India's Performance in the Last 6 Months

Hey People. Long time , since , I posted. As , I had mentioned in the previous post , last two years of schooling is too much to handle. Was longing to write , but couldn't. So , now here , I am. :D

India , toured England after the Indian Premier League , which was won by the Kolkata Knight Riders , for the second time , thus , equaling Chennai Super Kings's record. This tour , was a wonderful opportunity for the youngsters to show their mettle in the international arena. The first test match ended in a stalemate with both the team's tail-enders , making merry with the bat , and the home side's Joe Root and Muali Vijay scoring a century, in the first innings.The first test also , saw Stuart Binny making his debut.

 The second test match was held at the Lord's. England won the toss and chose to bat. Ajinkya Rahane , scored a classy 103 and was ably supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. India made 295 in the first innings. England in reply , scored 319 , with Gary Ballance scoring 110 and Liam Plunkett scoring 55*. India scored 342 , thus setting England a target of 319 runs , with Vijay, being unlucky to miss out  on a well deserved century , just by 5 runs. The final day , saw , England's batsmen ,getting torn apart , by Ishant Sharma's magic , who picked up 7-104 , thus leading to a rare overseas victory by 95 runs. Ishant Sharma was adjudged the Man of the Match for his match winning performance.

After , the second test, hopes were high, and people's expectations grew. The Third Test saw , India losing by a mammoth margin of 266 runs at Southampton withh England amassing 569 runs in their first innings with Bell and Ballance , wrecking havoc with well made centuries and skipper Cook scoring 95. In reply , India were bowled out for 330 with Rahane and MS Dhoni scoring half centuries. India were set a target of 445 and were eventually bowled out for a mere 178 with Moeen Ali picking 6 wickets.

The fourth and the fifth matches were the ones to forget , with India surrendering within 3 days. India lost the fourth match by an innings and 54 runs and the fifth by an innings and 244 runs. Moeen Ali was the surprise package in the last 3 Tests. The Indian batsmen were in a confusion , whether to attack him or , treat him as a proper spinner. India , squandered their 0-1 lead and lost the series , 3-1.

India won the 5 match ODI series , 3-1 , with the first match , being abandoned with a ball bowled due to rain. India won the second match by 133 runs with Raina , the comeback man scoring a magnificent century and Jadeja , scalping 4 wickets. The third match saw , India winning by 6 wickets and 42 balls to spare , chasing down the target of 228 with Rayudu scoring 64*. India won the fourth match quite easily by 9 wickets and 117 balls to spare , with Rahane scoring a classy century and Dhawan scoring 97*. The match also saw , Dhawal Kulkarni , making his ODI dubut. England won the last match by 41 runs. Jadeja almost took the match away from England with his blistering 87, but didn't have able support at the other end. England won the one-off t20 which was an absolute thriller with MS Dhoni , failing to score the winning runs , which's very rare. England won the match by 3 runs with Kohli scoring 66 for India , and skipper Eoin Morgan scoring 71 for his team.
The England Tour saw , Virat Kohli failing with the bat which is even rarer than a blue moon , as he struggled to play against the moving ball. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was outstanding with his all-round performance in the Test series and his bowling was awesome in the ODI series.

The West Indies team toured India in October after the Champions League t20 , which was won by Chennai Super Kings , for a record second time , equaling Mumbai Indians record . The final was all an Indian affair , with Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings being the finalists. Chennai won the final , thanks to a brilliant batting display by Suresh Raina , who scored a century in the final. Oh , How much I loved the CSK Unit. *_* . India lost the first match at Kochi by 124 runs , courtesy Marlon Samuels's brilliant 126*and 2-10 from 3 overs , with India managing only 197. India bounced back in the second ODI , winning the match by 48 runs , courtesy performances from Virat Kohli , Suresh Raina and the finishing touches by MS Dhoni. India scored 263. In reply , West Indies could manage only 215 runs , with Dwayne Smith scoring a blistering 97 , after  surviving a caught behind , which wasn't given. The third ODI was banned without a ball being bowled owing to rain. India won the fourth match by 59 runs , thanks to a brilliant century from Virat Kohli. In reply , West Indies's Marlon Samuels scored another century , but wasn't able to take his side to victory. The West Indies team , having pay disputes , boycotted the tour. They stood united at the toss of the 4th ODI . The BCCI faced huge losses due to this , and have demanded a fine , which is over 200 crore Indian rupees. The tour saw , 2 Test Matches , 1 ODI and t20s being cancelled.

