The Knockout Stages of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Here is a brief summary , how India fared in the knockout stages of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

Quarter Final : India vs Bangladesh , 19th March 2015 at Melbourne

Both the captains , were welcomed with a huge roar from their contingent at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. India won the toss and chose to bat . India went into the game with the same XI. Both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan , were at their fluent best and raced off to 75 in 16.2 overs, when the latter misread Shakib al Hasan , only to get stumped, some good work from Bangladesh's ex-captain , Mushfiqur Rahim. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane , both fell to lose shots , to leave India reeling at 115-3 at the end of the 28th over. In walked Suresh Raina , fresh from his magnificent century against Zimbabwe, which proved to be a mach winning knock. Meanwhile , Rohit Sharma raced to a fifty, his first in a knockout game. Raina started cautiously , rotating singles. He unleashed his army of shots in the end overs of the batting power play , getting to his fifty. The two had shared a 122 runs stand , before Raina , top edged one off Mortaza , the skier pouched by Rahim. Rohit Sharma, began to unleash his shots as well . He brought up his century with a push through covers. It was his first World Cup Century. After getting to the landmark , he played flamboyantly. One shot which I loved was the loft over long off , which went for a huge six. It was so effortless. Eventually he was bowled by an inswinging yorker. Ravindra Jadeja , blazed his way to 23 off 10 deliveries to give India the finishing touch. India finished with 302 for the loss of 6 wickets.

303 was always a tough ask , that too in a high pressure game. But Tamim Iqbal started positively , hitting 3 boundaries of Mohammed Shami in the 4th over. But he got out to Umesh Yadav , thanks to a good low catch from MS Dhoni. Imrul Kayes was the next man to go , in the very next ball , thanks to a brilliant fielding effort from Jadeja. All the middle order batsmen got starts , but none could convert it to a big knock or a fifty. Bangladesh were tottering at 139 for 6 , with their star players Mushfiqur Rahim and all rounder Shakib al Hasan back in the hut. Nasir Hossain and big hitter Sabir Rahman shared a 50 run stand. Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for 193.Yadav was the pick of the bowlers, picking up 4 wickets , bowling with good pace and bowling some absolutely unplayable deliveries.
Rohit Sharma was adjudged the Man of the Match for his magnificent 137. There was some controversy when he was caught at the fence , when he was on 91, but it was adjudged a no-ball. It was a full toss , around waist height which got the Bangladeshi fans , expressing their dismay , both in the ground and on social networking websites , but little did they realise that , Imrul Kayes also got a nick , which wasn't adjudged out.

Semifinal : India was Australia , March 26th 2015 at Sydney

Many Indians , bunked school and colleges , took a day off from work , only to watch the high octane clash at the Sydney Cricket Ground , where India have a very poor record , managing only one win out of the 14 games played. About 70% of the crowd were Indian supporters. Australia qualified for the semifinals , after surviving an intimidating spell from Wahab Riaz against Pakistan. Australia won the toss and elected to bat. Any captain , on such a high pressure match would've opted to bat. MS Dhoni also added that he would've chosen to bat as well. In came David Warner and Aaron Finch. Mohammed Shami bowled a brilliant first over. Umesh Yaadav gave a few runs in his first over but got the wicket of David Warner in his next over. In came Steven Smith who had a good summer against India , in the test series. Both Finch and Smith started off rotating singles , and managing a boundary in every 3-4 overs thereby keeping the scoreboard ticking . Smith got to his half century , so did Aaron Finch. Smith started playing freely and his shots were graceful to watch, not for an Indian cricket fan though , as he got to his first World Cup Century against India. He got out to Yadav , trying to up the ante after adding 182 for the second wicket in 31 overs. Maxwell , who had earlier asked India to remember what Australia did them to in the triangular series , started off well , but got out to Ashwin , some brilliant captaincy from MS Dhoni having all his fielders on the leg side. It was a dismissal which was well planned. His captaincy was lauded by the commentators as well. Finch followed Maxwell in quick succession. India had come back in to the game. India also got the wicket of skipper Michael Clarke. But India failed to capitalise on Australia's collapse as Faulkner , Johnson and Haddin gave the finishing touch to Australia's innings as they scored  70 runs in their last 6 overs.

