Fight To Reclaim The Lost Honour

India Vs Sri Lanka, Match 5

Yet another terrific match in the ongoing tri-series at Adelaide came to an end. India almost won another thriller. In the end Sri Lanka didn’t win nor did India lose it. The match ended in a tie with teams ending at identical score in allotted 50 over, 236/9. Kudos to brilliant batting by Gambhir (91 runs off 106 balls) and captain cool – Dhoni (58 runs off 69 balls)!

A Win, A Loss and A Win !

The Latest on Indian Tour of Australia

That’s what Indian Cricket team’s scorecard reads after the last 3 matches played in Australia. Consistency is what seems to be missing not just with the team performance but also with the team selection. The latest thing to make news is Indian team’s rotation policy. Resting key players when they are most demanded! Now that sure is a great way to gain solid and good consistent performance.

Format Changes But Not The Result

India Vs Australia 1^st T20

It was a different venue, different version of the game, a much younger and fresh Indian team. Dhoni a day prior to this game told the media persons “From Kishore Kumar we have gone to Sean Paul.” He was emphasising on the team composition which he believed was a lot younger and better than the test team he captained. The result at the end of days play – India lost its 1^st T20 game by 31 runs against Australia.

Adelaide - The Last Nail in the Coffin! Indians Are Going To Be Buried and Buried Deep!

India Vs Australia 4th Test, Adelaide.

At the end of Day 4 of the 4^th test at Adelaide, the score board read India 166/6 in 56 over(s). All the much celebrated batsmen of the Indian team, so called champions of the World Cup 2011 sat in the pavilion probably sipping the evening tea. They had failed yet again and their performance was much on the expected lines.

Australia needs just 4 more wickets to complete the whitewash. They would complete all formalities required for the same on day 5, may be in less than 4 hours tomorrow. Barring Virat Kohli’s century in the 1^st innings (116 runs off 213 balls) and Virender Sehwag’s half century in the 2^nd innings (62 runs off 53 balls), none of the other Indian batsmen performance is worthy of discussion.

Adelaide Is Where The Nightmare Will Finally Come To An End For Indian Fans!

Asian teams playing cricket overseas have always struggled to win matches. If they ever win a series then it’s like creating history.

Here’s a small comparison between two credible Asian teams performances both playing overseas. Both have lost the series. One was playing a 5 match ODI series against mighty South Africa and the other is playing a 4 match test series against Australia.

The significant difference is although the team playing against South Africa lost the series; they fought back and fought hard. They won hearts and for sure least salvaged some pride.

Adelaide - Will It Be The Burial Ground!

Indian Cricket Teams - Thunder Down Under!

Come 24th January and you will be witnessing already battered and for certain lost Indian team against Australia at Adelaide. It would be the 4th and final test match of the series. India has already lost the series, so now its pride they play for. Australia has taken an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the series. A whitewash looks certain. So will Adelaide be the burial grounds or will India rise from ashes and sour high into the sky like phoenix.

India perishes in Perth, another nail in the coffin

Australia Win the 3^rd Test match Vs India at Perth

Indian saga of humiliation continues as India loses their 3^rd straight test match against Australia in Perth. With this win Australia has won the series and India continue to dream to win a test match overseas. For the record this is Indian cricket teams 7^th consecutive loss in test matches played overseas.

Indian Nightmare in Oz Land turns worst

India Vs Australia 3rd Test at Perth, Australia

Disdainful! That’s the only word that comes to my mind when I look at the performance of Indian cricket team in the ongoing test series against Australia. It’s not that I love to criticize just because I enjoy the freedom of penning my thoughts in this nation. It’s just a reflection of the sentiments of the billions of crazy cricket fans of India.


0-6 before this match began and now it looks like it’s going to 0-7. I’m just counting Indian cricket team’s consecutive losses in test matches played overseas. A white wash seems to be a certainty in this series as well. The body language of Indian team suggests that they have already lost the series in their minds.


I’m sure the captain Indian team Dhoni will say addressing the press that it’s humanly possible to keep everybody happy all the time. And may also say that cricket is a sport and you lose and win some. We need to be sportive enough to accept defeat gracefully. But he is missing the critical view of the fans. It’s not defeats that the fans can’t accept but it is the manner and the margin with which Indian cricket team has been losing.