The Sri Lankan Cricket Board , were kind enough to play a 5 match ODI series against India. MS Dhoni was rested. Virat Kohli led the team in the former's absence. India won the first match at Cuttack by a huge margin of 169 runs, thanks to brilliant centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane. In reply , Sri Lanka were bowled out for 194 with Ishant Sharma picking up 4 wickets. In the second ODI , Sri Lanka scored 274 , the same amount of runs , the had scored in the World Cup 2011 final. Mathews scored 92* and Sanga scored 61. A surprise move , by Virat Kohli which saw , Rayudu bat ahead of him at No,3 , aid off as he scored 121* which turned out to be the match winning innings as India achieved the target with 6 wickets in hand and 33 balls to spare. India won the third ODI quite easily by 6 wickets , thanks to Shikhar Dhawan's 91 in the team's score of 245.The match also saw , Virat Kohli becoming the fastest to score 7000 ODI runs. The fourth ODI saw , Rohit Sharma becoming the first man to score two double centuries in the ODI format. Rohit  scored 264 which included 33 4s and 9 6s. His timing was exquisite throughout the innings and he was flamboyant throughout. The Sri Lankan bowling attack were flabbergasted at Rohit's batting , that they fell short by 153 runs and 13 runs short of Rohit Sharma's score. The fifth ODI was a thriller. It saw , Virat Kohli , at his fluent best as he scored a magnificent 139*. His cover drives and his lofted straight drives , outmatched Angelo Mathes 139*. He led from the front, He saw wickets tumbling at the other end , but held his innings together , thus helping India complete their 5-0 whitewash over Sri Lanka. Thus , he became only the second captain after MS Dhoni to complete two 5-0 ODI whitewashes.

India next tour to Australia where they will be playing 4 tests , a tri series before the 2015 Cricket World Cup which is to be held in Australia and New Zeland. The Australian tour is a blessing in disguise , as India would be familiar of the conditions in Australia. Hope India would defend the World Cup. What say , readers? xD 

Yo People!

Sorry people , for not posting regular updates. A Hectic Schedule ! Last 2 years of Schooling is too much to handle . So , couldn't update! Meanwhile India won the Champions Tropy , Mumbai won the IPL and Clt20! Sachin Retired from all forms of cricket and many more.. Currently India's tour of SA is going on and India were battered yesterday by SA ! India lost the match by a huge margin of 141 runs with De Kock scoring a century and AB and JP providing the late blitz . Only MS Dhoni , the skipper could manage a decent score of 65. Hoping India finish the tour successfully.
Okay , then people ! Will update when I am done with this schedule ! Thank You for your Co-operation! :) 

England's Tour of India

Well , well . The series was termed as 'The Revenge Series' by the Indian Cricket team fans but to their dismay , India lost the Test Series 2-1 and drew the 2 T20I series 1-1.