India got off to a very good start. Yes , there was an opportunity , for Haddin , but he failed to pouch it. Dhawan started to play his shots as Rohit played the anchor role. Dhawan flicked a six over mid-wicket off Faulkner. It pitched on middle and off , and he flicked it over mid-wicket. I just loved that shot. He did the same against South Africa too , but it went over fine leg. India blazed its way to 76 in the 13th over before Dhawan got out to a needless shot , only to get caught at deep covers. Virat Kohli was the next one to follow , as he got a snorter . He miscued his pull shot. It was a needless shot from India's talisman who has scored as many as 14 centuries in a successful chase. Rohit smacked Johnson for a six , but got out to Johnson in the very next ball, nicking it on to the stumps. Raina in his brief stay scored a boundary but got out , to Faulkner trying to guide the ball to third man , only to find Haddin pouching a simple catch. In came India's captain , MS Dhoni . Indian hopes rested on him. Rahane and MS Dhoni , rotated singles even as Run Rate rose up to 9 an over. They kept calm and scored boundaries very occasionally. Rahane was adjudged out caught behind , thanks to DRS as no one appealed except Smith and Maxwell who were stationed at Mid On and point respectively. It was faintest of edges. Ravindra Jadeja was the next man to go as he was run out , thanks to a brilliant direct hit from Smith who was at point. MS Dhoni smacked two consecutive huge sixes of Watson , as he got to his fifty , but it was too much to ask for from the Indian skipper as he was run out , courtesy, Maxwell's powerful direct hit. India's lower order couldn't offer resistance as India were eventually bowled out for 233 in 46.5 overs. Faulkner picked up 3 and Hazlewood was brilliant at the start.
Steven Smith won the Man of the Match award for his 105.

Australia will face New Zealand in the finals after New Zealand won a cliffhanger against South Africa leaving AB de Villiers , Faf du Plessis , Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel devastated and in tears.

It was a very good World Cup for India as one couldn't have imagined 7 wins on the trot after not managing even a single win under the belt in the triangular series just before the World Cup. Indian bowlers , who were scrutinised  and criticised showed their skills and armoury as they picked up 77 wickets in 8 matches. Captaincy was top class from MS Dhoni, who 'might' have played his last World Cup innings. Well , I just can't imagine how Indian cricket would move on after he retires from all forms of international cricket. 11 consecutive wins for India in World Cup matches. Yes , we couldn't defend our World Cup , Yes , we gave it back, but I am proud of my lads. Keep your heads held high!

India's Route to the Quarter Finals !

Hey People! Its exactly a month since the epic clash against Pakistan. India have all but qualified for the Quarterfinals of the cricketing extravaganza, the ICC Cricket World Cup. India have showed their mettle and class , and the players have risen to the occasion . Not to forget , the excellent captaincy by MS Dhoni! Here's how we reached the Quarter Finals!

First Match : 15th February 2015. India vs Pakistan , at Adelaide.
The most anticipated clash of the World Cup , started off in India's favour. MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat. Bhuvneshwar Kumar , who was supposedly fit , did not make it to the XI. The pace attack comprised of Mohit Sharma , Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav. India got off to a good start , scoring 33 in the first 7 overs , before Rohot Sharma miscued a pull. In came , Virat Kohli , India's talisman. He along with Shikhar Dhawan , stabilised the innings. Dhawan notched up his fifty off 54 balls before being run out for 73. Kohli went on to score a century, thereby becoming the first Indian to score a century against Pakistan in World Cup encounter. Suresh Raina also smashed the Pakistan bowling attack , before both of them getting out in quick succession trying to accelerate the run rate in the final overs. India finished with a score of 300/7 in their 50 overs. Sohail Khan was the star performer for Pakistan , picking up 5 wickets.
Pakistan , opened with Ahmed Shehzad and Younis Khan , as they didn't play a specialist opener.They got off to a very bad start , losing Younis Khan in the fourth over. Haris Sohail and Shehzad stitched up a 68 run partnership before the former got out to Ashwin. 5 overs later , Shehzad and Maqsood went in quick succession , falling prey to Umesh Yaadav. Pakistan's middle order collapsed and they were stuttering at 154/7 at the end of the 35th over. Misbah ul Haq tried hard , but couldn't do enough as Pakistan lost by 76 runs, thereby keeping the record clean. The record being,  all wins for India against Pakistan in all World Cup Matches. Virat Kohli was awarded the Man of the Match.

