Virender Sehwag has raced away to 70 from 73 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes. Gautam Gambhir is looking very confident with 59 from 84 balls with 7 fours. India’s start would have been horrible had wicket keeper Prasanna Jayawardene let Mahela Jayawardene take a sitter of a catch in the fourth ball of the match offered by Sehwag. It was a nice juicy pitched up outswinger from Welegedara and Sehwag played a rank bad shot, chasing that one away from his body to get a thick edge. Prasanna, the keeper dived across to his right and failed to latch onto the catch and in the process also distracted Mahela at first slip who would have easily taken that.

Read more: http://www.cricketfundas.com/india/sourav-ganguly-shines-but-bengal-fail-to-get-lead/4260#ixzz0WoGxWhUz

Tendulkar scored 175 off 141 ball, enroute to his record 17,168 runs, but couldn’t prevent India from losing the fifth ODI to Australia by three runs.

Chasing a victory target of 355 runs, Australia were bowled out for 255 in 48.3 overs.

Ravindra Jadeja (3-35), Praveen Kumar (2-37) and Ishant Sharma (2-34) were the wicket-takers.

Shepherd, a legendary international umpire, stood in 172 ODIs, three consecutive World Cup finals, and 92 Test matches from 1983 to 2005.

The IPL during its three-day workshop in Bangkok that concluded Monday took some important decisions, including the re-auction of all players for the fourth season. But some influential members of the Governing Council and team owners have opposed the move.

Both Gavaskar and Tendulkar have been given the sobriquet little master for their short stature. And both Mumbaikars broke practically all the world batting records in their time – be it that of the highest number of Test runs or hundreds.

Disclosing this, KKR skipper Sourav Ganguly told reporters here that the team management was eyeing some Pakistani players, provided they are available and the authorities gave the go-ahead.

“20 years is a long time and I have many special moments and it would be difficult to count them. But the first one (Test), the first day walking out in the playing XI in Pakistan probably was the greatest moment,” Tendulkar, who made his international debut in a Test match against Pakistan in Karachi on November 15, 1989, said.

“It was a long journey and what I did after that was a reflection of my contribution to the game in the country. Playing for the country was my childhood dream and I have fulfilled my dream. I am fortunate to have played for my country for so many years,” he added.

Roebuck said along with retired spin wizard Shane Warne, Tendulkar has been the cricketer who has given enormous pleasure to followers of the game wherever it is played.

“It has been an incredible journey, a trip that figures alone cannot define. Not that the statistics lack weight, they are astonishing, almost mind-boggling. He has scored an avalanche of runs in every form of the game, reached three figures 87 times, and all the while has somehow retained his freshness, somehow avoided the mechanical, the repetitive and the predictable,” Roebuck wrote.

With the seventh match in Mumbai called off due to heavy rains, Australia reaffirmed their number-one status after dominant 10 weeks of one-day cricket whileIndia lost its No.2 position.

The Kolkata Knight Riders should be experts about what doesn’t work. The star-studded side has been an abject failure and the centre of a lot of ridicule. They have dispensed with the services of coach John Buchanan and replaced him with Dav Whatmore. It will be interesting to see how this move works. Wasim Akram will be there as a consultant which you think is a great move. If anyone would have been a fantastic Twenty20 cricketer it would have been Wasim Akram. Cricket betting isn’t sure what to make of the new and improved Knight Riders.

Read more: http://www.cricketfundas.com/india/looking-ahead-to-ipl-2010/4270#ixzz0WoFi0fQH

The Indian morale has hit a low following successive lost at Mohali, Hyderabad and Guwahati against what is essentially a very inexperienced Australian bowling line-up.

With the full series of Tests, ODIs and Twenty20s coming up against Sri Lanka only four days after the conclusion of the rubber against the world champions, it is imperative for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men to pull out all stops and reduce the margin of defeat.

The management in a statement also appointed Australian Dav Whatmore as the new coach.

“Sourav Ganguly is back at the helm as captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders and will have continued input in the decision-making process and selection for the 2010 season.

The batting maestro is 47 short of achieving the feat. The batting friendly track at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here might turn out to be the lucky strip for Tendulkar, who has not been in best of form in the series so far, having scored 50 runs in the three matches.

The cheerleaders will wear Sambalpuri saris — the oldest form of the tie-and-dye handwoven textile — and perform whenever a boundary is hit or a wicket falls, Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) secretary Ashirbad Behera told IANS.

Younis, who along with the senior management of the PCB was briefing the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Sports on the reasons of defeat, got infuriated by the remarks from NA committee chairman Jamshed Ahmed Dasti after the MNA accused the team of ‘deliberately’ losing the pool match in the ICC Champions Trophy against Australia to push India out of the trophy.

Younis, who took strong exception to the allegations, insisted that their last-ball defeat against the Aussies was definitely not a ‘fixed’ game and to suggest any such thing was preposterous. He also refuted claims that Pakistan had thrown away their semi-final match against the lowly-ranked New Zealand in the event. ‘It is sad and painful for me and, in fact, I am hiding from my family members after these nasty allegations of match fixing. I have never fixed a match and never will,’ a visibly disturbed Younis informed the committee in an emotional tone. ‘I have brought my resignation with me and all of you [media persons] please put it on record that I have resigned from the captaincy,’ Younis said while flashing the resignation letter.

The surprise move from Younis stunned many in the committee room as the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt immediately reacted by handing the resignation back to Younis.

According to the District Transport department, Dhoni did not apply for registration on time. Dhoni’s family submitted the form for registration last month.

The South African team, chasing 181, stunned the home crowd as they reached the target with just two balls to spare.

The match will be played tentatively on Dec 20, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Jagmohan Dalmiya said, describing the development as triumph of the spirit of fair play.

CLT20 Schedule 2009

He had suffered a stroke and was admitted to hospital a fortnight back and was in coma since then. He never regained consciousness and passed away here Friday morning. He was also undergoing dialysis for quite some time.

Fans back home were confident that at least one Pakistani cricketer – all-rounder Shahid Afridi – would win the ICC award for the best Twenty20 performance of the year.

Dhoni’s compatriots Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have also been selected in the team that was announced here Thursday during the International Cricket Council (ICC) Awards at the Sandton Convention Centre.

http://www.desihotmasala.com/2009/09/ind-vs-pak-champions-trophy-india-vs.html

The panel also includes former Test umpire V K Ramaswamy and ex-India opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth who was retained as the head of the senior selection committee for the 2009-10 season.

The series was to be played in Pakistan, but security concerns forced the matches to be moved to England.

The first Test will be played at Lord’s from July 17-21 and the second at Headingley from July 25-29.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has also released the schedule for England’s 2010 home series against Pakistan and the winter tour of Bangladesh for three one-dayers followed by two Tests.

Yuvraj injured the little finger of his right hand during a practice session Wednesday and will be out for six weeks. He couldn’t participate in the batting and bowling sessions which were conducted later in the day.