Recalling the success of Indian team in the Twenty20 World Cup, Ponting wrote in his book ‘Captain’s Diary 2008’ that Dhoni was a “classic example” of a player who could damage the opposition in the shortest version, which offers little scope for a batsman to showcase his technique.

“I know that over the past 10 years, probably longer, a notion has developed that the Australian team walks out onto the field intent on getting in faces and having a few words… Unfortunately, as soon as a spectator or a commentator spots one of my team chipping on opponent, they assume it is a pre-meditated attack,” Ponting said.

Recent developments in terror torn Pakistan had cast a shadow on India’s cricket tour, especially after the postponement of the Champions Trophy in September.

Manohar has reportedly told the PCB that he has requested security clearance from the government of India and expects a reply in the next 10 to 12 days.

The hallmark of this new-look Indian outfit is that an in-form player has the responsibility to carry the team on his shoulders through the series and Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir are living up to that role, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.

“It was a great performance by Yuvraj and Gambhir. That has been one of the features of this team. If someone is in form, he has the responsibility to take the team along through the series. I hope that they will continue to do that in this series,” Dhoni said after India took a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series on Monday.

While the 2003 Cricket World Cup captivated a billion people in India, many of them praying not for their own health but for Ashish Nehra’s sprained ankle, thousands of Indians in America had to shell out $299.95 to DISH network for the privilege of throwing objects at their TVs. “Come on, Ganguly!” they screamed. “You’re batting like my grandma!”

Here is how some tackled it…

Computer programmer: “Hello boss. I won’t be coming to work today. I’m not feeling well again.”

Boss: “That’s too bad, Ramesh. Have you seen a doctor?”

Programmer: “Yes, boss. Dr. Gupta is here right now, checking my blood pressure. I hope my health insurance covers this. It’s costing me $299.95.”

Read More : http://www.desihotmasala.com/2008/11/cricket-indias-passion-americas-insect.html

After drubbing the visitors by a massive 158 runs, the Indians are hoping that Yuvraj, who pummelled the English attack with an unbeaten 138, would be fit to take the field on Monday.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni says a final call on the attacking left-hander, who required a runner for most part of his innings in the Rajkot ODI, would taken just before the match.

After rattling up a record 387 for 5 at home, the hosts bundled out England for 229 in 37.4 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the seven-match series.

India’s previous best victory margin by runs against England was 86 at Sydney in 1985. Their biggest victory margin is 257, against Bermuda at Port of Spain in 2007.

Yuvraj’s ninth ODI hundred spurred India to post its second-highest ODI total ever — well behind their 413-5 against Bermuda in the 2007 World Cup but ahead of its previous home record of 376-2 against New Zealand [Images] in 1999.

Chanderpaul defended the controversial Stanford Super Series tournament, which saw the winners take home millions of dollars, after a warning from Australian captain Ricky Ponting that the money from Twenty20 is threatening the future of Test cricket in some countries.

Named the 2008 International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year in September, the 34-year-old West Indies batsman said it was possible to make as much money in just a few weeks playing the short game as over months on the grueling international circuit.

“It will be a good series and I will love watching it sitting on my sofa and not worrying about anything. Good luck India,” Ganguly said in his maiden column that appeared in dailies like The Telegraph and Aajkaal on Friday.

Flooded with offers from television channels and newspapers for his expert views, Ganguly has chosen cricket master Sunil Gavaskar’s Professional Management Group to launch his off-field career, and the column is the product of that arrangement.

“There were couple of times when I was due to use his net straight after him but I was left standing there, waiting 20 or 30 minutes with my pads on, before I finally had my hit,” Ponting recalled in his `Captain`s Diary 2008` in the section which deals with IPL.
But far from taking offence, Ponting said he became an admirer of Ganguly`s focus after watching him in action. “Sourav is very driven in the way he trains and prepares, a bloke who will get into a net and bat and bat and bat,” Ponting said about his Kolkata Knight Riders captain.