The First Match was held at Ahemedabad. India won the toss and chose to bat. India got off to a good start with the opening pair adding 134 for the first wicket when Gambhir fell to Swann for a well made 45. Pujara and Sehwag added to England's woes with Sehwag scoring a century. Sehwag was bowled by Swann for 117 which included 15 fours and a six. Sachin Tendulkar was the next to go. Pujara who played patiently got his maiden double century . Yuvraj Singh who made his Test Comeback scored 74 with 2 huge sixes and 6 fours.India amassed 521 for the loss of 8 wickets. England in reply were bundled out for a mere 140 with Ojha picking up 5 wickets and Ashwin picking up 3 wickets. Cook made 41. India enforced the follow on. Cook played a blinder (176) so did Prior (91) but they couldn't give England a huge lead. England were all out for 406 with Ojha yet again among the wickets picking up 4 and Yadav picked up 3. India needed 77 to win and India won the match quite easily and convincingly by 9 wickets. Pujara was awarded the Man of the Match.

The second match was held at Mumbai. India won the toss and chose to bat. India lost wickets at regular intervals. Pujara batted beautifully and made 135. Ashwin made 68 and gave Pujara a good support. India were bundled out for 327 with Panesar picking 5 wickets and Swann picking up 4 wickets. In reply England made 413 with Cook scoring 122 and Kevin Pietersen scoring 186. Ojha again was among the wickets picking up 5 crucial wickets. In reply the Indian batsmen came a cropper. India were bundled out for a mere 142 with only Gambhir and Ashwin getting into a double digit score. Gambhir scored 60. Panesar picked up 6 wickets and Swann picked up 4 wickets. England scored the required 57 runs quite easily. Though Panesar got a 10 wicket match haul, Pietersen for his 186 was adjudged the Man of the Match.

The third match was held at Kolkata. India yet again won the toss and got off to a good start befor Sehwag was dismissed in a bizarre way , running himself out while looking out for the 3rd run. India were dismissed for 316 runs with Gambhir scoring 60, Tendulkar scoring 76 and MS Dhoni scoring 52. England amassed 523 with Cook scoring 190 who was also run out in a very very bizarre manner. Kevin Pietersen had nudged the ball to square leg. Virat Kohli attempted a run out at the bowler's end. Cook trying to get away from the throw,just lifted his bat at the final moment. Compton made 57,Trott made 87,Pietersen made 54. Indian batsmen yet again came a cropper. India could manage only 247 with Ashwin scoring 91*. It was an awesome resistance shown by Ashwin! England needing 41 to win got there with some hiccups. But Ian Bell ensured there was no further hiccups. Cook was adjudged the Man of the Match .

The fourth match was held at Nagpur. Cook finally won the toss and chose to bat.England made 330 with debutant Root and Pietersen scoring 73.Chawla who made a Test comeback picket up 4 wickets and debutant Jadeja picked up 2 wickets. In reply India declared their innings at 326 for the loss of 9 wickets. V Kohli and and MS Dhoni put on a 198 run partnership for the 5th wicket. Kohli scored a magnificient 103 and MS Dhoni was run out when he was on 99 . I WAS HEART-BROKEN at that time. But MS Dhoni walked away quietly . That amazed me! England in reply lost quick wickets which gave some hope for India for leveling the series . But it was Bell again with Trott , rescued England and got centuries. The match ended in a tame draw.Anderson was adjudged the Man of the match for his awesome bowling.

Cook was waiting for the moment . So was the whole English team for that final moment. England had won a test series in India after 28 years. People and many news channels blamed Dhoni for the loss. Seriously people still don't know that cricket is a team game.! :/ . Being a die-hard fan of MS Dhoni , I just had to argue with my friends that he is still the best.

In the T20 series, Eoin Morgan lead the England team. Stuart Broad was injured which forced him to fly back home. The first match was held at Pune, the first international match held at the venue. India won the toss and chose to field . England made 157 for the loss of 6 wickets with Hales scoring 56 and Wright scored 34. Buttler gave the finishing touch with 33 * of 21 balls. Yuvraj bowled very well picking up 3 wickets and giving away 19 runs. India chased it down quite easily with Yuvraj scoring 38. He was awarded the Man of the Match.

