Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
List of Players who scored WC debut Century !!!!
1975
Dennis Amiss Eng v Ind Lord's
Glen Turner NZ v EAf Birmingham
1983
Alan Lamb Eng v NZ The Oval
Trevor Chappell Aus v Ind Nottingham
1987-88
Geoff Marsh Aus v Ind Madras
1991-92
Andy Flower Zim v SL New Plymouth
1995-96
Nathan Astle NZ v Eng Ahmedabad
Gary Kirsten SAf v UAE Rawalpindi
2002-03
Scott Styris NZ v SL Bloemfontein
Andrew Symonds Aus v Pak Johannesburg
2007
Jeremy Bray Irl v Zim Kingston
2011
Virat Kohli Ind Vs Bangladesh
Dennis Amiss Eng v Ind Lord's
Glen Turner NZ v EAf Birmingham
1983
Alan Lamb Eng v NZ The Oval
Trevor Chappell Aus v Ind Nottingham
1987-88
Geoff Marsh Aus v Ind Madras
1991-92
Andy Flower Zim v SL New Plymouth
1995-96
Nathan Astle NZ v Eng Ahmedabad
Gary Kirsten SAf v UAE Rawalpindi
2002-03
Scott Styris NZ v SL Bloemfontein
Andrew Symonds Aus v Pak Johannesburg
2007
Jeremy Bray Irl v Zim Kingston
2011
Virat Kohli Ind Vs Bangladesh
Monday, 21 February 2011
How India Can Win the World Cup ???
Is there such a thing as a template for good results in a World Cup? West Indies had exceptionally strong batting and vicious pace. In 1983, India batted deep and had many swing and seam bowlers. Australia in 1987 didn't lose a single tight match with their deceptive slow bowlers. Pakistan peaked late in 1992, but did it with steady build-ups and explosive finishes. Between 1999 and 2007, Australia were — well — Australia.
Since Sri Lanka won the last Cup in the sub-continent, it is important to analyse how they did it. They had explosive openers, a middle order that didn't let the momentum slip and an army of slow bowlers. Compare that with India in 2011. After the two warm-up games, it seems MS Dhoni has finally found the template for World Cup success — dominating the middle overs.
In ODIs, all teams look to make the most of the first and last 10 overs. But this World Cup will be won by the team that controls the middle overs and Powerplays the best. A month back in South Africa, these were India's pain-points. But on spin-friendly wickets in Bangalore and Chennai, they seem to have hit upon their magic formula — confident starts, aggressive build-ups, and a strong spin attack to bamboozle their opponents.
Dominating the middle overs --- batting
In Chennai against New Zealand, Gambhir and the middle order lifted India from a slow start much like Gurusinha, Aravinda and Ranatunga did many times in 1996. From a rate of 4.5 when Sehwag fell, Gambhir and Kohli pushed the rate to 5, before Dhoni and Raina blew it threw the roof.
Power-hitting, wise strike rotation and a low percentage of dot balls did the trick. Gambhir, master of the short single, had 33 dots, 39 singles and three twos in his 89.
Dhoni in his brilliantly paced hundred had just 15 dots and 28 singles. He and Raina placed the Powerplay perfectly, not leaving it for the end. This is the exact opposite of what India were doing in South Africa: not rotating strike, losing middle order wickets cheaply and timing their Powerplays badly.
If India can replicate their Chennai methods again, they have Dhoni, Pathan, Raina and Yuvraj waiting down the order to provide the RDX for the slog overs. Yuvraj isn't in top form yet, but with the spinners and Zaheer batting deep, India finally seem to have a sturdy line-up.
Decoding the Powerplays
Let's throw a look back at what winning teams have done with the batting Powerplay recently. In the series against England, Australia lost just one game out of seven. In Adelaide, they had Cameron White and David Hussey going strong while chasing 300. They didn't take the Powerplay. Wickets fell. They lost by 21 runs.
This wasn't an aberration for Australia. They'd always taken the Powerplay late in this series — five times in or after the 42nd over, at other times in the 37th and 38th.
