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Fan at the Chepauk stadium, Chennai, day three India vs England.
Just been told by Bhutti82 (guardian.co.uk) that he is actually quite famous:
"His name is Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary. This is a report from IANS"
He sends 1,000 litchis to Sachin Tendulkar every year in appreciation for the match tickets that the batting maestro gives him. He once threatened self-immolation if he was not given lifelong guarantee of tickets to watch all India matches.
Meet Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, the cricket-crazy fan who has the Indian flag painted on his body. With his entire torso, face and his head painted in the colours of the national flag with the words 'Sachin Tendulkar' boldly written over, the 26-year-old from Bihar could be seen cheering for the Indian team by tirelessly waving a huge Indian tricolour at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
"I have dedicated my entire life to cricket, and there is no looking back at my decision," Chaudhary, who is also a regular at all matches in India, told IANS here.
"Sachin has promised me that he would provide me with the tickets of all international matches played in the country, and he is living up to his words. He is like a god to me," said Chaudhary.
As a gesture of gratitude, Chaudhary travels down to Tendulkar's Mumbai home to present him with litchis every summer.
"I have been presenting him 1,000 litchis every year since 2004. By the time I return to India after this Test match, the litchis would be ripe and I will take another 1,000 for him soon," he said excitedly.
"I have also presented litchis to Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly. And I have promised Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh that I would also send them the litchis this year," said Chaudhary, who has travelled from his native Muzaffarpur district to Bangladesh on his bicycle for the current series.
While Tendulkar has assured him of tickets in the matches he plays, Chaudhary is worried of the time after Tendulkar retires.
"Last year Sachin did not play a match and I missed that because only he gives me the tickets. After that I met the cricket board president Pawar thrice in Delhi and requested him to guarantee me one match ticket for my entire life. I don't want any money," he said.
Chaudhary met Pawar thrice in six days in April last year, but he failed to eke out a guarantee from him.
"After he ignored me twice, I took an appointment in the name of another person. I covered my painted body with a 'chadar' (sheet) and removed it in front of him," he said of his meeting.
"I told him clearly that if he does not guarantee me one ticket for every international match in India, I will immolate myself in protest. He persuaded me not to do so, but did not give me any guarantee either."
Chaudhary is a bachelor and said he has decided to remain single entire life.
"I don't want to ruin a girl's life by marrying her because I am always travelling to watch matches. It's because even after Sachin retires, I will continue to follow and encourage the Indian team," he said.
Chaudhary used to work in a milk company in Muzaffarpur and later passed an examination to become a teacher. But after the cricket bug bit him, he quit the job. "I now survive on public support," he said unashamedly, without elaborating on his source of income. "
The Cricket World Cup 2011 has begun and Billions of hear beats as well. In India Cricket is not just a game its a religion, its a passion.
Delhi Daredevils Virender Sehwag plays a shot during the IPL Twenty20 cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi on April 10, 2012. AFP PHOTO/ MANAN VATSYAYANA RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. MOBILE USE WITHIN NEWS PACKAGE
Shivnarine Chanderpaul provides a notable counterpoint to the contemporary game. At once he is inimitable and timeless - no more a product of his period than a kitchen clock, and yet not a creature of the past either, for he has scored runs yesterday and today and will score runs tomorrow. Just that he goes about it in his own sweet and deceptively frail way, relying on deflections and glides, hands as opposed to forearms, a wand as opposed to a tree trunk, persuasion and perseverance as opposed to power. He is a rubber man put among concrete pillars. In short, he is a reminder that, even now, cricket has many faces and talent can take many forms.
It has taken a boy from a distant fishing village to remind us that sporting technique cannot be pinned in a book like a dead butterfly or refined into a mathematical formula. Chanderpaul's career shows that an ambitious sportsman can defy the straitjacket of conventional thought and even scientific analysis and still make his way in the game. Except that "defy" is the wrong word because the left-hander has no defiance in him, is too modest and uncertain to confront anything beyond his own circumstances.