Second Match : 22nd February 2015, India vs South Africa at Melbourne.
In the battle of the favourites, India won the toss and chose to bat. India got off to a bad start losing Rohit Sharma for a duck , courtesy , brilliant fielding from the captain, AB de Villiers. Virat Kohli and Dhawan , stabilised the innings , just like they did against Pakistan. Virat Kohli miscued a pull off Imran Tahir , only to find du Plessis at short mid wicket. Ajinkya Rahane , who got out for a golden duck against Pakistan in the last over of the Indian innings , started to play his shots. Meanwhile , Shikhar Dhawan scored his maiden World Cup Century. Rahane got to his fifty in quick time and both of them started playing freely . One of the best moments , was , Shikhar Dhawan flicking Morne Morkel for a six , over fine leg , picking up the ball from off stump. That was something special .India were kept in check after the duo got out and could manage 307, after being 271/4 at the end of the 45th over.
South Africa's Quentin de Kock , got out to Mohammad Shami , for a nothing shot , only to see himself getting aught by Virat Kohli at mid off. Amla and du Plessis put 28 runs for the second wicket before the former got out. The 68 run stand between du Plessis and AB de Villiers looked threatening. Thanks to Mohit Sharma's brilliance in the field , AB de Villiers was run out for 30. du Plessis scored slowly and got to his 50 before getting out to Mohit Sharma. The duo of Miller and Duminy who saved South Africa against Zimbabwe from a humiliation , failed to fire. South Africa were bundled out for 177 , giving India their first victory against South Africa in all World Cup encounters. Dhawan was adjudged the Man Of the Match for his brilliant 137.

Third Match : 28th February 2015 , India vs UAE at Perth
The associate Nation , UAE , won the toss and chose to bat. Bhuvneshwar Kumar , replaced Mohammed Shami , after the latter suffered some niggles. He started off the proceedings quite well. Umesh Yadav prized out UAE's Berenger for 4. It was an almost unplayable bouncer. Bhuvneshwar Kumar , removed the other opener. Ravichandran Ashwin , ripped UAE's middle order , picking up 4 wickets. UAE did not have any clue against Ashwin , Jadeja and Yaadav. Anwar, UAE's top run scorer in the World Cup , was the standout performer scoring 35 before getting out to a peach from Yaadav.
India , finished off the chase quite easily , with Rohit Sharma scoring 57* and Virat Kohli scoring 33*. India won by 9 wickets and 187 balls to spare. Ravichandran Ashwin was adjudged the Man of the Match for his 4-25.

Fourth Match : March 6th 2015, India vs West Indies at Perth.
West Indies won the toss and chose to bat. Mohammed Shami was fit and he replaced Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Chris Gayle who scored 215 against Zimbabwe failed to fire as he got out only for 21. West Indies saw their top order and middle order skittle out. They were 85-7 at one stage, when Sammy and captain Jason Holder stitched a 39 run partnership before the former got out. Jason Holder blazed his way to a second consecutive half century . Courtesy , Jason Holder , West Indies managed a mere 182. Shami who made his comeback , scalped 3 . Yadav and Jadeja took 2 apiece
India's start got off to a bad start , yet again with both the batsmen in the pavilion with just 20 runs on the board. Kohli and Rahane stitched a 43 run partnership , before Kohli top edged to long leg , to find Samuels. Rahane followed the dian vice captain quickly. Raina and MS Dhoni tried to stabilise the proceedings , but Raina nicked one. Jadeja tried to be aggressive , instead of giving MS Dhoni some hope of building a partnership. He miscued a pull , only to find Samuels ,who pouched after juggling with the ball twice. India needed 49 runs with MS Dhoni and Ashwin out in the middle. MS Dhoni batted sensibly , so did ,Ashwin. A six over third man , from MS Dhoni broke the shackles .
India cruised to victory after that. Mohammed Shami was adjudged the Man of the Match , though I felt , MS Dhoni deserved it because it wasn't as easy track to bat on with the likes of Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach firing all the cylinders.

