A totally flawless final

Well I just cannot recall a finals between two teams captained by played who also keep wickets for their side. This time I saw it when Kumara Sangakkara for Sri Lanka and Mahendra Singh Dhoni did it for India in the finals. On one side, being an Indian I was rejoicing the Indian victory which came home after 28 years surpassing a silver jubilee in between and on the other hand, I had complete pity for Mahela Jayawardane to have ended on the losing side despite scoring a century. No one scored a century for India despite them being victorious.

This was a rare finals not only because it was India who won the trophy but for the fact that both teams fought it out hard to win the trophy which was eventually awarded to one team that played a slight better cricket. Sri Lanka did well to pileup 274 runs on the board which should have been a winning total for sure. But, needless to be said, Dhoni and team had different plans. I just cannot forget the presence of Sachin Tendulkar in the team for the sixth world cup. Someone like Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Inzamam Ul Haq never enjoyed this.

Despite being extraordinary players of their era, they never got to lift the world cup. One can look into the last three world cup finals which were all won by Australia and were one sided games. It would not have been a prized prediction for anyone who would have bet on Australia after Pakistan were bowled out for 132 in 1999. And then in 2003, a total of 359 would have never be chased even with ten Sachin Tendulkars in the side against a team with McGrath and co bowling. If McGrath stuck to his line and length, Lee did the damage.

Exactly four years later in the Caribbean, India was replaced by Sri Lanka and Ricky Ponting was replaced by Adam Gilchrist. Every world cup final set up a new record for Australia. In 1999, Pakistan were bowled out for the lowest total in a world cup final. Then in 2003, Indian bowlers were belted for the highest total, the largest margin of victory and the fastest hundred in a world cup final. Four years later, Adam Gilchrist blasted the fastest hundred in a world cup finals bettering Ponting's record by 2 balls and the highest individual score in a world cup final.

Top two teams qualify to the finals

Before predicting the winners of the world cup with less than 24 hours to go for the big game to start, one has to decide whether the teams which have qualified to the finals of the mega event are worth their place. I can just tell you the way how Pakistan was eventually declared winners of the tournament in 1992 when they shouldn't have even reached the semi-finals. Pakistan had losses to India, West Indies and South Africa and wins against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia before playing England. The England tie became important for Pakistan and Australia as the winner would make it to the semis.

As a matter of fact, Australia had lost to New Zealand, England ,Pakistan and South Africa with wins against India, West Indies and Sri Lanka. Pakistan's task was just no to lose the match meaning even a tie or an abandonment would see them through to the semis. Pakistan got all out for 74 regarding which nothing needs to be said in particular. Finally, rain interrupted the game forcing the match officials to abandon the game and award equal points to both teams. So, Pakistan at the cost of Australia reaches the semis and also wins the trophy a week later.

One can also go through the 1999 world cup when Steve Waugh just cashed in on the drop catch by Herschelle Gibbs in the super sixes of the tournament and a wrong decision of Hansie Cronje in the semis which ended in a tie seeing Aussies through to the finals. India cashed in on the drop catch if Sachin Tendulkar by Abdul Razzaq and the presence of Kenya in the super sixes and a toss win against England in the day-night encounter. But, India deserved to be there in the finals. Sri Lanka along with Australia deserved to be in the finals of the 2007 world cup.

This time, Sri Lanka if not for their loss against Pakistan and the abandoned game against Australia had no black spots. India on the other hand lost to the Proteas and had a tie against England but that was compromised with a win against Australia and Pakistan. India also cashed in on the 5 drop chances in the semi-finals against Pakistan which would have otherwise been a Pakistan-Sri Lanka finals. But, despite the loss in the league stages, their body language and attitude showed no signs of compromise which justifies their place in the finals. Youvraj Singh, Dhoni, Tendulkar, Harbhajan, Zaheer all have proved their place.

The curse of 299

Well yesterday in the finals of the triangular series between India and Sri Lanka at Dambulla, not only did India suffer a loss in yet another finals of a tournament involving three nations or more but, also collapsed while chasing a total of 300, with Sri Lanka closing in on 299. This was the same score at which ten years back India slumped to their worst ever defeat in one dayers when they lost all their ten wickets for 54 runs while chasing the same target of 299. That match was a memorable one for Sanath Jayasuriya's epic knock of 189.