Nevertheless, from the outset he has been extraordinarily bold. At the very least he has ignored accepted wisdom, dared to walk into the world from a remote outpost as his own player and his own man. Perhaps it was that he knew no other way, or perhaps it is that he knew more than he let on. In any event he has demonstrated that a player blessed with ability and determination, and prepared to follow his own instincts, can develop his own game and take it with him on the long journey. It is the half-baked who fall short.
Typically, he has crept up the batting rankings till, almost unnoticed, he has reached fifth place, the highest perch attained in an impressive, occasionally interrupted career. Nor is he far adrift from the top position. Of course, his inspired performances against the Australians in the last few weeks, and especially his match-saving innings in Antigua, lie behind his recent climb, but the deft 33-year-old has been in full flow all year. Altogether he has played eight Tests in the last 12 months, and has collected 1635 runs in the three formats at an average of 86.05. Along the way he has added six centuries to his tally. Nor has he punished mugs. Besides the Australians, these runs have been scored against England and South Africa in their own backyards. It is a mighty achievement.
Of course it is the finest patch in a startling and sometimes stirring career, but Chanderpaul is hardly an overnight sensation. To the contrary, he has been an outstanding batsman for a decade. His rise is not remotely fortuitous or even unexpected. Simply, it has been an exposition of proven technique and resolute temperament. Chanderpaul has been scoring lots of runs for years, most of them in the face of the adversity that has long gripped West Indian cricket. Indeed, he has displayed laudable immunity to the forces of distraction, destruction and downright incompetence that have often swirled around him. Always he has moved along at his own pace in his own way. At times he has been a tortoise, on other occasions a hare, but always he has been staunch and skilful. His entire career tells of durability.
By no means is Chanderpaul's rise a surprise. His position reflects the work of a singular batsman with a calculating mind and a strong insight into the requirements of batsmanship. Productivity has been his aim, intuition his guide. His game is more organised than it seems. At the crease he resembles a puppet guided by an unseen hand, constantly moving, apparently at random, yet every part of the body knows its role and its location, and almost always he ends up in the right place at the right time, whereupon he essays the shot of his choosing. Chanderpaul's technique is not so much odd as original. But then it is the product of his wits and not an outsider's words. It is not so much that he turned his back on orthodoxy. The introduction was never made.
In any case, even by the most rigid standards the boy from the fishing village does an awful lot right. Most particularly, he watches the ball as does a mother hen her brood. Late movement might trap the unwary but the left-hander is not so easily foxed. He knows the trickery of the world and the cunning of bowlers and the blindness of umpires, and takes no risks save those of his own choosing. He is also an extremely disciplined batsman, not prone to flights of fancy or premeditation or the other follies of the mind. He does not indulge himself in wayward thoughts or headstrong outbursts. Rather, he goes quietly about his business, trusting no one except himself, giving the game its due, always aware of the cost of carelessness.
Accordingly it is a mistake to dismiss him as a curiosity, a batting version of Muttiah Muralitharan or John Gleeson. Apart from anything else, batsmen must obey certain rules, must meet certain challenges. Bowlers have the luxury of pleasing themselves. It is not possible for a seriously flawed batsman to sustain high-class performances in the best company. Sooner or later the weakness is exposed and the novice sent packing. Rather than patronising an unusual batsman with gasps and sighs, it is wiser to seek a better understanding of his game. Fragility can be in the eye of the beholder. Viv Richards' leg-flick was possible because he straightened his front leg at the time of impact, allowing his bat to stroke the ball. The shot was much less daring that it seemed, though just as intimidating. Likewise Virender Sehwag's game is built on solid foundations. His defence is excellent; it is his optimistic shots that periodically bring him down.