South Africa beat India 3-2 recently. In Durban, Duminy and de Villiers took the Powerplay in the 27th. The result: 45 runs, no wickets, and the run rate shot from 5.5 to 6 in the middle of the innings. India lost by 135 runs.
When India beat New Zealand 5-0 recently, they took the Powerplay just twice in five games — in the 40th over in the first ODI, and in the 38th in the fourth where Pathan blasted the bejesus out of New Zealand.
This gives us the indication that it is best to claim the Powerplay in the middle overs when you have set batsmen. Anything else is an opportunity lost, as Australia discovered in Adelaide.
As Harbhajan said about timing the batting Powerplay in this excellent interview to Cricinfo:
Dominating the middle overs --- bowling
The traditional approach to bowling the middle overs in the sub-continent has been to employ slow bowlers — often part-timers — defend the boundaries and save your best bowlers for the slog.
India can run away with the Cup by turning this method upside down.
Put the spinners on attack, employ a slip and leg-slip, put more fielders in the ring and tell the batsmen to go over the top if they'd like. When he led India against New Zealand, Gambhir used this ploy to perfection. The Black Caps were sitting ducks against Ashwin, Pathan and Yuvraj who took 24 wickets between them in five ODIs.
Dhoni has tended to be more defensive. But in the two warm-up games, he followed the Gambhir route, causing the batsmen to self-destruct under pressure. It's also to India's benefit that they've found a spinner who means to attack all the time. Ashwin could be India's best spinner since Harbhajan.
Sri Lanka in 1996 had mastered slowing down the opposition with their spinners. New Zealand in 1992 had stunned the world by opening with an off-spinner. Tied down with the slow bowling, successive batsmen threw away their wickets. In 2011, India now has the best spin attack along with Sri Lanka. It would be hard to stop these two teams.
Since Sri Lanka won the last Cup in the sub-continent, it is important to analyse how they did it. They had explosive openers, a middle order that didn't let the momentum slip and an army of slow bowlers. Compare that with India in 2011. After the two warm-up games, it seems MS Dhoni has finally found the template for World Cup success — dominating the middle overs.
In ODIs, all teams look to make the most of the first and last 10 overs. But this World Cup will be won by the team that controls the middle overs and Powerplays the best. A month back in South Africa, these were India's pain-points. But on spin-friendly wickets in Bangalore and Chennai, they seem to have hit upon their magic formula — confident starts, aggressive build-ups, and a strong spin attack to bamboozle their opponents.
Dominating the middle overs --- batting
In Chennai against New Zealand, Gambhir and the middle order lifted India from a slow start much like Gurusinha, Aravinda and Ranatunga did many times in 1996. From a rate of 4.5 when Sehwag fell, Gambhir and Kohli pushed the rate to 5, before Dhoni and Raina blew it threw the roof.
Power-hitting, wise strike rotation and a low percentage of dot balls did the trick. Gambhir, master of the short single, had 33 dots, 39 singles and three twos in his 89.
Dhoni in his brilliantly paced hundred had just 15 dots and 28 singles. He and Raina placed the Powerplay perfectly, not leaving it for the end. This is the exact opposite of what India were doing in South Africa: not rotating strike, losing middle order wickets cheaply and timing their Powerplays badly.
If India can replicate their Chennai methods again, they have Dhoni, Pathan, Raina and Yuvraj waiting down the order to provide the RDX for the slog overs. Yuvraj isn't in top form yet, but with the spinners and Zaheer batting deep, India finally seem to have a sturdy line-up.
Decoding the Powerplays
Let's throw a look back at what winning teams have done with the batting Powerplay recently. In the series against England, Australia lost just one game out of seven. In Adelaide, they had Cameron White and David Hussey going strong while chasing 300. They didn't take the Powerplay. Wickets fell. They lost by 21 runs.
This wasn't an aberration for Australia. They'd always taken the Powerplay late in this series — five times in or after the 42nd over, at other times in the 37th and 38th.