Similarly, the series being memorable one for Muttiah Muralitharan when he took 7 wickets giving away 30 runs in a game in the league stage of the tournament once again against India. That was the third time in history of one day cricket that a bowler had taken 7 wickets after Pakistan's Aqib Javed and West Indies' Windson Davis (who took 7/41) . For the second time in that series, India was at the receiving end of a bowler who took 7 wickets. The venue was Sharjah in both the occasions which makes it even more delightful for team India.

As a matter of fact, India and England are the only teams against which two bowlers have taken a 7 wicket haul. The other teams that have had it one are Zimbabwe against whom Chaminda Vass took 8/19 and Windson Davis taking 7/41 as mentioned above against Australia. As a matter of fact, no one has been able to take even a 7 wicket haul against Bangladesh. Anyways, coming to yesterday's match, this was a time when chasing even 350 should not have been tough atleast for India which didn't happen. One thing that is to be noticed is that this was India's second loss to Sri Lanka in the finals of a tri nation trophy.

Last time when India met Sri Lanka in the finals of the Asia cup, India won the match and prior to that, Sri Lanka won the finals in the triangular series late last year which also involved New Zealand. Of course, India didn't enter the finals of the tri nation tournament involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe. It is now a difficult task for anyone to hold the number of games played between India and Sri Lanka since 2008. Any tournament that stands canceled is found to be compensated by an India-Sri Lanka series. May be that is the reason Sachin Tendulkar was dropped despite there being fears of a series loss.

Indians drop the game

There is nothing left to say about India's chances at least in this edition of the world T20 where India lost their third and final match against Sri Lanka yesterday at Gros Islet by 3 wickets. India should have taken this match seriously for, a huge win in this match would have seen them sail over to the semi-finals of the world cup with West Indies later that day losing to Australia by 6 wickets. With this, India have lost all three matches in a world T20 for the second time in a row. One has to pity their fans back home.

However, the match was a must win game for Sri Lanka as well with them losing to Australia and having a win against the West Indies. They would have still made it to the semis in case they had lost by a small margin. But, a victory would stop all tongues that say Sri Lanka gained their entry ino the semi-finals on the cost of India and West Indies which would have let their heads low. India did take thir game against Sri Lanka seriously when all batsmen barring Yuvraj Singh contributed to the score of 163 which was a decent score on the board.

There have been cases where a total of 163 have been defended successfully. For a change, Sanath Jayasuriya was made to open the innings and much to everyone's surprise; all he was able to do was to get out on a duck. Scorecard suggests that the Indians have not learnt from the past when they just stuck to their four bowler theory when 4 bowlers bowled their quota and Yousuf Pathan was given to bowl three overs. Yuvraj Singh could have bowled another over or two when he was the successful bowler giving away just 6.00 runs from his lone over.

On the other hand, Sri Lankan captain used 7 of his bowlers which saw a little drop in runs being scored. One interesting fact is that the Indian bowlers never bowled an extra delivery. Coming to the Sri Lankan batting, if not for their openers, all the batsmen from Sri Lanka who made it to the crease scored a contributing and promising knocks. However, one cannot figure out why Mathews was given the MoM award when Sangakkara scored equal number of runs at a better strike rate. Kapugedra score a quickfire 37 who would have justified the award being given to him.

Wht is Sri Lanka so fond of India?

Well news on cricinfo reveals that Sri Lanka is planning to host India for test series involving three matches following the same with a one day triangular series that involves New Zealand as the third team. The feat is likely to take place somewhere in the month of July-August. It has been less that a month after the two and a half month long tournament involving India and Sri Lanka is over. It was on 24^th of December last year that the fifth one dayer at Firoz Shah Kotla was abandoned with just 23 overs bowled. That was followed by a tri series involving Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.

That was the third series, be it bilateral or a triangular series, that involved India and Sri Lanka. There was a bilateral series between India and Sri Lanka in the early 2009s that needless to be said India won 4-1. And in the month of September, there was the Compaq cup that featured New Zealand, Sri Lanka and India once again. One has to think as to why does Sri Lanka always opt for India. It has been almost two years since Sri Lanka has played a full fledged series (that involved test, one day and T20 matches) against Austrlia. Sri Lanka last played a full fledged series against Australia somewhere in 2008 that involved 2 tests followed by the Commonwealth Bank series that too involving India as the third team.

Sri Lanka could have hosted any one of the 7 other teams leaving India and Australia (as mentioned above). One possibility of Sri Lanka inviting India to play the series mentioned above would be that no other team in the world has any time left to consider Sri Lanka's request to tour their nation. But, ICC's schedules for 2010 suggests that during the month of July-August, New Zealand- which Sri Lanka plans to host for the tri series as mentioned, is free of any international commitments. Moreover, there is an Asia cup to be scheduled in the same period that obviously features India & Sri Lanka, the venue yet to be decided.