Fifth Match : March 10th 2015, India vs Ireland at Hamilton
India's first match at New Zealand , got off to a shaky start after Ireland won the toss and chose to bat. Openers Porterfield and Stirling spanked the Indian bowling attack in the first 8 overs. The openers stitched an 89 run partnership with the captain, Porterfield getting to his half century . Niall O'Brien and captain , Porterfield , rotated and scored off lose balls , before the latter got out to Mohit Sharma for 67. The duo had added 53 runs in 84 balls. Ireland started batting aggressively . They raced to 208-5 in the 40th over losing the elder one of the Brien brothers in the 40th over. Ireland managed to score 259 runs. Shami and Ashwin were the star performers with the ball picking up 3 and 2 wickets respectively.
India got off to a flyer . Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan capitalised and played freely. One could see the inexperience of the Irish bowling attack. Both the openers got to their fifties , the first time in this World Cup and they played more freely once they got to their personal landmarks , before Rohit Sharma chopped one off Thompson , after scoring 64 , adding a 174 for the first wicket. The highest opening stand for India in World Cup History. Shikhar played sensibly along with the new man Virat and got to his hundred , his second of the tournament before perishing to Thompson. Virat and Ajinkya , came together and spanked the Irish bowling attack , finishing off the match with more than 13 overs to spare. The winning shot off Kohli was a special one. That crack it made from the bat , was an awesome one to watch. Shikhar Dhawan won the man of the match!

Sixth Match : March 14th 2015 , India vs Zimbabwe at Auckland.
India won the toss , and asked Zimbabwe to bat. Shami , Yadav and Mohit Sharma , accounted fir the first three wickets. Zimbabwe were struggling at 33-3 at the end of 11 overs , when Sean Williams came in hands with Brendan Taylor , the captain , who was playing his last match for Zimbabwe. Both the players were severe on Ashwin . Williams hocked Ashwin for two consecutive sixes over mid wicket and Brendan Taylor , did a Maxwell , reverse sweeping him . Ashwin , had the last laugh though , pouching an excellent catch of his own bowling accounting Sean Williams for 50. Brendan continued and was belligerent. He hoisted Jadeja for two humongous sixes and brought up his century with a brilliant upper cut. He was severe with his batting but got out for 138. He received a standing ovation from the crowd and as well as his team. It was a brilliant innings to sign off his career as a Zimbabwe cricketer. Raza and the other players tried hard , but couldn't touch the 300 mark. They were bowled out for 287 with Shami and Yadav picking up 3 wickets apiece.
Indian openers were back in the hut with only 21 runs on the board. Virat and Rahane stitched a 50 run partnership , before the latter was run out. In came Suresh Raina , who couldn't get much opportunity after the first match. He started cautiously. Just when things were starting to fall in India's place, Virat Kohli was bowled around his legs. India were 92-4 in the 23rdover needing another 196 runs. In walked MS Dhoni , who didn't get much time in the middle , except for the previous match. Raina was the aggressor and went on to score his fifty , after Hamilton Masakadza dropped him when he was on 48. Raina continued to bat with freedom and spanked the Zimbabwean attack. Meanwhile ,Dhoni who was playing the second fiddle , got to his 57th half century. Both of them batted extremely well after the batting power play and not to forget that India didn't lose any wicket during the power play. Raia blasted his way to 5th ODI century , first in 50 over World Cup becoming the only Indian to score a century in both t20 WC and 50 over WC. Dhoni finished off the chase with a six over square leg , finishing off with 85* off 76 balls , with 8 4s and 2 6s. Suresh Raina was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant 110* which was studded with 9 4s and 4 6s.

It was a complete team performance from India in all the 6 matches. The bowling attack , which was under the scanner , before the World Cup began , fired all the cylinders , picking up all 60 wickets in 6 matches and didn't concede a score above 300 runs , a feat which no team could achieve , in this World Cup. Batting was also excellent and fielding was top class. Not to forget MS Dhoni's captaincy as mentioned above. All the batsmen are in quite good form and the bowlers are all fired up. India face Bangladesh in the quarterfinals on 19th March 2015 , Thursday at Melbourne.
We are defending the World Cup.
#WontGiveItBack. :D 

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.