It's the same with Chanderpaul. He is an excellent batsman and always has been. Otherwise he could not have lasted as long or produced as consistently. His technique was honed in a geographic - but not cricketing - backwater. Admittedly Unity Village did not have advanced facilities or proven coaches, let alone dieticians, psychologists or sponsors. But it did have plenty of fishing nets, tidal waters and willing assistants. Chanderpaul persuaded fellow villagers to hurl taped tennis balls into the dying waves of the nearby sea and practised swaying and weaving, and eventually hooking, the fastest bumpers. Finding the ball flying at his head the lad learnt to react quickly and choose wisely. Otherwise he spent long hours batting on a rough and ready pitch prepared on the village green, a location not nearly as dainty as it sounds. Villagers took turns to bowl at the ankle-biter, and spare fishing nets stopped them having to fetch the ball. Chanderpaul also went into the local hall to practise his shots on concrete. The family had heard that Rohan Kanhai had practised this way, and he was a more relevant guide than any stiff Englishman with a high left elbow and plonking feet. Accordingly Chanderpaul developed a fertile, reliable and well-understood technique. Maybe it is better to build a game this way than against a bowling machine.
At the crease he resembles a puppet guided by an unseen hand, constantly moving, apparently at random, yet every part of the body knows its role and its location, and almost always he ends up in the right place at the right time, whereupon he essays the shot of his choosing. Chanderpaul's technique is not so much odd as original
And so the boy emerged and became a man. But it goes further. Chanderpaul is not merely as good as his figures indicate. He is better. As much can be told from the stunning, thrilling attacks that he occasionally launches, often against the Australians. An exhilarating onslaught in Sydney was ended by a delivery from Shane Warne that landed in the next parish before hitting his leg stump. And there was another exuberance against the same opponents in Guyana where, with his team against the ropes, he unleashed an astonishing counterattack, scoring one of the fastest hundreds Test cricket has known. The Australians were amazed. They had always regarded him as a batsman hard to dislodge. Now they were startled to find that he could also take them apart when the mercurial mood was upon him and the circumstances permitted it.
As much as the excellently constructed scores against strong attacks on dubious surfaces, it is these innings that are the mark of the man. Certainly they have been too few and far between to allow him to be put alongside the greatest batsmen of the age but they have hinted at the extent of his powers. To some degree Chanderpaul has been restrained by the forces that made him. Although he has scored consistently, he has few big tallies to his name. Close observers suggest that a skinny boy raised on fish as opposed to meat lacked the strength required to bat for days. Had Chanderpaul been able to turn a few of the centuries into doubles or trebles, his record would be even more formidable. Mind you, Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh also produced few massive totals and no chicken was safe when they were around.
Insecurity has been Chanderpaul's other limitation. It cannot have been easy for a boy of Indian origin, from a remote village in a struggling and latterly unfashionable country, to make his way in West Indian cricket. From the start he knew he had to score more runs than anyone else just to get noticed. To that end he put his head down, and kept it down. His fears have taken another form as well, making him especially sensitive to the sort of niggles and soreness and other frustrations that a man more confident of his destiny would sweep aside. Over the years he has missed more matches or innings than seems entirely appropriate. Doubt plays tricks with the mind. Blessed with more stamina and certainty, Chanderpaul might have surpassed all contemporaries. But no one is perfect, all must struggle in one way or another, or else sport loses its challenge and its charm.
Nonetheless Chanderpaul has made a magnificent contribution. If not always the most pleasing, he has been the most satisfying West indian batsman to watch in recent years. It has been a human journey, flawed and fascinating, and along the way he has earned the respect that he craves and deserves. Although lacking the force of personality needed to hold the team together, he has often prevented the batting from falling apart. Perhaps the bad times were his making. After all fishermen, like farmers, are a resilient lot. Certainly they do not expect more from life than it is prepared to offer.
Peter Roebuck is a former captain of Somerset and the author, most recently, of In It to Win It
Port-of-Spain, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Bangladesh cricketer Mashrafee Murtaza (C) celebrates the wicket of India Cricketer Virendra Sehwag (L), during the group stage match between India and Bangladesh at the Queen's Park Oval stadium in the Port of Spain, in Trinidad and Tobago.