South Africa beat India 3-2 recently. In Durban, Duminy and de Villiers took the Powerplay in the 27th. The result: 45 runs, no wickets, and the run rate shot from 5.5 to 6 in the middle of the innings. India lost by 135 runs.
When India beat New Zealand 5-0 recently, they took the Powerplay just twice in five games — in the 40th over in the first ODI, and in the 38th in the fourth where Pathan blasted the bejesus out of New Zealand.
This gives us the indication that it is best to claim the Powerplay in the middle overs when you have set batsmen. Anything else is an opportunity lost, as Australia discovered in Adelaide.
As Harbhajan said about timing the batting Powerplay in this excellent interview to Cricinfo:
"The best way to take it is to keep wickets in hand. If after 25 overs the team is 150 for 2, and say, one batsman is on 60 and the other on 50, I will take the batting Powerplay straightaway. Those two batsmen are settled and have the momentum with them, so if they keep going 350 is possible, because in the last 10 overs batsmen will go for the slog in any case."
Dominating the middle overs --- bowling
The traditional approach to bowling the middle overs in the sub-continent has been to employ slow bowlers — often part-timers — defend the boundaries and save your best bowlers for the slog.
India can run away with the Cup by turning this method upside down.
Put the spinners on attack, employ a slip and leg-slip, put more fielders in the ring and tell the batsmen to go over the top if they'd like. When he led India against New Zealand, Gambhir used this ploy to perfection. The Black Caps were sitting ducks against Ashwin, Pathan and Yuvraj who took 24 wickets between them in five ODIs.
Dhoni has tended to be more defensive. But in the two warm-up games, he followed the Gambhir route, causing the batsmen to self-destruct under pressure. It's also to India's benefit that they've found a spinner who means to attack all the time. Ashwin could be India's best spinner since Harbhajan.
Sri Lanka in 1996 had mastered slowing down the opposition with their spinners. New Zealand in 1992 had stunned the world by opening with an off-spinner. Tied down with the slow bowling, successive batsmen threw away their wickets. In 2011, India now has the best spin attack along with Sri Lanka. It would be hard to stop these two teams.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Brothers at the World Cup
Australia's Steve Waugh (left) and his twin brother Mark (right) are the only siblings to have won the World Cup playing together in 1999. They had also played together in the 1996 World Cup.
Pakistan's Umar (left) and older brother Kamran Akmal add strength to their batting. Umar is a middle order attacking batsman while Kamran is their wicketkeeper
West Indies have the Bravo brothers. The right-handed Dwayne (left) has been one of their leading all-rouders while his half-brother, the left-handed Darren is a rookie who has been compared to Brian Lara.
India missed out on fielding these brothers who had played their part in winning the 2007 World Twenty20. The right-handed Yusuf is now an important lower-order batsman and off-spinner while his half-brother Irfan, recovering from a back injury, is a left-handed seamer and batsman
Australia too missed out on having the Hussey brothers at the World Cup. The right-handed David (left) is a middle-order batsman while his older brother, the left-handed Mike is a solid opener turned middle-order batsman. Mike injured his hamstring just before the World Cup.
The Chappell brothers Greg (left) and Ian (right) played together in the 1975 World Cup. Their younger brother Trevor also played for Australia.
Pakistan's great batsman, the right-handed Mushtaq Mohammad played with his younger brother, the left-handed Sadiq in the 1975 World Cup
Zimbabwe had the Flower brothers playing together in the 1996, 1999 and 2003 World Cup. Andy was a left-handed wicketkeeper batsman while Grant was a right-handed middle order batsman and left-arm spinner.
History of Cricket in India
Beginning of First Class Cricket
As far as the beginning of First Class Cricket in India is concerned, it was marked by a match played between Madras and Calcutta in the year 1864. In the year 1877, the Bombay Presidency Match was played for the first time. Later, it first changed into the Bombay Triangular and then the Bombay Quadrangular. In the year 1892-93 it was awarded with the First Class status.
First foreign team arrives at India
In the year 1889-90 an English team arrived at India. The captain of this team was George Vernon, which eventually was the first foreign Cricket team to arrive India, although the matches that it played over here are not considered to be First Class Cricket matches.