The lanky Ishant, who bagged the man-of-the-series honour in the recent Test series against Australia with 15 wickets, has been advised rest for five days which has also put a question mark on his avaibility for the second match in Indore on Monday.

“He`s not one of the guys, if we lose two or three wickets in a session, is in a panic, drinking plenty of water, moving here and there,” he said.

“He`s a calm and cool guy. It helps in making the dressing room atmosphere calm and cool.

“He`s been great so far, and hopefully he`ll be the same in the future,” he told a news conference.

Hayden said sightscreen adjustments also played a part in delaying the proceedings as someone or the other kept moving around it.

“Often we find ourselves with hands on hips waiting for someone to either face up or someone in the sightboard to move away; all the little frustrations that happen in third World countries and the heat as well,” he added.

“I think the outburst is understandable, I only wish that this outburst was only after the series had been concluded”, Gavaskar said.

“By saying all these things, he has not helped himself and I don’t think he has helped harmony in the dressing room. All that he had to say, he could have said after the series was over”, Gavaskar told a TV channel.

the Controversial Video of Gambhir Pushing Watson, Katich and Watson Sledging Gambhir and Gambhir Replying back in abusive Language

India has moved into second place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table after its 2-0 series win over Australia which regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the home side.

The team wrapped up a 172-run victory on day five of the fourth Test at Nagpur and in the process gained seven ratings points to draw level with South Africa on 116. But Graeme Smith’s team now slips just below India to third position by a fraction of a ratings point.

Both Harbhajan and Man of the Series Ishant claimed 15-wickets apiece in the series.

The 28-year-old Harbhajan took seven wickets in the fourth Test against Australia at Nagpur and as a result, has moved past Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka and Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) website, too, is yet to confirm the six-week long itinerary starting January 2009. BCCI sources told CNN-IBN that they will discuss the Pakistan tour in detail with MEA in December. Meanwhile, BCCI Vice-President Rajiv Shukla said, “We will wait for clearance from MEA. From our side the tour is still on.”

India are to play three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and a Twenty20 game. The Test matches are at Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore while the ODIs are to be held at Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Karachi. The lone Twenty20 will be played in Karachi.

One such bowler from that era, New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee, the first to reach the 400-wicket milestone in Test cricket, feels that the amount of cricket being played today is the reason behind the dwindling number of genuinely quick bowlers.

After more than a decade long career Dada called it a day but his career has been no less than a fairy tale especially last two years. In 1989 a player named Sourav Chandidas Ganguly made his debut and was subsequently dropped from the side because he allegedly refused to carry drinks to the ground. And for most of the people it seemed end of his career.

I am relishing the wait; the hours leading up to the first ball are an excruciatingly slow, gorgeously pleasurable wind-up. Thank heavens for Test cricket – again: play gets underway as early as 9.30am.

It’s a big day in a big game in a big series. But hang on. Isn’t there something else too? Yes, at some point later today, Sourav Ganguly is likely to come out to bat for the last time in his international career.

Intikhab said India’s success over Australia was basically because they had the bowlers to exploit all sorts of conditions.

“Zaheer Khan is reverse swinging the ball very well and Ishant Sharma is a top grade pacer. They also have to quality spinners which Australia is missing now,” he said.

The former Test captain said Australia were desperately missing the services of top players like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist.

“I don’t think they have found able replacements and they don’t have the spinners to now challenge teams in the sub-continent. To be world champions you have to win in the Asian region,” he noted.

He said Australia had prevailed in the past over all teams because they had a world class spinner in Shane Warne.

Intikhab said India had improved immensely in recent times and they would prove to be tough opponents when they tour Pakistan early next year.

“It’s not only about Harbhajan but also about Zaheer and Ishant who have bowled well throughout the series and the sort of start they give us tomorrow morning. We need to get a good start by the pace bowlers,” he said.