In the second T20I , India were asked to bat first. India scored 177 runs for the loss of 8 wickets with MS Dhoni scoring 38 off 18 balls and Raina scoring 33 off 20 . In reply , England won the match with 6 wickets remaining and NO BALLS to spare. It came down towards the last ball. 3 runs were required off the final delivery and Morgan did it in style hitting a 92 m six straight over the bowler's head. Awana's fieliding(dropped a catch of Hales) and Gambhir's slow start (17 off 27) added to India's woes which I felt was the turning point of the game.

It was a good series. England deserved to win the Test series. And the T20 series was awesome. The ODI series will start in mid January 2013. Don't forget the India-Pakistan series which is the mother of all clashes in cricket according to a page on Facebook! 

Sorry Guys.! :(

Sorry to all those people who follow this blog. I couldn't cover the t20 WC And CLt20. I've given a small gist of what happened.Sorry dudes. Keep following.West Indies were crowned as the t20 World Cup 2012 beating Sri Lanka by 36 runs.It was a great tournament,full of excitement and many last ball finishes too.India were eliminated in the Super 8's but they performed very well,winning against Afghanistan,England,Pakistan and South Africa.They lost only to Australia in a rain marred match.India didn't qualify for the semi finals due to a lower NRR that Pakistan.

Sydney Sixers were adjudged the Champions of the Karbonn Smart Champions League t20.  They beat the Highveld Lions by 10 wickets in the final. The Indian teams Chennai Super Kings,Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders were knocked out in the group stage while Delhi lost in the Semi Finals to Highveld Lions.

India now faces England. The squad for the first two tests are :
MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Zaheer Khan.
The first test starts on November 15.
THE REVENGE IS ON!

India on a Roll.!

India won the two match Test series against New Zealand 2-0.The hosts played really well in the test series.The Visitors,NZ won the 2nd T20I after the first match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

The first match saw India winning the test by a huge margin.India won the toss and chose to bat in Hyderabad. India made 438 in the 1st innings with Pujara scoring a magnificent 159.Kohli scored 58,MS Dhoni scored 73,Sehwag scored 47 and R Ashwin scored 37.The New Zealanders got off to an aggressive start with McCullum racing off to 22 of 25 balls.But he was out to a well tossed up delivery from Ojha.New Zeland could only manage 159.Franklin scored 43.Ashwin took 6 wickets,Ojha picked up 3 and U Yadav picked up a wicket.India enforced the follow on.New Zealand could manage only 164.Ashwin again was among the wickets picking up 6 wickets again.Ojha took 3 and Yadav picked up 1.Williamson scored 52.
Ashwin was awarded the Man of the Match.

Thee second match saw India winning the series 2-0.New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.New Zealand made 365 with Ross Taylor scoring 113,Van Wyk scoring 71,Guptill scoring 53 and scoring 43.Ojha picked up 5 wickets.Zak picked up 2.India in reply fell 12 runs short. Kolhi scoring 103,Raina scoring 55 and MS Dhoni scoring 62.Ashwin contributed with 32.In the 2nd Innings,New Zealand were bundled out for 248 with Franklin scoring 41.Flynn and Van Wyk scored 31 each.Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers picking up 5 wickets.India won the match quite comfortably with Kolhi scoring 51*,MS Dhoni scoring 48* and Pujara scoring 48.India won the match by 5 wickets.Kohli was adjudged the Man of the Match and E Ashwin was adjudged the Man of the Series.

Then followed the 2 match t20 series.The First t20I At Hyderabad was abandoned due to rain without a ball being bowle.The second match in Chennai was a thrilling one.India won the toss and chose to field.New Zealand were struggling at 2-2 at one stage until B McCullum and Williamson put on a 90 run partnership.B.McCullum went on to score 91.Williamson scored 28.Taylor and Oram gave the finishing touch.New Zealand put on 167 on board at the end of 20 overs.India lost Gambhir early..Kohli and Raina then put on a 60 run partnership for the 2nd wicket.Kohli and Raina fell in quick succession.Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni put on 42 for the 4th wicket.Kohli set up a good platform for India to win the match.But good bowling from Oram and Franklin kept India in check.The equation was 13 to win off 6.Dhoni hit a four off the second ball.Yuvraj was bowled in the 4th ball.4 to win of one ball.Rohit could only manage two and New Zeland won by one run.McCullum was awarded the Man of The Match and Man of the series.