In the year 1892-93 two matches had been played between Europeans team and Parsees team at Bombay (now Mumbai) and Poona (now Pune). This is considered to be the regular beginning of First Class Cricket in the country. After this, four First Class matches were played between an English team led by Lord Hawke and an All India team between 26th and 28th of January 1893.
The Bombay Presidency Saga
Bombay Presidency Matches were played since 1892-93 till 1906-07. In the year 1907-08 the name of these matches was changed to Bombay Triangular Matches, which continued till the year 1911-12. Since the year 1912-13 the Matches came to be known as Bombay Quadrangular Matches, only to be changed again in the year 1937-38 into Bombay Pentangular Matches.
Ranji Trophy
Ranji Trophy was yet another leg of First Class Matches in Indian Cricket, which began in the year 1934-35 and still continues today. The Bombay team was the winner of first two Ranji Trophy championships.
Indian Cricket team in international arena
As far as the presence of Indian team in the international Cricket arena is concerned, the team played the MCC tour since October 1926 till February 1927. Within the tour, the Indian team played 26 First Class matches in India and 4 First Class Matches in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Captain of the team was Arthur Gilligan, which included Andy Sandham, Arthur Dolphin, Bob Wyatt, George Geary, Ewart Astill, George Brown and Maurice Leyland as the other players.
The Indian team started playing Test Cricket in the English Season of the year 1932. The team played against the English team at Lord’s Cricket Ground. The English team defeated the Indian team in the match by 158 runs.
Continuing its presence in the International Cricket arena, Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagaram (real name Lt. Col. Sir Vijayananda Gajapathi Raju) formed his own team of accomplished Cricket players including Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe. The team visited Ceylon and played some matches in India too during 1930-31.
The Post Independence Era
After gaining independence, India made its first ever Test Series victory against the arch rival Cricket team of Pakistan in the year 1952. The victory gave a great boost to the game in the nation, as some of the All Time Gems of the Indian Cricket showed their remarkable skills during this Test Series. These players included Vijay Manjarekar, S.M.Gupte and Polly Umrigar.
1960’s
Over the next decade of 1960’s the Indian Cricket team proved its strength upon the home ground as well as upon foreign pitches too. During this decade, the team defeated New Zealand and stretched the matches with teams such as England, Australia and Pakistan to a draw.
1970’s
During the decade of 1970’s, the Indian Cricket team got one of its most cherished possessions of all times – The Spin Quartet comprising of E.Prasanna, B.S.Chandrasekhar, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Bishan Singh Bedi. Apart from them, the Indian Cricket team also got two of its most gifted Batsmen of all times during the decade of 1970’s itself – Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath.
1980’s
The decade of 1980’s saw the Indian Cricket team scaling new heights in the One Day International (ODI) Cricket, and under the captainship of Kapil Dev, the team even managed to grab the 1983 Cricket World Cup. A number of accomplished players such as Kapil Dev, Madan Lal and Mahinder Amarnath made their presence felt during the decade.
1990’s
If there has to be taken one name for whom the 1990’s decade of Indian Cricket shall always be remembered, it would surely be none other than the same of Sachin Tendulkar. Still playing for team India and considered to be one of the All Time Greatests of the World Cricket, Sachin simply outclassed every other Batsman’s record, and the saga still lingers on. Apart from Sachin, some other wonderful Cricket players such as Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly and Javagal Srinath emerged in the Indian Cricket team in the decade of 1990’s, and paid their contribution in getting the Indian team clinching several international championships during the period.
2000’s
The Cricket team of India continued to show its brilliant performance in the new millennium, and the new youthful squad has seen some new faces and remarkable victories. The new talented players who joined the team include Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the new captain of the Indian Cricket team both in Test Cricket and One Day International (ODI) Cricket, S.Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan and Yousuf Pathan among others. Under the enthusiastic captainship of Dhoni, the new young team successfully won the first Twenty-20 Cricket World Cup held in the year 2007.
