro Petersen who scored 100 runs off 164 balls with 16 fours in his inning. He played extremely well and shown his talent in his very first test match of his career. He was caught by M S Dhoni behind the stumps on the ball of Zaheer Khan. At the tea time South African team had lost 2 wickets scoring 228 runs in 56 over. HM Amla 114 and JH Kallis were playing on 114 and 0 respectively. After lunch Indian bowlers started their magic. Amla lost his wicket just after tea break in the very next over of Zaheer Khan. Wicket keeper and Indian skipper M S Dhoni caught his catch when he was at an individual score of 114 runs off 166 balls with 14 fours and 1 six in his inning. AB de Villiers joined Kallis in middle but now Indian bowlers were coming into the game and JH Kallis lost his wicket when he was at an individual score of 10 runs, VVS Laxman caught his catch on the ball of spin bowler Harbhajan Singh. AG Prince was next man to come in but just after scoring one run from his bat he lost his wicket. He was found leg before wicket on the ball of Harbhajan Singh. JP Duminy joined AB de Villiers vyr webr vacj ro pavilion on his first ball without opening his account even. He was also fond leg before wicket on the ball of Harbhajan Singh. AB de Villiers also lost his wicket in next over during running between the wickets when he was at an individual score of 12 runs. South African team lost their 7 wickets in 68.3 over at a total of 254 runs. PL Harris was next man to go back to pavilion scoring just one run from his bat. He was caught by M S Dhoni on the ball of Ishant Sharma. DW Steyn added 5 runs from his bat before he was found leg before wicket on the ball of Amit Mishra. At the end of the day M Morkel and WD Parnell were playing at score of 3 and 2 runs respectively.

Indian bowler’s magic: Indian bowlers did good job on the first day. In starting Zaheer Khan took the wicket of South African skipper but after that Indian bowlers were almost helpless for long time and two batsmen of South African team hit centuries. Before tea break Zaheer Khan had clinched one more wicket of Alviro Petersen but there team was at very strong condition now. After tea break it was real time of Indian bowlers and shown their performance. South Africa was at 218 and had lost just 1 wicket and lost next 8 wickets adding just 43 runs. Indian team used both fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. Zaheer Khan took 3 wickets for the team which were really crucial. Ishant Sharma got one wicket. Indian spin bowlers are bowled well and got wickets for the team. Harbhajan Singh got 3 wickets in his 23 over bowling giving 60 runs while Amit Mishra got 1 wicket in his 20 over. At the end of the day Indian bowlers had got their form and shown excellent bowling performance especially after the tea break. None of the batsmen after tea break was able to face the Indian bowlers and went to pavilion without contributing much for their team. Indian bowlers have learned from the mistakes of first match and they would not like to repeat it here.

Hopes from Indian team: Indian team shown good performance in first day controlling the South African team finally after two batsmen had scored tons. South African team is already leading in the series by 1-0 as they had won first test match of the series and India has chance to win this match. This match is very important for the team to keep their top position in the test ranking as well as if they will lose the match then they will also lose the first position in the ranking tally. Now when bowlers have shown good performance batsmen should also play their part of game making a good score and taking a lead which can build pressure on the South African team. On day two Indian bowlers had to just take one wicket and after that it will be turn of Indian batsmen to show their game and lead the team.