Test 2, India vs Australia, Day 4- India Finishes it off in Style.

Australia started day 4 from 74 for 2. They had almost impossible task in front of them to save the match by surviving Indian bowling. but their innings collapsed as a pace much quicker as expected. Ishant Sharma started off hunting for India by taking the wicket of Shane Watson. Then it was all Ashwin and Jadeja show for whole day. they didn't take long to wrap up the match with their brilliant bowling. Ashwin took 5 wickets whereas Jadeja got his share of 3 wickets. Australian team was all out for a total of 131. India won by an innings and 135. With this remarkable win Indian Captain M.S. Dhoni became most successful Captain of India.

Australia fall of wickets ( Source- YouTube)

Test 2, India vs Australia, Day 3

Pujara and Vijay's masterly knocks of 204 and 167 respectively helped India pile up a commanding total of 503, though india lost 9 wickets in just 116 runs even then they were able to hold a lead of 266 runs. Pujara and Vijay made a tremendous partnership of 370 runs for the 2nd wicket. Australians in their 2nd innings looked under pressure, they started off well but could not keep it for long. Australia lost both their openers for 56 runs. At the end of the day Australia were 74 for 2. They still need 192 to avoid an innings defeat.

 India fall of wickets (Source- You

tube)

Test 2, India vs Australia, Day 2

India outplayed Australia on 2nd day of Hyderabad Test. India started day 2 with 5 for no loss. but soon India lost their first wicket of Virender Sehwag who is struggling with bad form. He was hunted down by Siddle. That was the only wicket India lost in the whole day. Pujara and M. Vijay played brilliantly as they added a record partnership of 294* for second wicket against Australia. Australian bowlers looked completely helpless, as they failed to make an impression. At the end of the day India were 311 for 1 (Pujara 162* , M. Vijay 129*).

* : still playing.

Test 2, India vs Australia, Day 1

Second test match started today at Hyderabad. Australia won the toss for the fourth time consecutively and elected to bat first. Australians were expected to play well, but they failed to dominate the game throughout the day. both the openers, Warner and Cowan were back in the pavilion for total of 10 runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar demonstrated excellent swing bowling skills as he hunted down 3 Australian top order batsmen. Only Australian Captain Clarke and Wade could resist Indian bowling attack to some extent. Clarke (91) and Wade (62) stood together for partnership of 145 runs. Wade was dismissed at score of 208. Australia lose next 4 wickets in just 28 runs. Captain Clarke made an interesting decision by declaring Australian innings as they wanted Indian to play some overs before stumps.  

Highlights Day-1 (Source- YouTube)

First Test India vs Australia Day-5: India won by 8 wickets

On the final day of first test, India defeated Australia by 8 wickets. Indian captain M.S. Dhoni was announced Man of the Match for his brilliant double hundred. Starting the day, last Australian pair could only manage to add 9 more runs to the total as they got bowled for 241. Australia set the target of 50 runs in front of India. India achieved it with 8 wickets still in hand. Australians failed to tackle Indian spinners. They need to come up with some strategy if they want to bounce back in the next match.

India 2nd Innings (Source-YouTube)

First Test India vs Australia, Day-4 India inch towards Victory

India managed to reach score of 572 thanks to Indian skipper M.S.Dhoni who played tremendous innings of  224. he got fair support from Bhuvneshwar Kumar who looked good through his small innings of 38 runs. India got a significant lead of 192 runs. Australians in their 2nd innings found themselves struggling in front of Indian spinners. Aussies failed to make partnerships. they were trapped by Indian bowlers. Ashwin bowled brilliantly in 2nd innings picking 5 wickets. At one time Australia were 175 for 9 and were under fear of innings loss. but Henriques stood strong with Lyon and both added 57 runs for last wicket partnership and ended up the day at 232 for 9. Australia got a lead of 40 runs. At the end of day 4, India seems inch towards victory with superb bowling performance.

First Test India vs Australia, Day-3

Tendulkar and Kohli Started off the day in style. but Tendulkar was unfortunate as he could not turn his tremendous innings into a hundred. He was bowled by N. Lyon on 81. Kohli was joined by Indian Skipper M.S. Dhoni after dismissal of Tendulkar. They both played well and added 128 runs for 5th wicket partnership in a quick time. Kohli completed his 4th test hundred, but soon cought by Starc off Lyon's bowling. M.S. Dhoni got good support from Bhuvneshwar kumar and completed his first double hundred in test cricket. He scored runs in every part of the field. Australian bowlers looked helpless in front of him. He became first Keeper to score double hundred in test cricket for india. India were 515 for 8 at the end of the 3rd day leading Australia by 135 runs.