Recently, news made that India and Sri Lanka, have played 122 matches between each other which is the highest number of matches between any two teams, beating the previous record that was held between Australia and West Indies who have played 120 matches involving each other. So, it looks like Sri Lanka fears that this record might be overtaken by Australia and West Indies who are scheduled to play a 5 match ODI bilateral series next month in Australia. And as far as India is concerned, a nod by them should not be a surprise because, India have always been record hunters.

Did Sri Lanka desperately lose the match?

Well this was rather anticipated in the earlier game between India and Sri Lanka when Sri Lanka had a struggling but a satisfactory win against India in the first encounter at Dhaka. It took Sri Lanka nerves to go past the total of 280 that was required by Sri Lanka to win that game. But, despite losing that encounter, the body language of the Indian players were as though they were least bothered and were sure to give it back to the Sri Lankans with compound interest in the next game which they actually did. Indians were as though they had not lost anything and their best was still awaiting.

Sri Lanka were nowhere in the scene when Indian batsmen were repeatedly sending the ball rolling over the ropes which saw them go past the total of 213 runs in just 32.4 overs. Any batsmen who made it to the crease took to the Sri Lankan bowling with utmost confidence. It was no Virender Sehwag or Yuvraj Singh who have made news previously for their big hitting capabilities but rather it was Dinesh Karthik and Gautam Gambhir who took the Sri Lankan bowlers for a ride at Dhaka. For the 3^rd time in the recent past, Virat Kohli was found belting the opposition with confidence.

Three of the four batsmen who made it to the crease returned with strike rates of 100+ and the same number of batsmen returned with scores averaging more than 50 that included Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik and Virat Kohli. There was only one bowler from the Sri Lankan side who was found bowling his full quota of 10 overs namely Suranga Lakmal. This was the 1^st time that Lakmal's name was heard in international cricket (atleast as far as I am concerned) and statistics suggest that the man under discussion is just 6 ODIs old. One has to wonder as to what on earth made Sangakkara go in for Lakmal with the likes of Welegedra and co being there around.

Moreover, Lakmal was the costliest of all bowlers who returned with figures of 0/75 from his 10 overs. Added to this was the fact that the pitch was a batsman's paradise which saw all the Indian batsmen who made it to the crease face the Sri Lankan bowlers with confidence (as mentioned earlier) . However, on that pitch as well the Sri Lankan batsmen were found flattering as though it was another Kotla. The next costliest on the list happened to be Welegedra who returned with figures of 0/51 from 5.4 overs and still was shown confidence from Sangakkara. A number 8 batsman in Randhiv is seen scoring 56 which doesn't happen with the top order. Nothing fishy?

Dhoni's way of winning matches

If the entire history of Indian cricket is given a close look at, the present captain in Mahendra Singh Dhoni enjoys a fairly good fortune with the most percentage of wins in all three formats of the game. Dhoni was the captain who bought the T20 world cup home in 2007 beating Pakistan. Until now, Dhoni is the only regular captain in present day's cricket to have not lost even a single test match leaving aside the ones that ended in draws. He was the captain of the team that won a tri series last year involving New Zealand and Sri Lanka, with the earlier captains being able to just reach the finals.

This is the problem for a captain who gets used to wins, which makes him look out for a reason whenever his team is defeated. The same captain may also seem to try new ideas to win a game. Like, the Australian captain Ricky Ponting was found raising his fingers when the ball was caught after a slight bounce in Sydney in 2008 which forced Ganguly to leave the field for no reason. That is one test match that no one on earth can ever tend to forget. That was the match that gave Australia their 16^th consecutive test victory for the 2^nd time.

However, that cannot be everyone's cup of tea. But, Dhoni has found a new route which can guarantee his team success if everything goes well. Dhoni, after losing the 2^nd game of the tri series to Sri Lanka took no time in blaming the dew factor to be responsible for his team's defeat against Sri Lanka. Moreover, Dhoni insists that the forthcoming matches in the ongoing tri series be scheduled at a later time so that the dew factor doesn't play a role. Dhoni's words can best be understood by no one but Dhoni himself. One has to find out the timing when the dew comes in if Dhoni's words are to be believed.

