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.

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.

India Win The Series As The 3rd Test Ends In A Draw

Series Victory For India

When players from both teams shook hands on day 5, the score card read India: 94/3 of 32 over’s in their second innings. It was sign that both captains had agreed for a draw. There were still 90 balls to be bowled. India needed 86 runs runs of the remaining 15 over’s, but captain Dhoni said he didn’t wish to risk losing the series.

The 3rd test match between India and West Indies ended in a draw. And India had won the test series 1-0, after having the ODI series 3-2. With victory in the one-off T20 game in the beginning of the tour India had emerged successful in all forms of cricket played in the Caribbean during the current tour.

Although India had won the test series, it was clear that current Indian team lacked the killer instincts. I personally felt disappointed as I had expected Indians to play like true champions and dominate the entire series.

 

Brilliant cricket by West Indies

Two batsmen who played brilliant cricket in the 3rd test match were Kirk Edwards and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Edwards made 110 runs of 195 balls and Chanderpaul played a brilliant knock of 116(343 balls). For the record Chanderpaul hit his 23rd test hundred in this match and remained not out at the end of 2nd Innings of West Indies. Fidel Edwards and Chanderpaul added 65 runs for the 9th wicket. This was a key partnership and frustrated the Indian bowlers for sure.

Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma picked 6 wickets each in the 3rd test match for India. Ishant Sharma picked 5/77 in 1st innings and Bhaji picked 4/75 runs in 2nd Innings for India. 

Chanderpaul deservingly won the man of the match award and Ishant Sharma won the man of the series title for his 22 wickets haul in the series. This is record in itself for Ishant, as his 22 wickets are the most by an Indian fast bowler in a three-Test series.

Coming up next for team India is their tour to England. India’s focus is now shifted on to their first Test against England at Lord’s on July 21.

A Thrilling Test Ends In A Draw - India Vs West Indies

India Vs West Indies 2nd Test

It was definitely one of the best test matches in the recent past.  It was a story of - 'so close yet so far' scenario. If there was a winner it was 'weather'. First the rains and then the bad light, hard luck Dhoni, you almost created history. Had India won this match it would have been India's first test victory in Barbados.

India declared its 2nd Innings at 269/6 on day 5. They lost 3 wickets in the first session of play. Laxman yet again missed out on a 3 digit score, yet played brilliantly to score 87(188 Balls). End of Indian session West Indies needed 281 runs to win the test and India needed 10 wickets.

West Indies Manage to draw test

Indian bowlers seemed to be all charged up on the 5th day. West Indies were 27/2 in the 7th over. At this rate Indians seemed hopeful of victory. In the 18th over Ishant Sharma striked again and got the wicket of Adrian Barath, W.I were reduced to 55/3. Chanderpaul and Bravo (73 runs of 174 balls) batted well to add 64 runs for the 4the wicket. Ishant Sharma was at his best, however rain yet again played the spoil sport. Carlton Baugh scored a gritty 46 off 61 balls and remained not out. West Indies were 202/7 in 73rd Over when play was stopped due to bad light. The match ended in a draw, much to India's disappointment.

India couldn't win the match however performances from Indian players were the highlight of the match. VVS Laxman shined with his bat by scoring two brilliant 80's. Ishant sharma sizzled with ball and took 10 wickets in the match. The man of the match award was  given to Ishant Sharma for his exceptional ten wicket haul, his first in Test matches.

India vs West Indies 2nd Test… The Battle Continues…

India vs West Indies 2nd test at Bridgetown in Barbados

Dhoni and his boys are all set to walk into Kensington Oval today to face a downhearted West Indies.  India is already one-up in the three test series after winning the first match and will be hoping to win this one as well and wrap up the series. However it may not be all that easy, after all India have a dubious record of 58-year winless streak since 1953 at this ground. 

The final squad for the match and the choices Dhoni will make are still unclear. With Munaf back in the team having recovered chances are Dhoni might opt for three fast bowlers for this match P. Kumar and Ishant Sharma being the other two pacers. In all probability leg-spinner Amit Mishra will be rested for the 2nd test being played today.

Experts say that the Barbados track is likely to have plenty of bounce and has generally been a result-oriented venue over the past decade. Hope the weather doesn’t play a spoil sport, if everything goes right with rain staying away this match could turn out to be an interesting one.

All eyes will be on Harbhajan Singh, he is just four wickets away from becoming the 3rd Indian bowler to pick 400 wickets.

West Indies Fight Back

On the other hand West Indies will be hoping that  Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul will deliver their best on a wicket that is hard and bouncy. West Indies have decided to play Kirk Edwards in place of form vice-captain and batsman Brendan Nash. Captain Darren Sammy might also have few other surprise changes in mind which he might action before the match begins.