The test series saw the replacements of Dravid and Laxman.Pujara has the temprament and class but it is too early to judge.Raina is a limited over specialist but showed in the second test that he is fit for the 2nd test too.The t20 series saw the comeback of Yuvraj Singh,who was out with cancer.He bowled two good overs took a catch and scored 34 off 26 which included 2 sixes and a four.Laxmipathy Balaji was the other one to comeback.He bowled well but was a touch expensive.He finished his 4 overs giving 33 runs and picked the wicket of Franklin.People started blaming MS Dhoni for the loss but that was a lame reason.With this win,NZ have maintained their good record against India in t20 beating them 4 times in 4 matches.This match is a good practice match for the t20 World Cup which starts on 18th September.

Good Start to the Season For India!

It was a good start for the Indian team as they won the ODI Series 4-1 and won the only t20 against Sri Lanka touring...Yea! TOURING.India didn't have a good tour against England and Australia.After the IPL was over,Indian Cricketers got nearly 2 months rest.

The first match of the ODI Series was a thrilling one..India scored 314 for the loss of 6 wickets with Virat Kohli scoring an elegant 106 and the 'Nawab' Virender Sehwag scoring 96.The finishing touches were given b Raina who scored a 50 and MS Dhoni who scored 35..Sri Lanka didn't start well as they lost Dilshan for just 6 with only 9 runs on board.There was a 77-run partnership between Tharanga and Sangakkara.After that partnership was broken wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals.Thisera Perera and Sangakkara,who scored a magnificent 133,gave Sri Lanka some hope by putting on 78 runs for the 7th wicket.But Sangakkara was bowled at the wrong time,for Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka ended up scoring 293 for 9 in 50 overs.Kohli was awarded the Man of the Match.

The Second match was a disaster for India as they were bowled out for just 138 with Gambhir scoring 65.Perera and Angelo Matthews took 3 wickets apiece.Sri Lanka chased down the target in just 19.5 overs.Dilshan scored a 50 and Tharanga scored 59 as Sri Lanka raced to an easy victoryLanka won by 9 wickets.Perera was declared the Man of the Match.

The third match was an awesome one.Sri Lanka scored 286 for the loss of 5 wickets with Jayawardane scoring 65,Sangakarra scoring 71 and Matthews scoring 71.J Mendis provided the finishing touch.India didn't get the proper start as they lost Sehwag for just 3.Kohli and Gambhir put on 105 for the 2nd wicket.Kohli was ousted by Herath who flighted the ball and had Kohli decieved.Dhoni and Gambhir put on another 67 runs for the 3rd Wicket.Dhoni,Rohit Sharma(0) and Gambhir(102) were out in quick succession.Raina and Pathan drove India home.They put on a 92 run partnership.Raina was declared the Man of the match for his Match saving and match winning knock of 65*.

The fourth match  saw India winning the series.Sri Lanka scored 251 in their 50 overs with Tharanga scoring 51 and Thirimanne scoring 47.Part Time bowler and the man who came into the Indian side for the fourth match,Manoj Tiwary took 4 wickets.India won the match convincingly by 6 wickets and 46 balls remaining as Virat Kohli stuck another elegant century and Raina scoring 58.Kohli was rewarded with the Man of the Match.