Bangladesh's youngsters are suddenly the talk of the tournament. Their fearless mob of merrymakers showed such talent and chutzpah in their victory over India in Trinidad, one wonders what they might be capable of when they reach their full maturity. Of the 11 men who played in that game, only two - the captain, Habibul Bashar and the senior spinner, Mohammad Rafique - had even crossed their 25th birthday.
It wasn't always thus. Around the time of the last World Cup, when Bangladesh lost humiliatingly to Canada in their opening match at Durban, the team was in such a state of disarray and depression, it was hard to shrug off the demands that they be stripped of their Test status. Up until that time, Bangladesh had lost 16 out of 17 Tests (with one rain-affected draw), 11 by an innings. Whatever talent that may have existed was being drowned in a tide of perpetual failure.
It is all the more extraordinary, therefore, that the man who will be leading the Bangladesh line in today's showdown with Australia in Antigua is Mashrafe Mortaza, a fast bowler who bobbed to the surface even as the rest of his country seemed to be sinking around him. Mortaza has endured more trials and tribulations in his 23 years than many pace bowlers are put through in a lifetime. As if the pain of dual knee surgery is not enough, he has had to pick himself up from back and ankle injuries, as well as the agony of incessant defeat. The experience has made him stronger, tougher, and much, much better.
"He's a very strong lad," his captain, Habibul Bashar, told Cricinfo. "He's had two knee reconstructions and he still comes hard. He's the kind of person who is ideal for a captain, because he'll always do his best. Whether he's fit or not fit, if I ask he gives me 150%. That makes him a captain's dream and a matchwinner, because he does the right things at the right time."
Every enterprise requires a pioneer. When Mashrafe was plucked from obscurity as an 18-year-old on the recommendation of the former West Indian fast bowler, Andy Roberts, he entered his maiden Test against a Zimbabwe at Dhaka without even the experience of a first-class debut to fall back on. His maiden figures of 4 for 106 included the wickets of Grant Flower and Heath Streak, and even at that early stage of his development, all the signs were in place that a genuine talent had been unearthed. The pace, the aggression, the thrusting whiplash bowling action. But he was an anomaly - a discovery that had been made in spite of the system, not because of it.
Things are different now. Under the astute guidance of Dav Whatmore, and in the secure knowledge that nothing can be achieved without considerable and painstaking investment, a system is being put into place that will eventually channel every prospective Bangladeshi Test cricketer into the national melting pot. Age-group cricket and the academy programme has already delivered the core of the current squad; the nascent first-class and one-day competitions will one day cover all the remaining bases. Mashrafe, however, remains a man apart - a talent who endured in spite of the overwhelming odds against his international survival.
'At Dhaka on Boxing Day in 2004, his first-over demolition of Virender Sehwag's stumps sent Bangladesh on their way to a 15-run victory that was widely glossed over at the time, but nonetheless provided a massive confidence boost ahead of their recent rematch in Trinidad.' © Getty Images
To this day he retains a certain worldly wisdom that sets him apart from his excitable peers. Though at 23 he is barely out of nappies in international terms, he is already a longer-serving international than most of England's representatives at this World Cup - of the players that he faced at Chittagong in November 2003, for instance, only Michael Vaughan remains. That was the match in which he took an heroic 4 for 60 in the first innings to keep his side in the hunt, but then twisted his knee so grievously in the second innings that he didn't feature for another 12 months.
Injuries have punctuated Mashrafe's career more frequently than statistical milestones, but to his credit, they have kept coming nonetheless. At Dhaka on Boxing Day in 2004, his first-over demolition of Virender Sehwag's stumps sent Bangladesh on their way to a 15-run victory that was widely glossed over at the time, but nonetheless provided a massive confidence boost ahead of their recent rematch in Trinidad.
And when Australia were toppled at Cardiff in that famous NatWest Series victory in 2005, Mashrafe's steady and incisive figures of 1 for 33 were instrumental in keeping Australia's big hitters in check. As so often happens when a side has one genuine world-class bowler to fall back on, Mashrafe's figures have possibly suffered for the degree of respect his performances have been afforded. Nevertheless, he has still muscled his way to 85 wickets from 59 ODIs, and a further 50 from 20 Tests.