Poor performance of Indian cricket team continues.

The 3rd test match began on Friday the 13th. Supposedly not an auspicious day, and hey did I hear someone say that this has something to do with pathetic performance of Indian team and its sheer bad luck. Then think again, Australians where able get India all out on day 1 and also slam 149 runs without losing any wicket at the end of play. This included 69 ball ton by David Warner. So luck my friends has nothing to do with it.


The 3 stallions of Indian team fondly called The Wall, The God and The Special all crumbled to dust. When Kohili and Laxman where in the middle trying to forge a partnership together, It looked as if Indians despite early loss of wickets might be able to steady the ship. Kohili looked good and I thought he might be all fired up after the M-finger episode during the last match. But that hope was short lived and he was out at 44. That was the highest individual score for Indian team in their 1st innings.


And then when Australia began their batting, the only word to describe the fashion in which they batted is Slaughtering! Right nothing else can explain how well they batted. By the end of Day 1 Australian opening pair had managed to score 149 runs in 23 over’s. It looked to me as if they were playing a T20 game and not a test match.


Day 2 was not all that great for Indian team. Australians continued to bat well and keep piling the runs. That was until the young lad Umesh Yadav probably bowling his best in this series was able to get 5 wickets. (Umesh Yadav 5/93 in 17 over’s). Subsequently Australian team was all out at 369 in 76.2 over’s. The young boy to say the least at least attempted to salvage some pride and honour.


However as I sit and watch Indian teams batting in the 2nd innings and write this piece of article in parallel, India is struggling at 63/4 in 22.4 over’s. They are still trailing by 145 runs. Dravid and Kohli are playing at the moment. There are still 13.2 over’s to go before end of day 2. Defeat is quiet unavoidable for Indian team. However I’m hoping that India doesn’t lose this game by an Innings and a big margin of runs.

Indian Cricket Teams Calendar – Jan – Feb – 2012

India has so far played 1 test match this year.

January 3 to 7: India Vs Australia – 2^nd Test in Sydney (India Lost by an innings and 64 runs)

This was the 2^nd game of the ongoing 4 match test series against Australia in Australia. India has begun the year sadly with defeat. They are currently down 0-2 against Australian team in the test series.

Let’s have a look what does days ahead have in store for Indian cricket fans.

January 13 to 17: India Vs Australia – 3rd Test in Perth

January 24 to 28: India Vs Australia – 4^th Test in Adelaide

February 1: India Vs Australia – 1^st T20 in Sydney

February 3: India Vs Australia – 2^nd T20 in Melbourne

February 5: India Vs Australia – ODI in Melbourne

February 8: India Vs Sri Lanka – ODI in Perth

February 12: India Vs Australia – ODI in Adelaide

February 14: India Vs Sri Lanka – ODI in Adelaide

February 19: India Vs Australia – ODI in Brisbane

February 21: India Vs Sri Lanka – ODI in Brisbane

February 26: India Vs Australia – ODI in Sydney

February 28: India Vs Sri Lanka – ODI in Hobart

Let’s hope that Indian team is able to overcome the defeat in the first two games of the test series in Australia. It is very critical for India to do well in the upcoming matches in Australia. Their last overseas tour to England was quiet miserable. Dhoni and his boys have to work extra hard to prove the critics wrong and emerge victorious.

Sydney Sadness was inevitable.

2nd Test: India vs Australia

Finally as predicted miracle was the only possibility that could have saved Indians from loosing. Alas there was no such miracle at SCG. The only consolation for Indian team was the score 400 runs with the help of 4 half centuries in the in their 2^nd innings. All this couldn’t prevent Australia from defeating India by an innings and 68 runs. The 5 days test match was again wrapped up by the Aussies on Day 4. Michael Clarke very deservingly won the man of the match award for his scintillating Innings of unbeaten 329 runs.

Tendulkar yet again missed out on his centaury and the world continues to await for the most talked 100^th Hundred. On second thought I really doubt even if he had got there it would have brought about any cheer to the master himself. As his team was only delaying the inevitable loss. Guess it all boils down to bad batting by Indians in their 1^st innings. SCG strip was tailor made for batsmen and Indians simply couldn’t capitalize on it.