Double Hundred by M.S. Dhoni ( Source - YouTube )

First Test India vs Australia, Day-2

Starting from 316 for 7, Aussies managed to reach total of 380. Captain Michael Clarke scored 130. India experienced bad start as once again openers failed to score. They were back in pavilion for total of 12. After that Tendulkar and Pujara took the charge of indian innings. Tendulkar was looking in tremendous touch. He became the second highest run scorer against Australia in test Cricket after England's Jack Hobbs. Pujara played well for his 44 but failed to convert it into a big score as he was bowled by Pattinson. Virat Kohli came to the crease after Pujara's dismissal. He along with Tendulkar played well through out the day. India were 182 for 3 at stumps.

First Test India vs Australia, Day-1

First test matches between India and Australia began today. After losing the toss, India were put to bowl first. Indian Skipper M.S. Dhoni showed his brilliant captaincy skills by putting spinners to bowl early in the innings and it worked out for him. R. Ashwin bowled extraordinarily as he picked 6 wickets for just 88 runs. At one moment Australia seemed to be helpless in front of Ashwin, but thanks to Australian Skipper Michael Clarke as he scored his 23rd Test ton and team ended the day with a respectable total of 316 for loss of 7 wickets.

Ashwin's Performance ( Source- YouTube )

THE GAME IS ON - India ready to take on Australia

Finally long wait is over as Aussies arrived in India for Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It is going to be an exciting competition as two rivals are going to confront each other. India need to  work really hard if they want to win this contest because Australian team is in good form. Both teams got strong batting line up so it is going to be Australian fast bowlers versus Indian Spinners. First test is going to start on 22nd feb at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. I am feeling very excited about this competition and i hope it's going to be a tough competition for both the teams and better one will team. The schedule for the series is as follows :

Feb-2013
Fri 22 - Tue 26 04:00 GMT, 09:30 local	1st Test - India vs Australia MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Mar-2013
Sat 02 - Wed 06 04:00 GMT, 09:30 local	2nd Test - India vs Australia Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
Thu 14 - Mon 18 04:00 GMT, 09:30 local	3rd Test - India vs Australia Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Chandigarh
Fri 22 - Tue 26 04:00 GMT, 09:30 local	4th Test - India vs Australia Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi

Source - www.Cricinfo.com

Indian Premier League (IPL) - Boon for Indian Cricket

Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional tournament for Twenty20 Cricket matches started in 2008. It is controlled by Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). In the beginning year 9 teams participated in it. In a match, teams can only play with 4 foreign players and rest of the players must be domestic players.

Though IPL had to face some criticism regarding bad conduct of players in after match parties and Cricketers are focusing more on IPL as compared to National Team as it pays them much more in short interval of time, IPL is providing domestic talent a stage to come forward and demonstrate their skills in this short format of game. Players from different countries play together and interact. More importantly, Youngsters get exposure to play at world class level with world class experienced players. Every year a lots of youngster rise from IPL and play for National team. In my opinion, IPL is promising a bright future for Indian Cricket.

India Beat England in 4th ODI to clinch series

India defeated England in 4th ODI (Jan 23,2013) held at Mohali by 5 wickets. India assured series win with 1 match still to play. After winning toss, Indian skipper put England to bat first. England batsmen appeared to be struggling in front of Indian bowlers. Alastair Cook (76), Kevin Pietersen (76) and  Joe Root (57 not out) played good knocks to put their team to a respectable total of 257 for 7 wickets in 50 overs. Ravindra Jadeja bowled splendidly taking 3 wickets for just 39 runs. Ishant Sharma and R. Ashwin took 2 wickets each.

Chasing down the target of 258 Indian batsmen played brilliantly. England bowlers failed to put any pressure on Indian batsmen. India was easily home by scoring 258 for 5 wickets with 15 balls to spare, thanks to tremendous innings by Rohit sharma (83) and Suresh Raina(89 not out). Suresh Raina was declared man of the match for his unbeaten 89.

Indian National Cricket Team

Hello everybody.

Indian National Cricket Team (better known as Team India) is one of the best cricket teams in the world. Indian National Cricket Team is governed by BCCI (Board for Control of Cricket in India). Team India is currently ranked No. 1 by latest International Cricket Counsil ODI rankings. India is holding 3rd position in Twenty20 format and 5th position in Test format according to ICC Rankings. Team India is Current world champions as they did a tremendous job in world cup 2011 by winning it in its homeland.

Team India is world famous for its strong batting line up. Some of the greatest Indian Cricketers of all time are Kapil Dev, Sunil Gawaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Mohamad Azharrudin, Dilip Vengsarkar. Currently Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the captain of Indian Cricket Team. He is considered as one of the most successful captain in the history of Indian cricket as under his captaincy India won world cup 2011,Twenty20 world cup in 2007.