These days, superstardom is just a roll of the dice away. Last year, he found time to get married as well as, in an indication of Bangladesh cricket's rising profile, starring in his first commercial - for a nation-wide talent-scouting programme. In the 40-second clip, he is featured shaving (another indication of his growing maturity, perhaps) when a vision of his younger self appears to him. The sense that he is a role model for a new generation is tangible.
It is a far cry from Mashrafe's own arrival in international cricket. As a hyperactive child growing up in the district of Narail, beside the Chitra river in south-west Bangladesh, Mashrafe spent more time swimming in the river and climbing the nearest mango trees than bothering with schoolwork. Sport was a blessed release for his energies, although cricket was by no means his only focus - football and badminton also competed for his time. And even when he did play, he was more excited at the prospect of wielding a bat than flinging a ball.
Had it not been for a chance opportunity to blast away the tail in a district match for Narail, his abilities might have been entirely overlooked - on the strength of a six-ball spell that wrapped up a comprehensive win, he was dispatched to a BCB Under-17 team and the rest is history. Thanks, however, to his talent and endurance through thin times and even thinner, Bangladesh has had a focal point for its fast-bowling aspirations, and a figurehead in the drive to ensure a dynasty is established.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo
Looking down and out after their first three games, India stormed into the final of the Coca-Cola Cup at a sun bathed Sinhalese Sports Club today after their best batting performance of the tournament to date.
Required to chase the highest target of the triangular so far, an imposing 265, after a sloppy performance in the field, India powered to a seven wicket victory over New Zealand, as Virender Shewag, opening the innings in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, thumped the seventh fastest century in the history of one-day cricket and the second fastest by an Indian.
Already famed for an uncanny likeness to Tendulkar, in both bowling and batting style, Shewag emerged from the shadow of India's star batsmen, with some exhilarating strokeplay in the opening 15 overs.
The Delhi batsmen made full use of the fielding restrictions, hitting Darryl Tuffey for 22 runs in his sixth over and 12 boundaries in all in his first fifty, which came from just 28 balls.
His second fifty was slower, as he focused his attention on a maiden one-day century, but he was still no slouch, reaching the landmark off just 69 balls. Only Shahid Alfridi (37), Brian Lara (45), Sanath Jayasuriya (48), Mohammad Azharuddin (62), Basit Ali (67) and Ijaz Ahmed (68) have reached three figures off lesser deliveries and not many of them would have been missed only once, like Shewag was by Parore when he had made 98.
This was not, however, just a one man show. When Shewag was bowled by McMillan's first ball, straight after his celebrations, Sourav Ganguly held the innings together with Rahul Dravid, who came to the wicket after the dismissal of VVS Laxman.
Ganguly, lucky to be playing at all after his verbal tirade last evening, for which he was let off by match referee Cammie Smith with just a fine and a slap on the wrists, added 33 with Rahul Dravid and scored 64 from 103 balls before paddling a tame catch to short fine leg.
With 86 runs required from 17.2 overs, India looked well in control having lost just three wickets, but those who have watched the team in the past would not have been totally convinced, especially with the out of touch Hemang Badani and normally slow scoring Dravid at the wicket.
Such fears were quickly soothed, as it became clear that Dravid was in a positive frame of mind and in fine form. He took the bowling by the scruff of the neck and shepherded his side home with an unbeaten 57 from 56 balls. Badani meanwhile chipped in with a fluent 36 from 38 balls that included two sixes.
Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first on a wicket, which was being re-used. Aware that the new ball in the morning represented their greatest threat, they batted cautiously at the start, scoring just 55 runs in the opening 15 overs, which compares unfavourably to the 101 scored by India.
Steadily and professionally, however, Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle raised the tempo, as they added 138 for the second wicket, before the captain was stumped for 66 as he jumped down the track to Yuvraj Singh.
Astle went on to score 108, his second century of the series, and was well supported by Lou Vincent, who came back into the side today. Vincent scored 45 from 37 deliveries; his highest ever score in ODIs.