Friday, 18 February 2011
History of India's WC Opening Matches From 1975 to 2007
4)India vs Australia, October 9, 1987, Chennai: Geoff Marsh’s 110 takes Australia to 270. India begin well with Srikkanth and Sidhu, who smashes five sixes on ODI debut. Craig McDermott takes 4-56 to lead a middle order collapse and Steve Waugh bowls out last man Maninder Singh to give Australia a one-run win.
5) India vs England, Feb 22, 1992, Perth: It’s the first day of the Cup and Robin Smith scores a swift 91 to take England to 236-9. India begin well with Srikkanth and Shartri, but the middle order collapses as they finish nine runs short in the final over.
6)India vs Kenya, Feb 18, 1996, Cuttack: Steve Tikolo’s 65 takes the ODI debutants to 199-6. India make short work of it with Sachin Tendulkar’s 127 and Jadeja’s 53.
7)India vs South Africa, May 15, 1999, Hove: Sourav Ganguly’s delectable 97 sets up India who finish poorly to reach 253-5. Despite two early wickets, Jacques Kallis’ 96 steers SA to safety before Jonty Rhodes and Lance Klusener seal a four-wicket win.
8)India vs Netherlands, Feb 12, 2003, Paarl: India’s batsmen facing a severe form problem struggle to 204 with just Tendulkar crossing 50. Luckily the bowlers save the day for India with J Srinath and Anil Kumble taking four wickets each leading to a comfortable 68-run win.
India vs Bangladesh, March 17, 2007, Port of Spain: Bangladesh cause a massive upset, shooting India out for just 191 with Mashrafe Mortaza taking 4-38. Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan score fifties leading to a comfortable five-wicket win.
Thursday, 17 February 2011
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 opening ceremony exclusive photos
Bangladesh showcased the most successful opening ceremony in the history of Cricket World Cup, when prime minister Sheikh Hasina opened the 10th edition of ICC Cricket World Cup in front of the packed Banganadhu Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday, 17th February 2011.
Internatioanl rock star Bryan Adams entertained the crowd with his hit numbers after politicians bored them initially. Indian singer Sonu Nigam and Bangladesh vocalists Runa Laila, Sabina Yasmin and Mumtaz also performed.
Indian musicians Shankar-Ehsan-Loy showcased world cup theme song "De Ghuma Ke", composed by trio after Bangladeshi singer Ebrar Tipu sing the welcome song, "O Prithibi, Ebar Eshey Banglake Nao Chiney..." (Hey world, come and know Bangladesh).
Each of the 14 captains arrived in each decorated cycle rickshaw started by Australian captain Ponting with big applause for Indian captain MS Dhoni but the biggest applause goes to home team captain Shakib Al Hasan who arrived last.
Internatioanl rock star Bryan Adams entertained the crowd with his hit numbers after politicians bored them initially. Indian singer Sonu Nigam and Bangladesh vocalists Runa Laila, Sabina Yasmin and Mumtaz also performed.
Indian musicians Shankar-Ehsan-Loy showcased world cup theme song "De Ghuma Ke", composed by trio after Bangladeshi singer Ebrar Tipu sing the welcome song, "O Prithibi, Ebar Eshey Banglake Nao Chiney..." (Hey world, come and know Bangladesh).
Each of the 14 captains arrived in each decorated cycle rickshaw started by Australian captain Ponting with big applause for Indian captain MS Dhoni but the biggest applause goes to home team captain Shakib Al Hasan who arrived last.
ICC President Sharad Pawar and Bangladesh Cricket Board president also enthralled the packed stadium with their speeches. During the opening event captains of 14 teams arrived in rickshaws at the ground. Watch the exclusive photos attached. Do leave your comments.
A brilliant laser show was the highlight of the ceremony in which cricket was played by laser light on the 24 storey Bangladesh Development Bank Building. 2011 Cricket World Cup will begin after 2 days with the match between title favorite India and Bangladesh at Mirpur.
Our Caption Cool - MS Dhoni
Afridi,Dhoni and Smith
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