One has to wonder as to whether Dhoni would have said these words had India won the match batting first or by batting second? If it was Dhoni's problem with the dew this time, it would have been Sangakkara's problem had Sri Lanka batted first and lost the match like the way it happened to India. And just to ensure that India wins matches, is it worth scheduling matches as per Dhoni's requirement. There was dew factor in the 3^rd ODI of the recently concluded bilateral series which India won effortlessly despite being set a target in excess of 300. It was solely because of dew that made things easy for India. And moreover, it was Sangakkara who had won the toss and elected to bat 1^st that day.

Sri Lanka miss out another loss to India

At times, even a loss for a team that has been winning frequently is welcome, like it happened for India who lost the 2^nd match to Sri Lanka after having won on 8 of the previous 10 occasions in this year alone to Sri Lanka. However, though India lost the match, India were no less when it came in displaying their caliber. Sri Lanka needs atleast 10 more such victories which may then start to haunt India the next time they face Sri Lanka. This was no one sided game unlike the ones that were played earlier between the two countries.

The last time Sri Lanka came close to winning the match against India was in the first one day international at Rajkot where despite scoring a mammoth 414 runs on the board, Sri Lanka threatened to do a South Africa when they fell just 4 runs short of crossing the target. And, in the remaining two ODIs which India won, India completely swept the Sri Lankans. The target of 240 that the Sri Lankan batsmen imposed upon the Indians were as though they were having a match practice when they did it with almost 8 overs to spare at Cuttack.

So was the case in the 4^th one dayer played at Kolkata. The total in excess of 300 put up by the Sri Lankan batsmen proved in no way to trouble the Indian batsmen. And, it was no Sachin Tendulkar or Virender Sehwag who posed problems for Sri Lanka but a new comer in Virat Kohli who scored 107 runs which was also his maiden century in one day cricket. This was rather a welcome victory for the Sri Lankans though the same need not be guaranteed in their next encounter with Indians in Dhaka 5 days later. Sri Lanka can hope to be fortunate to have missed another loss to India.

Coming to the match, there was a batsman from Sri Lanka who scored a hundred and a bowler who had a 5 wicket haul. But, one thing that needs to be understood time and again is that efforts of batsmen are given more consideration than either bowlers or fielders whatsoever. That was a batting track where scalping 5 batsmen from one of the strongest sides of the world definitely needs a lot of applause. But, eventually, it would be Samaraweera who walks away with the man of the match award for his unbeaten 105. 3 of his five wickets contained top three batsmen.

Sri Lanka make much from the soft target

Bangladesh are no more the team they were a few years ago when victory against the same was announced even before the match started. But, all these words can never ever stop Bangladesh from losing to any opposition. This may not be true if the opposition is a non test playing country or someone like the West Indies. Bangladesh, in the first match of the tri series involving India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were able to put up a total in excess of 250 against Sri Lanka, reminding once again their improvement in international cricket. Bangladesh are now found doing what other test playing nations were found doing a decade ago.

Bangladesh are now found frequently posting team totals above 250 which was not the case even some four years down the lane. And, the other test playing nations were at that time posting regular scores in excess of 300 and sometimes many a times even chasing the same. However, if Bangladesh could show the cricketing world about their improvement in cricket, on the other hand, Sri Lanka could now breathe free after winning a one day game irrespective against the opposition which it has achieved. Sri Lanka could manage just 1 victory from the 4 games that it played against India in the recently concluded ODI series.

Prior to that, all that Sri Lanka could manage was a win against South Africa in the ICC Champions trophy 2009 which was followed by losses to England and New Zealand. Prior to that, Sri Lanka had won a bi lateral series against Pakistan by a 3-2 margin which evoked suspicion regarding the matches to be fixed in August last year. And before that Sri Lanka could win just one game in the bi lateral series against India in early 2009 out of the 5 games that were played. So, Sri Lanka could manage just 5 wins from 17 games prior to this victory against Bangladesh.

It was nice to see the Sri Lankans playing a calculated innings against Bangladesh at Dhaka which saw them not lose many wickets and also keep the scoreboard ticking. This was more of a practice match for the Sri Lankans which can ensure them a better performance in the remainder of the series that also involves matches against old rivals India defeating whom would obviously be on the top of the agenda for the Sri Lankans. The entire Sri Lankan innings didn't contain even a sngle maximum compared to the 3 sixes that the Bangladeshi innings had. So, with this, Bangladesh are found to master only in the batting dept and yet to prove something in the bowling dept.

Dinesh Karthik's Immaturity!!!