India now take on Sri Lanka at the Premadasa International Stadium on Sunday. Full of confidence after three successive victories, they probably even start as favourites.
© Cricinfo
A series that the entire cricket world had been waiting for with bated breath started off with an absolutely incredible match at the National Stadium in Karachi. In a game in which the result was in the balance until the very last ball, India finally edged through by five runs after amassing 349.
For much of the match, it appeared that Pakistan would pull off an astounding run-chase, as Inzamam-ul-Haq chose this stage to showcase his genius. His innings of 122 - surely one of the greatest ever played in a one-day international - made light of a steep target, and almost handed India their second defeat in three days after scoring more than 300. Even so Pakistan's 344 was comfortably the highest total made by the side batting second in any one-day international.
It was high-octane stuff from the start, with plenty of batting stars from either side: Virender Sehwag blasted 79 from 57 balls to get India off to a blistering start, while Rahul Dravid stroked a classy 99 to ensure that the splendid start wasn't wasted. Then, Yousuf Youhana caressed 73 to revive Pakistan's hopes. But the innings of the match came from Inzamam.
No team had ever successfully chased 350 in an ODI, and that statistic didn't look likely to change when Pakistan lost two early wickets and struggled to 71 for 2 in 15 overs. The Indian seamers bowled with superb control, and with the asking rate mounting to eight early in the chase, it seemed that India would run away with it.
Inzamam and Youhana turned it all around with an outstanding partnership of 135 from a mere 20 overs. Not only did they press on the accelerator, they did so with minimum risk, tonking the slow bowlers for straight sixes, and nurdling the seamers for ones and twos. Youhana finally played one lofted shot too many, but that only allowed Inzamam to take centre stage.
Not allowing the pressure to get to him at any point, Inzamam turned it on with some scintillating batting, caressing fours to midwicket and square leg with a casual flick of the wrists, or making room to play some delectable strokes on the off side equally effortlessly. Ganguly switched the bowling around, but except for Sehwag, none of the bowlers made even a semblance of an impression. Inzamam's fourth-wicket stand with Younis Khan yielded 109 before Inzamam finally perished, nicking one from Kartik to Dravid (278 for 4).
Younis and Abdul Razzaq ensured that the momentum didn't slip away, running hard between the wickets and finding the boundary frequently. Kartik swung the match India's way again, bowling Younis for 46, while Zaheer's slower ball did for Razzaq. Then came another twist in the tale, when Mohammad Kaif pulled off an amazing running catch to dismiss Shoaib Malik, running around from long-off, diving, and clinging on to the ball even as he almost collided with Hemang Badani. That catch came off the penultimate ball of the 49th over, and Pakistan approached the last over needing nine to win.
Ashish Nehra, the man chosen for the task, did a nerveless job, bowling full and on the stumps. Naved-ul-Hasan swished and missed at the first one, but stole a single off the next. Moin Khan failed to get a yorker away, and only managed a single off the fourth ball. When Hasan took a run off the fifth, it required Moin to hit a six off the last ball. Javed Miandad was gesturing furiously from the stands - he obviously had a right to do so, having smashed a memorable last-ball six off Chetan Sharma to win a thriller at Sharjah back in 1986 - but all of that was to little effect, as Moin spooned a full-toss to Zaheer at extra cover. The match was India's.
When Pakistan look back on the match, they will probably identify their lack of discipline in the field as the primary reason for the defeat. Pakistan got the best of the bowling conditions - the pitch afforded plenty of bounce and some seam early on - but made a mess of it, sending down a shocking 20 no-balls and 10 wides. The Indians, on the other hand, bowled just two no-balls and seven wides.
The trend was set in a frenetic first over in the Indian innings. Shoaib Akhtar, visibly keyed up for the battle with Tendulkar, bowled a nine-ball first over which included a couple of wides and no-balls. He began his second over with another no-ball, off which Tendulkar was caught at square leg, and then saw insult added to injury later in that same over when Tendulkar top-edged a hook for six.
