Battle of the Champs: India vs Oz

Yeah ,the much awaited Clash of the Titans will get underway as Australia Face India in a Two match test series with the Latter playing Host. India-Australia (Or Border- Gavaskar Series, whatever you call it) Test series have been fiercely contested in the recent past and Considering the quality of the players involved, It won’t be a surprise if this series turns to be a close one.

Journey to the peak- India

The historic day – 6th December 2009, is a day I shall always cherish, not only me but every Indian in whose soul lies nothing but unadulterated cricket. My love… my pride… my favourite team, - “MY INDIA” reached the pinnacle of glory of being the number one test team for the very first time in the history of international cricket.

Preview CL: Royal Challengers Bangalore

Much was spoken about this team in IPL 3. There was a surprise package from the RCBians IPL 2 and Inaugural Champions League. This CLT20 2, The Royal Challengers of Bangalore look boosted in the presence of the Foreign Trio of Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor and Cameron While who have preferred playing for the Men in Red than their home teams.

CL T20 squads come in for all teams

One of the costliest players bought in the IPL, missed season 3 of IPL due to a knee injury. Yes, it is Andrew Flintoff, he will miss the Champions League 2nd Edition this Sepetember too. Chennai Super Kings will miss the English all rounder Flintoff. But, the Giant who recently retired from the Test form- Muttiah Muralitharan is in the action for the Champions League.

Sachin Tendulkar-The Living Legend

Sachin Tendulkar’s life can be summed up quite rightly in one sentence. From Tendulkar to Ton-dulkar to End-ulkar to Ton-dulkar again. Such has been his importance to the game that it had be quite an achievement to find an Indian cricketer who says that he has not been inspired by Tendulkar. For the past two decades, Sachin Tendulkar has quite successfully handled the magnanimous task of living upto the expectations of a billion people.

Team India in Colours- a poem

TEAM INDIA IN COLOURS

Here come the talented men in blue,

In appreciation my whistle blew,

Don't take opponents lightly: MSD

Remember what happened last time when India visited the Caribbean Islands for the World Cup 2007. Yes, the stunning defeat for the Men in Blue by the Bangla Tigers. That game changed the course of India’s World Cup Journey with a unexpected exit.

Dravid and Co had overconfidence of beating the Bangladesh team so did they lose. But MS Dhoni this time is taking it seriously.

Here are his words:-

If you ask me, I would not consider our opening match against Afghanistan as a practice game. I don’t take my opponents lightly. At the end of the day you have to win whichever team you play.

I don’t know much about them. It is good in a way because if we know too much about a side then you are thinking too much about them. However, our preparation will remain the same as if you are playing the best opponent in world cricket

We can’t really relax against whichever team you are playing. At the end of the day you are representing India and you have to be at your best when you turn up on the field.

We don’t actually need to play a warm-up game as the way we have shaped up after the long journey, there wouldn’t have been any good coming out of it. It is good that we can rest and have a rigorous practice session and get back into the groove and prepare for the match against them

Let us see what happens…

Maxertainment 3: KKR stun last year runners up RCB

Sourav Ganguly-led Kolkata Knight Riders registered their second consecutive victory after they beat the Bangalore Royal Challengers by 7 wickets at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. With this win they have now defeated the two finalists of the IPL season 2. Knight Riders made a blazing start of their innings in order to chase down the modest target set by Bangalore Royal Challengers. Openers Manoj Tiwary and Brad Hodge gave a tremendous start to the Knight Riders. Together they put up the opening stand of 101 runs.

Tiwary, after making his maiden IPL half-century, got out to van der Merwe’s delivery. Brad Hodge also became the victim of van der Merwe after scoring 50. Sourav who had failed to get any score on the board last time looked good today and his 6 off a Del Steyn delivery reminded his golden days. He was unlucky to get out while trying to hit the winning shot.

The Challengers, after a disastrous start, managed to set the target of 136 to Kolkata Knight Riders. Earlier, Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to field first against the Bangalore Royal Challengers at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.

Charles Langeveldt and Angelo Mathews soon justified Ganguly’s decision and got the two quick wickets of SP Goswami and Manish Pandey. Goswami was caught by Ishant Sharma, while Pandey was bowled by Mathews.

After the two quick wickets, the Bangalore was looking to consolidate the innings but Murali Kartik gave them another jolt when he got the wicket of Virat Kohli. He was caught by Angelo Mathews. All eyes were on Rahul Dravid after the devastating start, but he too disappointed everyone and became the second victim of Angelo Mathews.

Robin Uthappa, who was trying to have a good partnership with Kallis, walked down the track and went for the lofted big hit but ended up nicking it behind the wicket, Mathews was the bowler.

RE van der Merwe was caught by Hodge and Mathews picked up his fourth wicket. However, Jacques Kallis remained not out on 65.

Maxertainment 3: Gambhir guides DD to victory

If there was a batsman who could heavily be relied upon after Rahul Dravid, it was Gautam Gambhir. He cannot hit far but can stay long. He delivered what was required after the fall of the trio power- Sehwag, Dilshan and AB.