It was good to see India win the third one day international against Sri Lanka at Cuttack rather convincingly by 7 wickets. Not only did the Sri Lankan team made a mess of their performance in all departments of the game but also, the Indian players did well to dominate the show in every departments. However, some things need to be made clear with respect to players' thinking when it comes to onfield performances. This points directly to Dinesh Karthik despite having a hand in India's victory. Despite having been in and around in international cricket since 2004, some things are not found to be learnt by Indian or international players.

Dinesh Karthik hits a six in the final stages of the match which no doubt did see his team through the match. But, at the same time, the six grabbed the opportunity for Sachin Tendulkar to score yet another century in one day international. That was not at all the moment for Dinesh Karthik to go in for any sort of big hitting. The hit came exactly in the 41.5 over, just 4 balls prior to finishing the match in style. There were as many as 8 overs left for team India to finish off the game and one cannot understand as to why Dinesh Karthik had to go in for such a shot at that stage!

None of would have seen Dinesh Karthik even in T20 cricket blasting the bowlers all over the stadium. If the circumstances are taken a closer look at, it would not be wrong to say that the SriLankan bowler Randhiv desperately bowled the ball in such a way at Dinesh Karthik so that Sachin Tendulkar dows not get another hundred. For nothing can be ruled out in today's cricket. Anyways, Sachin Tendulkar would not have regretted over not having another hundred against his name. May be that Sachin himself would have got tired of scoring hundreds and missing one or two like this would not be a problem for him we can guess be sure.

However, recalling the past, it is remembered even today the way Javagal Srinath let go a leg before appeal of Wasim Akram to see Anil Kumble grabbing all ten wickets in the Delhi test. Another instance that comes to my mind is the way Pakistani batsmen saw to it that SaeedAnwar take most of the strike when he scored the world record 194 which even today is the joint highest in ODIs. Howevr, there are some likes of Dinesh Karthik who have played a spoilsport in their teammate's performances like, Mahela Jayawardane never handed the ball to AjanthaMendis in the finals of the Asia cup which would have otherwise seen Mendis taking a 7-wicket haul.

There can be no calling a press conference to address such issues and it is upto the player to take decisions at times which can see his teammate making his day.

Injustice Noted!!!

This is with respect to the fact that the man of the match being given solely to India's Virender Sehwag for scoring his ode day career best score of 146, when the entire match saw almost each and every batsmen from both the sides scoring runs at will. There was India's all time great Sachin Tendulkar who scored yet another half century when he scored 69 off 63 balls and the captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who scored a 53 ball 72 from India's side and Upul Tharanga and Kumara Sangakkara who returned with scores of 67 and 90 respectively fro Sri Lanka.

In addition to the above mentioned scores, the blistering knock of 160 from the blades of Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardane indeed deserves a lot of applause whatsoever. With all these figures in front, it is nothing but injustice that only one batsman was awarded the man of the match when there was yet another contender for the award despite belonging to the losing side. Justice meant in giving away joint man of the match awards to both Mahela Jayawardane and Virender Sehwag. There have been many such instances in the past where a player from the losing side is awarded the man of the match.

Recently, if our memories are still aware, Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the man of the match for scoring a blistering 175 against Australia when India lost the match by just 3 runs when chasing a mammoth total of 350 set by Australia. No doubt that Sachin Tendulkar did deserve the award whatsoever that particular day. However, it is to be noted that Australia were without a single noted bowler in their side. Anyway that is secondary. This was just a similar match where India won by 3 runs when defending their mammoth total of 414 runs. And a point to be noted is that India were the home side in both the matches against Oz as well as against Sri Lanka.

I just cannot differentiate how come Jayawardane's name was never mentioned while declaring the man of the match when he equally deserved the award. I remember Inzamam-Ul-Haq being awarded the man of the match for scoring 122 against India in the first ODI while chasing 350 at Karachi. Moreover, if the greatest ODI in the history of the game is taken a close look at, it was South Africa who had won the game but the man of the match was shared by both Australia's Ricky Ponting and South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs for scoring 164 and 175 respectively. The difference between the runs scored by these batsmen was 11 runs as compared to the 14 run difference between that scored by Sehwag and Jayawardane.

Team India's No1 Saga

This news would make every Indian proud. The news was that India have made it to the number one spot in the latest ICC test rankings, which is not a breaking or flash news and is aware of every cricket fan. This is the second such news that team India have made in the past four months or so. If our memories are still fresh, India had made it to the number one spot in the latest ICC's one day rankings after the tri nation-three match tournament involving SriLanka, New Zealand and of course India, after beating New Zealand in the first one day international of the series.