West Indies having lost the 1st test will be looking do well in 2nd Test and win the 2nd Test against India and level the Test Series. But the big question remains will West Indies be able to breach the WALL (Read - Rahul Dravid) and be able to beat India ranked currently World No.1 in Test ranking.

Ind vs WI: Brilliant Batting by Bravo steers WI to 7-wkt win, India bag the series 3-2

West Indies Win The 5th ODI

After a good show in the first 3 matches it was expected that Indians will have a smooth series and might even have whitewash victory of 5-0 against West Indies. But alas it was not to be, as WI not only won the 4th ODI but also ensured they win the 5th and final game at Kingston.


Darren Bravo also being hailed as Brian Lara Clone was at his best in this match and hit a career-best 86. West Indies contentedly defeated India by seven wickets in the fifth and final ODI. West Indies were chasing a target of 252, brilliant batting by Bravo and Ram Naresh Sarwan ensured they reach the target in 48.4 overs. In the end it was morale boosting victory for WI as they were able to reduce the series score to 3-2.


Ram Naresh Sarwan (75) and Darren Bravo (86) added 103 runs for the third wicket. Marlon Samuels (28) and Kieron Pollard (24) both not out till the end of game ensured that the good work of Sarwan and Bravo did not go in wane.


Earlier in the day Indian team put up a fighting score of 251 runs on board. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli both batted stupendously. Kohli looked confident enough to hit his first century of the series was unfortunately run-out at 94 (104 balls, 10x4). He along with Rohit Sharma (57, 72 balls, 2x4, 1x6) stitched together a partnership of 110 runs for fourth wicket.


Indian team however lost the momentum and the infamous fall of wickets like a pack of cards was at display again. India lost seven wickets for only 62 runs in 11.3 overs, middle and lower-order batsmen failed to make a mark.

India Win The ODI Series 3-2 In WI

Although having lost the final match of the ODI series India still won the 5 match ODI series 3-2.


The man of the match for the fifth ODI was WI pacer Andre Russell for picking up four wickets in 8.3 overs.


Indian middle order batsman Rohit Sharma was awarded with the man of the series award. He scored 257 runs with a stunning average of 128.50 in the five one day games against WI.


Now all the action shifts to the test series. Test series is the real cricket as every cricket fan rightly says. We will see the return of Dhoni and senior players like Dravid. Hope Indians are able to end the tour on a good note with series victory in Test’s as well.

Champions India vs Young West Indies - T20 Game

India Vs West Indies T20

World Cup winners 2011 India will be playing their 1st overseas tour match post being crowned the champions today against West Indies. It’s a one-off T20 match which will be tour starter for the visitors.

The touring Indian side has been branded as a depleted side with most of the senior players opting out of the team. In the absence of the legends viz Tendulkar, Dhoni, Zaheer, Shewag and many more Suresh Raina will be the skipper for the T20 and ODI’s and will be ably assisted by Harbhajan Singh, the Vice-Captain.

Queen's Park Oval First Game Of Indian tour of West Indies

The touring Indian side is all set to take on the hosts at the Queen's Park Oval today 4th June 2011 at 10:00 (local time), 19:30 (Indian time). Queen's Park surface has been termed as bland and is said to favour the Indian team. Harbhajan Singh who played for Mumbai Indians and R Ashwin who played for Chennai Super Kings in this year’s IPL, are two very dangerous off-spinners. They may have a great day if they are both included in the team for today’s match.

On the other hand West Indies team is not in great shape. The team currently being coached by Ottis Gibson and captained by Darren Sammy is fairly young and inexperienced too. They have not had great games in recent past and the team has been struggling to give consistent performance. Ravi Rampaul and spinner Devendra Bishoo will be the players to watch out for as they have been in good form of recent. It still doesn’t make sense to not select Gayle who had an excellent stint at IPL this season. Sooner the board and Gayle iron out the difference better it would be for their national team and cricket as a sport. Who doesn’t wish to see a talent like him smashing the ball all over the park?

As for the Indian team skipper Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin are my top pick. This tour is sure a great platform for the young players of Indian team.

Indian Premier League (IPL) - 4 - Chennai Super Kings the undisputed Champions

Finally it’s curtains down for IPL-4. Reigning champions Chennai Super Kings crushed Royal challengers Bangalore in what seemed like a one side match on Saturday. The 58 –run stupendous victory ensured CSK maintained the supremacy  in IPL by winning the Indian Premier League title second time in a row.

Opening pair of Murali Vijay and Michael Hussey stitched together one of the best partnership of 159-run for the 1st wicket. It’s now the highest partnership for any wicket for CSK.  Murali Vijay’s 95 runs off just 52 balls was a treat to watch for not just the CSK supporters in the stadium but also to the millions of eye balls glued to the television set across the globe.