At the other end, Sehwag went on his merry way, slashing and swinging through the off side with gay abandon. Shoaib got Pakistan the breakthrough, when Tendulkar guided a drive to Hasan at backward point (69 for 1) for 28, but that only set the stage for a breathtaking onslaught by Sehwag.
Hasan, all of two ODIs old in international cricket, bowled four no-balls in his first five deliveries, and disappeared for 24 in the over, while Razzaq was smashed for three fours in his opening over. Sehwag was finally bowled by a beautifully disguised slower ball from Hasan (142 for 2), but with 143 from the first 15 overs, the platform had been laid.
Dravid and Sourav Ganguly then kept it going with a run-a-ball partnership of 72, but Pakistan had an opportunity to claw back when both Ganguly (47) and Yuvraj Singh were dismissed in quick succession. India were 220 for 4 in the 29th over, and with no VVS Laxman - a knee injury in the nets had ruled him out - a couple of further wickets would have exposed the Indian tail rather early. Dravid and Kaif ensured it didn't happen.
Dravid played another gem, continuing the rich vein of form he showed in Australia. He seldom played unorthodox strokes, but kept the runs coming with clever nudges and deflections. He didn't miss out on the boundaries either - a couple of straight-drives off Razzaq early in the innings were among the shots of the innings.
Kaif was equally composed, cutting out the risky strokes early in his innings, but putting pressure on the fielders with some blistering running between the wickets. Their vital 118-run stand ensured that India got up to 349. In the end, that turned out to be just enough.
S Rajesh is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.
Eight years ago, in Sharjah, Sanath Jayasuriya scored a magnificent 189 before Sri Lanka's bowlers sent India tumbling to 54 all out, and a humiliating 245-run defeat. At Karachi's National Stadium, Jayasuriya, now 39, smashed another superb century before Ajantha Mendis, the mystery spinner still classed as a slow-medium bowler, bamboozled a highly rated batting line-up to finish with astonishing figures of 6 for 13.
Virender Sehwag's blistering early onslaught was rendered irrelevant as Sri Lanka stormed to a 100-run victory, retaining the Asia Cup and extending India's miserable record in tournament finals.
With Sehwag hammering an exhilarating 60 from just 35 balls, India had romped to 76 from just nine overs. Muttiah Muralitharan prefers not to bowl during the Powerplays, and it was to Mendis, who the Indians had never faced before, that Mahela Jayawardene turned as he sought to staunch the flow of runs.
Even he couldn't have predicted the impact that Mendis would have. Like a combine harvester scything through a field of corn, Mendis sliced through a line-up that has quite a reputation when it comes to playing spin. Sehwag charged his second delivery and watched helplessly as it drifted away from him. Kumar Sangakkara did the rest. Two balls later, Yuvraj Singh was utterly befuddled by one that skidded on. Suddenly, 274 appeared a long way away.
That Sri Lanka got anywhere near that was down to a man who refuses to bow to Father Time. India picked up four wickets in the first 12 overs, with Ishant claiming three of them, but Jayasuriya's 114-ball 125, and a 131-run partnership with Tillakaratne Dilshan utterly changed the complexion of the game.
It's perhaps no coincidence that India haven't won the Asia Cup since Jayasuriya became a regular at the top of the Sri Lankan order, and his mastery over the opposition was best revealed in the 16th over, bowled by RP Singh. RP had managed to escape relatively unscathed in his opening spell, conceding 24 from five overs, but when he returned, Jayasuriya took to him like a bull that had been riled by the matador's cape.
Sixes on either side of the sightscreen were followed by two wallops over cover, and after a one-ball lull, he pulled one over midwicket for six more. With Dilshan then taking three successive fours off Irfan Pathan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had no option but to turn to spin, with Pragyan Ojha and Sehwag managing to have something of a fire-extinguishing effect.