This was followed by a loss to Sri Lanka in the very next league stage match which saw India return back to the number three spot behind Australia (who had a good run against and in England) and South Africa. Even the win in the finals of the tri nation tournament against SriLanka couldn't revert the position of team India in the latest ICC ODI rankings then. Before that, a year ago or so, India were the number one T20 team, only to lost all the matches that they played in the second T20 world cup held in England.

From the time team India have lost their number one status be it either in ODI or T20, the Indians have never been able to look back to reclaim their lost glory in either of the formats. The time when team India had been the number 1 team in ODI as well as T20 cricket, there were other teams competing to climb up in the rankings. There was the ICC Champions Trophy that involved all the major teams from the world, which was preceded by the latter part of the Natwest trophy which contributed to the margin in points between the teams' ODI points.

However, when India was the number one team in T20 cricket, that was still the initial stages of the T20 format of cricket and all that added to team India's ranking was their win in the inaugural T20 world cup held at South Africa, in which India won all games but one against New Zealand by 5 runs. This was also followed by a win in the only T20 game against Australia at Mumbai that followed the 7 match ODI series that India lost 4-2. May be, to a greater extent, this contributed a lot to the success of team India in T20 cricket. There was hardly any chance for any other teams to prove their myth in T20 cricket which saw India enjoying.

Dropping Catches Becomes A Boon For Team India

Yesterday, in the second T20 international at Mohali, it is believed that the Indian fieldsmen dropped as many as 5 catches which eventually saw the Sri Lankan batsmen piling up a mammoth 206 runs on the board. However, as the saying goes "All is well that ends well", India managed to not only snatch a win in the second T20 international at Mohali but also prove a lot by recording the highest run chase in T20 internationals surpassing the 208 run chase by South Africa against the West Indies in the inaugural edition of the T20 world cup where Chris Gayle scored the maiden T20 hundred as a matter of fact.

Just imagine had India taken all the chances by not dropping any catches, then the Sri Lankan total would have been somewhere in the range of 150 at the most, chasing which would have been just another moderate chase whatsoever. This doesn't mean that dropping catches are welcome. However, the other side of the coin also says that even the Sri Lankan batsmen were no less when it came to giving lives to the Indian batsmen and that too, dropping the catch of which would prove and did prove too costly for the Sri Lankans. In addition to dropping catches, there were a couple of miss run-out chances as well.

It is believed that Sanath Jayasuriya missed out on a run out chance of Virender Sehwag when he failed to break the stumps at mid-on when Sehwag was just on 14 then. Then comes the the drop catch by Chamara Kapugedra at long-on when Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on just 1 then. Finally, the drop catch off Tilekeratne Dilshan at the slips when Yuvraj was on 40 made a complete mess of the Sri Lankan fielding. It is quite evident from the scoreboard regarding the damage done by Virender Sehwag, Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh that would have made the Sri Lankan batsmen kick themselves.

So, it is quite evident that even the Sri Lankan bowlers and fielders had a great role to play in India's highest run chase in T20 internationals at Mohali. Moreover, in addition to the drop catches, the Sri Lankan batsmen were found going in for unnecessary lofted shots that saw the end of Jayawardane, Jayasinghe and Sangakkara which would have otherwise seen Sri Lanka's total boost even more. Further, the Sri Lankan bowlers were never found striking the right line, length and adding to that were no variation of pace by any of the Sri Lankan bowlers. The Sri Lankan spin department consisted of Dilshan and Jayasuriya, luckily none of whom were given the ball.

Yuvraj Singh Does Combo of Sachin & Sehwag!!!

Well last night the way someone like Yuvraj Singh batted was just another instance of a matured cricketer who not only was able to post yet another fastest half century but also claim three important wickets that even the frontline bowlers like Aashish Nehra was not found to do. But, at the end of the day one question that remains unanswered is "Why didn't Dhoni give Yuvraj Singh another over to see him complete his quota of 4 overs?" This once again reminded his fans the way he blasted 6 sixes off one over off Stuart Broad in the inaugural edition of T20 world cup.

However, all these things are not something unknown to even lesser known cricket fans. But, something that can raise the eyebrows of atleast a few cricket fans who want something unique and different, here it is. This was Yuvraj Singh's fifth half century and stands in the third place when it comes to the fastest fifties behind none other than Yuvraj himself. This was Yuvraj Singh's third fastest fifty behind his 12-ball half century against England and a 20-ball fifty against Australia in the next match in the same tournament. Inbetween these two comes the 19-ball half centuries by another Indian Gautam Gambhir and jointly with Australia's David Warner.