Dhoni said Australia’s task, though not impossible, was a formidable one on a fast deteriorating fifth-day track.

The Punjab offie, who is playing his 72nd Test, is behind just-retired Anil Kumble (619 from 132 Tests) and Kapil Dev (434 from 131 Tests).

He is only the fifth spinner to join the 300-wicket club after Muttiah Muralitharan (756), Shane Warne (708), Kumble and Lance Gibbs (309) and second Indian spinner after Kumble.

Tendulkar made 109, his 10th ton against Australia and fourth in this city, before getting out at the fag end of the day after coming in when India were in some trouble at 116 for three before lunch.

“It’s a great moment for me and for all the people associated in this journey of mine. I hope I can make it special,” Laxman told Indian media on Wednesday.

The stylish middle-order batsman will become the eighth Indian to play in 100 test matches when he takes the field against the world’s top-ranked side in the final test at Nagpur.

Dixit had earlier spoken about the world’s top run getter facing the threat as India and Australia prepared to reach here for the fourth and final cricket Test starting at Jamtha, about 16 kms from here, on November six. Dixit had earlier in the day told some news channels and print media that the police had received an advisory from central agencies about a terror threat to Tendulkar. Later, he maintained security will be as usual and provided to both teams during their stay.

Dixit’s claim took central security agencies in Delhi by surprise with their officials saying they had not received any fresh input about any threat to Tendulkar other than what was received in 2002.

Both Gambhir and Watson were found guilty of conduct contrary to the spirit of cricket by match referee Chris Broad during the hearing.

The Australian player was fined 10 per cent of his match fee on Thursday for having a verbal duel with Gambhir, while the Indian was handed a one-match ban for a Level 2 Offence as per the ICC Code of conduct, this morning.

MS Dhoni will reportedly take over as Test captain.

As reported first on CNN-IBN, Kumble will retire from cricket at the conclusion of the final day’s play at Kotla. It is believed that Kumble will quit with immediate effect.

Kumble who sustained an injury on his left hand while fielding in the first innings and bowled with 11 stitches has been in poor form this year.

He has also been under pressure for his place, especially after Amit Mishra claimed seven wickets in his debut in the last Test at Mohali.

The selectors have been informed and Dhoni will formally take over as captain from the fourth test in Nagpur.

The 33-year-old pacer, who is currently representing ‘Delhi Giants’ team in the ongoing ICL, is convinced that India has plenty of young talents but they should be tapped and nurtured in proper manner.

“I would play in the ICL probably for two more years as am still enjoying the game that has given me a nice career and financial security as well.

Ganguly announced that the four-match Test series this month would be his last following suggestions that the Indian board had drawn up an exit plan for five senior players.

A board official said this month that skipper Anil Kumble, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, all well into their 30s, had been told to plan their retirements by December.

West Indian cricket has been a journey of thrills, fun, amazing peaks and disappointing troughs. For a team shackled with the burden of a heroic past, impeded in its development by wrangling within its cricket board, Brian Charles Lara has stood out and stood tall as one of the greatest batsmen the world has seen.

To an observer who is not West Indian, the Caribbean attitude is a strange one. Where most of us show immense emotion when confronted with challenges, many West Indian players hardly seem to change expression – whether they have won or lost, scored a duck or a hundred. This relaxed, laidback attitude, which has unfairly drawn huge criticism for being unsuitable to the pursuit of relentless success as styled by the Australians, has, however, succeeded in producing some of the most versatile and complete cricketers to have ever played the game. And that is exactly what Brian is: versatile and complete.

Intikhab said he was offered a two-year contract by the Chairman of the board Ejaz Butt but a formal announcement of this will be made by the PCB.

“I think they will officially announce it early next month,” Intikhab said.

The former all-rounder, who appeared in 47 Tests and four one-day internationals, said Butt had spoken to him about the coaching assignment and discussed the future of the team.