The fifth Match was also thrilling.India won the toss and chose to bat.Sehwag  was replaced by Rahane who scored just 9 runs.India scored 294 for the fall of 7 wickets in 50 overs.Gambhir scored 88,Tiwary scored 65 and Dhoni gave the finishing touch,scoring 58 off just 38 which included a hue six.Pathan too gave a good finishing touch.Sri Lanka yet again failed to get a good start as they lost Dilshan for a duck.Sri Lanka went on to score 274,20 runs short of India's total.Thrimanne,who replaced an injured Sangakkara in the 4th,5th and the t20 match scored 77,J Mendis scored 72.Pathan got his 2nd 5 for in his ODI Career.He was adjudged the Man of the Match.Kohli was adjudged the man of ther series.

The only t20 took place on 7th August.India scored 155 for 3 in 20 overs.Man! Virat Kohli is in a GREAT form..What Class..Superb playing..He scored 68 off 48 which was studded by 11 superb fours and a six.Raina gave the finishing touch along with Dhoni.More was expected from Dhoni..but he wasn't in great form.He was struggling with mild niggles..Sri Lanka yet again failed to get a good start as Dilshan was bowled for a duck.Sri Lanka were bowled out for 116.Incredible bowling by India,To get a team all out in a t20 needs a special effort.Pathan took 3wickets and was adjudged the Man of the match.Kohli was adjudged the man of the series.

Rohit Sharma failed to score more than 10 runs in the series.Even Malinga scored more than him..But every player has those bad phases..Hope he would be back with a bang.Pathan was the find of the series as he used all his opportunities to a good extent.Overall it was a good series for India..And for Kohli too.! 

Kolkata Knight Riders Win IPL V!

Kolkata Knight Riders won the Indian Premier League 2012 by beating the Defending Champions Chennai Super Kings.Kolkata Knight Riders were consistent and were favorites to win the IPL-V.But when CSK entered the Play-offs through the backdoor,Kolkata had a lot of work to do.Kolkata defeated the Delhi Daredevils comprehensively in the Qualifier ;defeating them by 18 runs.Chennai Super Kings got 17 points in their league games and wanted the Rajasthan Royals,Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kings XI Punjab to lose  their league matches because a Win for any of the three teams can push the Chennai Super Kings out of the competition.And to the Chennai Super Kings's Surprise,all the three teams lost comprehensively.Deccan Chargers were the party poppers.Deccan were out of sorts from the start.Bowling let them away.Only Dale Steyn was their hope and he did well.He was the only bowler in the Deccan who was fearsome for the opponents.Pune Warriors started their campaign on a high but lost nearly 7 matches consecutively.Pune finished last and Deccan finished 8th.Rajasthan were inconsistent and finished 7th So were KXIP.They were boosted with the arrival of azhar Mahamood.Adam Gilchrist was injured and missed many matches before playing the last 2 matches.With RCB finishing 5th,CSK,MI,KKR and DD qualified for the playoffs.
Chennai defeated Mumbai Indians comprehensively by 38 runs.MS Dhoni blazed to a 51 off 20 balls which was the turning point in the match.In the Qualifier 2,Chennai defeated Delhi Daredevils by 86 runs with Murali Vijay scoring a brilliant century.The stage was set for a final.Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders.Chennai won the toss and chose to bat.The host scored a massive 190/3 in their 20 overs.Mike Hussey celebrated his birthday with a great knock.Out of Sorts Suresh Raina scored 73 off 38 balls.Sunil Narine who was the most toughest to pick was plundered for 37 runs in his 4 overs.Kolkata lost their skipper Gautam Gambhir who was their highest run scorer for just 2.Manvinder Bisla who came as a replacement for McCullum took the match away from the host scoring a magnificient 89 off 48 balls.Kallis too joined the party with Bisla scoring 69 runs.Shakib Al Hasan and Manoj Tiwary did it for the KKR in the last over,which won their maiden title
Orange Cap ( Most Runs )- Chris Gayle
Purple Cap (Most Wickets )-Morne Morkel

Rising Star-Mandeep SIngh (KXIP)
Golden Player of the tournament- Sunil Narine