Moreover, yesterday was Yuvraj Singh's birthday which he made it even more special with his dual knocks of a 25-ball unbeaten 60 and bowling figures of 3/23 from 3 overs at just above 7 runs an over. This has to remind anyone of Sachin Tendulkar when he blasted his second consecutive hundred when he scored 134 at Sharjah to give Australia their first defeat in that tournament after they had earlier won all matches against India and New Zealand. That was Sachin Tendulkar's 25th birthday which is remembered even today and will be remembered for as long as earth exists.

This was what Yuvraj Singh did on his 28th birthday though he doesn't enjoy the fan following that Sachin enjoys, a note on this is worth mentioning. One thing that Yuvraj Singh would feel glad about is that he could do it in front of his own people at Mohali. And the fastest fifties of Yuvraj Singh mentioned above, reminds us of Virender Sehwag in tests who has had two of the three fastest triple hundreds and recently became the batsman to score the fastest 250 in tests. Virender Sehwag had five of the top ten fastest double hundreds at positions 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9 which Yuvraj partially enjoys when it comes to scoring the fastest fifties in T20 internationals.

Match Slowly Turning Into A Test

Just a day ago, when the Indian batting line up saw as many as five scores above 50, out of which three had scored hundreds, the match was thought to be just another boring draw. But, only to be mistaken. For, the pitch was found to deteriorate on the second day of the test match itself when the remaining eight Indian batsmen could amass just above 200 runs to finish the innings at 642 losing all their 10 wickets. The run-rate at the end of the first day's play read just below 5.0 an over which at the end of the innings reduced to 4.16 to be exact.

Things that followed were just that can be expected an an ideal test match. It looked as though the Sri lankan batsmen were deceived by the pitch when they had assumed the pitch to be a batsman's paradise only to kick themselves at the end of the day. However, things weren't too tough for the Sri Lankan batsmen when they had 9 wickets still to go despite Tilekeratne Dilshan getting out for a duck. Moreover, spin bowlers like Muralitharan were found getting a lot of turn at the fag end of the first innings of team India's batting and so was the way the fast bowlers when they found getting a bit of swing.

This has at present givn the Sri Lankan batting line up consisting of the two Jayawardanes in addition to Samaraweera and Sangakkara a warning not to take the pitch for granted after the Indian batsmen made most out of their first batting after winning the toss. However, not to be mistaken, this was not the way things were going on on the first day's play. Not only that the Indian batsmen viz Gambhir, Sehwag and Dravid got quick runs but also the bowlers were struggling to get some movement off the seam. This is quite evident from the fact that someone like Dravid could maintain a run-rate of 4.0 an over who has made a name "The Wall" for himself.

Finally, after a long time one can expect a test match that can assure a result. The last time India played a test match was against New Zealand in march-April which India won 1-0 in the three match test series. After India had won the first test by 10 wickets, the second test was just another run accumulator with New Zealand belting 613 runs that followed with India 305 and then 476 after allowed to follow on. The third one saw India having an upperhand with New Zealand just avoiding follow-on and also the defeat by a whisker when they were just 2 wickets away from losing the series/test with the scorecard reading 281/8. Atleast now, a test match giving a result can be thought about.

Is The Second Test Heading For A Draw?

Well there was a lot of hues and cry in the first test match between India and Sri Lanka played at Ahmedabad that eventually ended in a draw. After team India posted a mammoth 426 runs on the board with some awesome batting display from the blades of Rahul Dravid and the captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, all was thought to be in for team India only to be deceived later when an even better show by the touring nation Sri Lanka aided with Mahela Jayawardane's individual contribution of 275 in addition to 154 from another Jayawardane and a decent 110 from the opener Tilekeratne Dilshan not only surpassed India's total of 426 but also recorded Sri Lanka's highest team total against India in India.

And eventually, there was just three innings which ought to have been four in a decent test match. And what more can be done when the pitches are designed in such a manner that can only entertain the crowd when their favourite batsman hits boundries and sixes? India were able to record more than 400 runs in both the innings. There was hardly any thrill in such a match where the result is right in front of our eyes and betting on one particular team would mean disastrous. Such should never be the fate of any crickt match atleast as fas as a test match is considered.

And if the first day of the second test is considered, things are no different. Team India lost just 2 wickets and put up a mammoth total of yet another 400+ with the day's play ending at 417/2 with two Indian batsmen-Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag completing centuries and Dravid batting on 85 along with Sachin Tendulkar. And there is Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh yet to come. One can imagine the fate of the second test as well with such a kind of batting display.