BALANCED START FOR KXIP:

The start got both some runs and Delhiites got breakthroughs. Dirk Nannes and Farveez Mahroof kept troubling the Punjabi guys. The stadium was roaring and with banners saying ” Mind says Delhi but Heart says Punjab”. From the starting itself the Daredevils had a edge over the Kings. Mahroof got a doubler in the last over of the powerplay when Skipper Sangakkara and Yuvraj could not capitalize from their starts but had a long hop to the hut. Next ball, Jayawardene had a golden duck and a long walk back to the dug out.

REBUILDING THE INNINGS:

With, 4 Kings back in the hut and not even fifty up on the board, it was the duty of Ravi Singh Bopara and Irafan Pathan to do the Rebuilding the score. They went on to do so, with a cautious approach and had over a fifty partnership. The team had a hundred in the 13th over. So, above 160 looked easy until the blunder Irfan Pathan did got stumped. Wickets started tumbling for the Punjabi fellows. There was nothing that Bopara could do but he too got out. But, Sreesanth didn’t leave it off, he started to slog every ball. At the end of 20 overs, KXIP managed 142 runs.

UNEXPECTED DISASTER FOR DD:

Everyone would have thought it would be an easy going for the fiery Daredevils with Explosive Sehwag at the top. But, Sreesanth did not let it happen. For Delhi’s horror, both big bucks Sehwag and Dilshan were back in the hut in the same over. Now, it was the responsibility of Gambhir and AB de Villers to rebuild the innings.

GAMBHIR LEADS THE TEAM FROM THE FRONT:

Gambhir, the skipper of DD was scoring with a cautious intent in one side. On the other end, AB was struggling and for DD’s and his luck he fell short of the crease and was run out. Gambhir would have told the same to Dinesh Karthik who came in fall of AB, just be calm and don’t get out. Karthik gave a good support to Gambhir but soon when Yusuf Abdulla was introduced, he struck his first wicket of IPL removing Karthik.

Gambhir had lost another partner in the process. Soon, Mithun Manhas came in to support Gambhir who scored his fifty and led the team to a hundred. Mitts too was striking the ball well and reduced the pressure from Gauti’s shoulders. The fifty partnership was on between Gauti and Mitts. At last, with one ball remaining Gautam Gambhir led the team to a tight victory. Match was pure cliff hanger.

Preview: KKR vs RCB

Preview: KKR vs RCB

Kolkata Knight Riders VS Royal Challengers Bangalore

Venue: EDEN GARDENS, KOLKATA

Date: 14^th March, 2010

Time: 3pm

Kolkata Knight Riders
With ‘Miracle-Coach’ Dav Whatmore at the helm and Bengal’s dearest Dada running affairs on the pitch, the Knight Riders would want to put last season’s horrendous run behind them and start afresh. After winning the 1^st game, they will try to prove that the win was not just a fluke. Sourav who failed to score in the last match will try to shut the crtics’ mouths. Owais Shah and Angelo Mathews need to keep up the form they showed in the match against DC. Bowling seems to have improved thanks to the tips and tricks of the legendary Wasim Akram. Team’s bowling comprises of pace batteries like Ishant and Langaveldt and if they hold up, we may see a resurgence of the Dark Knights.
KEY PLAYERS: Sourav Ganguly, Angelo Mathews, Ishant Sharma, Charl langaveldt

Royal Challengers Bangalore

This year, Bangalore boast of a very strong team indeed, with fantastic hitters of the likes of Ross Taylor, Cameron White, Kevin Pietersen and new signing Eoin Morgan, and the dependability of South Africans Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher. They also possess possibly the best of the local batting talent, in dynamic and ambitious youngsters Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa, apart from stalwart Rahul Dravid. Skipper Anil Kumble leads the bowling attack that also boasts of the likes of test No.1 Dale Steyn. On paper they look strong enough to do an encore of last year’s final appearance. With an inspiring captain at the helm, one cannot rule out them going all the way.

KEY PLAYER: Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble

SQUADS:

RCB: Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Srivats Goswami, Vinay Kumar, Bhuvanesh Kumar, K P Appanna, Eoin Morgan, Akhil Balachandra, A Mithun, Steven Smith, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Robin Uthappa, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Dillon Du Preez, Cameron White, Ross Taylor, Kevin Pietersen, Roelof van der Merwe, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, S Sriram

KKR: Sourav Ganguly(C), Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge, Owais Shah, Manoj Tiwari, Rohan Gavaskar, Chirag Pathak, Cheteswar Pujara, Harshad Khadiwale, Wriddhiman Shah, Angelo Matthews, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Ganapati Vignesh, Ajit Agarkar, Varun Aron, Iqbal Abdulla, Eklakh Ahmed, Ashoke Dinda, Ajantha Mendis, Charl Langeveldt, Murali Karthik, Ishant Sharma