Chasing the mammoth total 206 runs was quiet a task for RCB. Hopes if any were burned to ash when Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Chris Gayle for a duck in the very first over of RCB innings. Ashwin finished with an impressive 3-16 in his allotted quota of over’s. Gayle’s dismissal triggered what Dhoni would have expected before the match, the collapse of RCB. Within no time RCB was reduced to 70-6 and Saurabh Tiwary’s efforts to bring RCB back into the game found no support in his own team as there were no partnership worthy of any mention. Within no time Bangalore team succumbed to the pressure and the RCB could only manage 147 runs in all.

This edition of Indian Premier League did have some amazing moments. Chris Gayle finished as the highest run-getter with 608 runs from 12 innings. He picked the Golden Player of the tournament award for this edition of IPL. Lasith Malinga the slinger from Lanka ended up being the highest wicket taker with 28 wickets from 16 matches. The rising star award was given to Iqbal Abdulla of Kolkata Knight Riders. He has been a good find this season and I’m sure he will get his due sometime soon to play for the nation if he does well in the domestic season this year.

At a holistic level this season of IPL has been marred with several controversies. They include Shane Warne episode, Injured Gautam Ghambir’s incident and many more. Also there has been a dip in the TRP’s and cricket as a sport has suffered as per many critics. All said and done IPL is now over. All eyes now set on India’s tour of West Indies where many a greenhorns are set to get a chance to play for the nation in upcoming ODI and Test series.

Remembering World Cup 1983

The cricket world cup of 1983 was a significant one. They marked a significant shift in cricket's balance of power from England to India. It signified an end of an era for West Indies dominance. It had its share of interesting trivia. , Zimbabwe sold cakes and worked as bouncers to make it to the World Cup. Then they shocked Australia in their first game.

 It was most memorable world cup for our Indian team. 25^th June 1983 was the day Indian cricket team created history. Kapil’s Devil beat the world champions West Indies at Lords. Although Dhoni’s team recreated history in Mumbai, 2011, First world cup victory of 1983 can never be erased from history. First victory will always remain special, just like first love I guess.

 In 1983 world cup 8 teams were participated and total 27 matches were played between these teams. Like all other previous version of World Cup this world cup also played in Group stage and knock out stage.

Group A: England, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka

Group B:West Indies, India, Australia, Zimbabwe

Indian team was quoted 66:1 by bookies before the battle began. A few Zimbabwe hiccups, some Australia demolition and loads of upsets including group win over windies & India had made it to the semi-final.

On 22th June 1983 India faced England in the first semi-final and defeat England by 6 wicket and on the same day in other Semi-Final West Indies defeated Pakistan by 8 Wickets.

On 25th June 1983, not even 20% of Indians were aware of this event taking place as Lords in England got jam-packed for the final showdown. A total of 232,081 fans strolled in, nearly equalling the combined total of past two finals (160,000 for 1975 & 132,000 for 1979).

In the final, on 25th June 1983 India lost the toss and were asked to bat first against a West Indies team that arguably boasted the world's best bowling attack. India Score 183 runs in just 54.4 overs. Only Kris Srikanth (38 from 57 balls) and Mohinder Amarnath (26 from 80 balls) put some significant resistance against West Indies. The likes of Roberts, Marshall, Joel Garner and Michael Holding ripped through the Indian bating line-up. Only three sixes were hit in the Indian innings, one from Srikanth, one from Sandeep Patil (27 from 29 balls), and one from Madan Lal (17 from 27 balls).

Banana Swing from captain Kapil Dev started second session of 1983 world cup finals. Sandhu took new ball from other end, and foxed Gorden Greenidge with an inswinger. Larry Gomes, Desmond Haynes were followed by Vivian Richards - who wanted to finish the match early. Soon the West Indian batsmen collapsed and ultimately fell short of the target by 43 runs. The Indian spirit was epitomized by an astonishing catch by Kapil Dev who sprinted back 20 yards to latch onto the skier from the marauding blade of the great Viv Richards.

 

As the last West Indian wicket fell in the 1983 Cricket World Cup final, Indian fans present in the ground got crazy and came in the ground to touch their heroes. 

Amarnath was the most economical bowler, conceding just 12 runs from his seven over’s while taking 3 wickets, and was once again awarded the Man of the Match award for his all-round performance.

As the news filtered through to the fans back home, it led to unprecedented scenes of jubilation throughout Delhi and Calcutta and the rest of the country. The 1983 Cricket World Cup was India’s World Cup. Despite their bad performance in first two world cup India emerged as the new cricketing power of the world. They surprise the world and defeated West Indies in Final.