India vs Australia 2nd test day 4

On Day 4 Gambhir 83(142) departed early after adding just 15 runs to his overnight score. Laxman and Sachin seemed to be putting together a good partnership. However the partnership was soon broken my Aussie captain Michael Clarke. Tendulkar departed at 80(139), when Hussey caught him in the. Soon after that VVS Laxman 66(118) was bowled by Hilfenhaus in the 83^rd over. Wickets kept tumbling after that. Ashwin 62(76) along with Zaheer 35(26) put together a decent partnership. But by then it was clear that it was only a matter of few over(s) before Indians would be bowled out. And so was the fact as Indian team was all out at 400 in the 111^th over of their 2^nd Innings. India suffered the second straight defeat of the series against Australia. Australia is now leading the 4 match series 2-0.

The next match of the series is due to be played in Perth. I’m hoping to see Rohit Sharma being included in the playing eleven for the next match. With two more games to go, it would be an excellent opportunity for Rohit to prove his mettle and contribute to the team. India will be trying their best to bounce back and level the series.

India Down Under!

India vs Australia – Test Series, 2011-12

Well Indian team is certainly down currently. The much hyped tour of Indian cricket team to Australia seems to have bombed on the face of all the marketers who named it Agnipath series. After the last tour of Indian team to Australia and the monkeygate episode, India v/s Australia rivalry was pitted to be next big thing cricketing domain. It was supposed to have pipped age old famous rivalries in cricket such as India v/s Pakistan and England v/s Australia. 

However such rivalry is great in cricket when every match played is an exciting contest to watch. Two well balanced teams try to get better of each other. To say the least it should be a match where the opponents feel the heat, irrespective of who wins it in the end. Sadly the current series doesn't seem to be of that calibre. 

The Indians began the series on a very sorry note. 1st Test, played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne ended on Day 4 itself. Australia won the match by 122 runs. It was a hard fought game and Indian bowling was quiet appreciated. Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav got 7 wickets each in the game and India was able to get Aussies all out in both the innings. It was batting which let India down. India managed to score just 169 runs in their 2nd Innings and where all out in just 47.5 over’s. James Pattinson was awarded man of the match for his all round performance in the game.

India vs Australia – 2nd TEST

Indians where expected to bounce back into the series during the 2nd Test at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Sydney which began on 3^rd Jan 2012. Things only went from bad to worse for Indians as Indian team which won the toss and elected to bat was bowled out for 191 runs in their first innings. MS Dhoni along with R Ashwin tried to steady the ship but it looked as if it was too little too late. In the end Dhoni remained not out having scored the only half century in the Indian innings. He made 57 runs of 77 balls.

Good show by Indian bowlers in the previous match had raised the expectations. The raw pace of Yadav and experience of Zaheer and Ishant were expected to deliver the goods at this critical juncture in the match. Zaheer succeeded in delivering what was anticipated, he got 3 quick wickets in the beginning of the innings. Australia where struggling at 37/3 by the end of 9^th over.

But what happened from there on completely changed the paradigm of the game. Australian batsmen completely dominated the game and slaughtered the Indian bowling attack. Ricky Ponting scored his 40^th Test hundred when he succeeded in taking a cheeky single of Ishant’s ball and Zaheer’s throw missed the stumps. Ponting finally got out after scoring 134. Australia by then was in a comfortable position and the scoreboard read 325/4. This was the last wicket to fall in the Australian innings. Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey made sure they make the most of the poor bowling by India. Both batsmen stayed not out on Day 3 when Australia declared the innings having amassed 659 runs having lost just 4 wickets. Michael Clarke made 329 and Hussey 150 runs.

The game has just ended for the day at 12:30 PM IST. Indian team has managed to score 114/2 in 41 over(s). India trails by 354 run(s) at stumps. Gautam Gambhir who got out for duck in the 1^st innings is currently not out at 68* along with Sachin Tendulkar not out at 8*. With 2 more days to go and India still needing 354 runs to make Aussies bat again the scales are tipped in favour of Australia. It would be only a miracle that can now save India from losing this game.