Either there should be more bowlers in the side or else, the pitch has to be prepared in favor of the bowlers so that there can not only be a result at the end of the fifth day or even before that, but also that the batsmen earn their runs rather than the same being gifted for no effort. A ray of hope lies in the fact that Sri Lanka's Tilekeratne Dilshan was out for a duck may raise the hopes of the match yielding a result. This if and only if the Indian bowlers work hard and on the other hand the Sri Lankan batsmen make a fool out of themselves. Lets wait and watch!!!

Australia As Good As India

If at all there can be any team in the world who can win five out of five tests, it has to be either Australia or England for, it has been only these two teams who play a five match test series. While the remaining teams play at the most 4 tests like India played the West Indies in 2006 and the Border Gavaskar trophy played between India and Australia. However, there have been many 7 match one day international series involving all major teams barring Bangladesh and Zimbabwe (as far as my knowledge goes). And, I guess only Australia have been able to achieve 5 out of 5 test victories.

However, coming to the 7 match ODI series involving Australia and England in the recently concluded one day series in the Nat West Trophy 2009, Australia needless to be said had all chances of whitewashing England yet another time by winning all the 7 ODIs to be the first team in the world to do so, which was not the case whatsoever. I remember India winning 6 out of seven one day matches against Sri Lanka in 2005 when Sri Lanka had visited India for a 7 match one day series. Then, India had won 5 out of 5 matches in yet another 7 match ODI series against England in November last year.

However, things were not in favour of India and more so against a team that had all chances of making it 7-0. It is all owing to the dreadful terror attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 which restricted the 7 match ODI series to just 5. So, the challenge of winning a 7 match series 7-0 still needs to be achieved. Let alone winning the match by Australia, the Aussies never behaved as though they have had the earlier 6 matches in their pockets. A total of mere 176, which England overtook with as many as 60 balls or 10 overs to spare really asks for more evidence of Australia's dominance of the Nat West series.

One should never forget that until their defeat at the hands of England in the 7th one dayer, they had been enjoying the number 1 position in one day cricket along with South Africa. And after their debacle in this match, Australia slump to the third position behind India and obviously South Africa. This was also the case with India in the recently concluded tri nation tournament involving Sri Lanka and New Zealand. India became the number 1 team in one day cricket after their win against New Zealand, only to lose the plot after their loss at the hands of Sri Lanka. However, even their win against the same in the finals could not get India back to number 1. So was the case with Australia as well.

There Is Really Something In Dhoni

Well that was one thing that the earlier captains namely Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid could not do and Mahendra Singh Dhoni could. Winning a tri series final for India. I still remember the then Indian captain Sourav Ganguly making it to the finals of a tournament that included three or more teams on eight consecutive occassions until the jinx was broken when they lost a match to Pakistan at Holland in september 2004 and got disqualified from the tournament, allowing Australia and Pakistan to move further. The list also includes India's world cup final in 2003 and the abandoned finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 in Colombo.

Oh! Yes..had the finals of the ICC Champions Trophy been played, India would have ended up victorious. And after the loss to Pakistan at Netherlands, India's run to the finals of a tri nation series finals continued, when they made it to the finals yet again in 2005, in a series involving Sri Lanka & West Indies, followed by another one at Zimbabwe involving Zimbabwe (obviously) and New Zealand. Then in the Asia cup 2008 yet again a loss in the finals to Sri Lanka at Karachi. Earlier to that (Asia cup 2008), India had lost the finals of a meaningless tour that had just three matches before the finals was played involving Pakistan & Bangladesh.

And that time, India went into the finals undefeated until it lost to Pakistan in the finals. However, this time, team India and especially Mahendra Singh Dhoni was lucky enough to have lifted a tri nation trophy. Not only was he the captain of that Indian team that won the finals of the tri nation tournament mentioned above, but also scored a handy 56 that boosted the total well above the 300 run mark. And so was the case when it came to their bowling counterpart especially Harbhajan Singh whose fab job with the ball is needless to be said.

Beating the same opposition to which it had lost earlier indeed brings in much satisfaction. Last year, at around the same time, just before the Asia cup due in Pakistan, there was a similar tri nation series that involved India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, in which India won matches against both Bangladesh and Pakistan only to lose the finals to Pakistan. This time, it was Sri Lanka who replaced India and India replaced Pakistan. And India did deserve to be victorious despite some loose batting from Sri Lankan batsmen and a drop catch of Jayasuriya by Virat Kohli. However, disappointment still lies in the fact that India could not reclaim their number 1 spot in ODIs despite winning the final.