India had started poorly, with RP conceding two boundaries to fine leg in the opening over, but a mix-up between two experienced hands gave them the opening they so desperately needed. Jayasuriya tapped one to short mid-off, and Sangakkara had already hared halfway down the pitch before he realised the striker had no interest in a single. Suresh Raina's underarm flick was the ultimate punishment.
But with two maiden overs bowled in the first five, India wrested back a measure of control, despite Jayasuriya's sporadic bursts of aggression. With the pressure building, it was Ishant who struck, as Jayawardene slapped one straight to Rohit at point. No bother for Jayasuriya though. A swivel pull sent an Ishant delivery for six, and Pathan's introduction was greeted with three fours in the over.
The problem was at the other end, where Ishant was wreaking havoc with the extra bounce he extracted from a comatose pitch. Bounce and a hint of lateral movement had Chamara Kapugedera playing one off the leading edge to point, and two balls later, the other Chamara - Silva - inside-edged one back on to the stumps.
Jayasuriya's version of consolidation involved a pull for six off Ishant and a slice of luck as a as a miscue off Pathan evaded RP, who ran around in circles and failed to get his hands to the ball. Dilshan contributed only four to the first 50 the pair added, from 30 balls, but he did his part, turning the strike over to allow Jayasuriya to inflict maximum damage.
With Sehwag and Ojha - Rohit contributed three tidy overs too - taking the pace off the ball, it was a different story. With the field spread, the boundaries dried up and the runs came mainly in singles. India missed a couple of run-out opportunities and Dhoni put down a sharp chance offered by Dilshan when he was on 37, but the helter-skelter pace of the Powerplay overs soon gave way to relative calm.
Eventually, the lack of action got to Jayasuriya and a flat slog-sweep off Sehwag only found Ishant at deep midwicket. After that, Sri Lanka lost their way. Dilshan eased to 50 from 68 balls, but when Pathan returned to bowl round the wicket, he popped a catch to Dhoni. Vaas, back in the fray after missing the last game, square-drove Ishant for the first four in more than 20 overs, but was castled by RP soon after.
Nuwan Kulasekara flailed the bat to finish with an unbeaten 29, but a target of 274 was expected to be well within reach for an Indian side that had included seven specialist batsmen. But after his extraordinary first over, Mendis soon set about making a mockery of the predictions.
Raina had been fortunate to survive a vociferous leg-before shout before he decided to play the worst shot of the evening, an ugly pull to a delivery that pitched on middle stump. Rohit soon followed, struck on the back pad by one that deviated away a touch, and by the time Jayawardene decided to take him out of the attack, Mendis had stunning figures of 4 for 8.
No one including the umpires knew quite what to expect, and the batsmen appeared unsure whether to play him as a slow bowler or a medium-pace one. That indecision was to prove fatal, especially against the carrom ball that was being propelled by a flick of the middle finger. As eye-catching was his accuracy. There was no width for the batsmen to work with, and hardly a loose delivery. Only Dhoni, who played the ball as late as he possibly could, showed any signs of coming to grips with him.
With Mendis casting such a spell, Murali's introduction went almost unnoticed, but with him in parsimonious mood, the tourniquet was tightening around India. Robin Uthappa and Dhoni added 38 in attritional fashion before Murali struck from round the wicket. Uthappa missed a flick, and the appeal from the bowler was just a formality.
Jayawardene waited a while longer and then brought back Mendis for the 30th over. India somehow survived that, but the game was up in his next. Pathan's attempt to flick through the leg side ended up at slip, and RP walked off bemused after one deviated away to take off stump. He should have had the hat-trick too, only Simon Taufel was as perplexed by a ball that pitched in line as Ojha was.
Dhoni had watched it all from the other end, defending stoutly and striking the odd four when he could. But once he inside-edged Chaminda Vaas to the keeper, the Sri Lankan dressing room readied for the celebrations. When Kulasekara cleaned up Ishant with 63 balls still to be bowled, they could begin in earnest. The combination of the six-hitting veteran and the six-wicket carrom-ball spinner had been far too much for India to handle.
Dileep Premachandran is an associate editor at Cricinfo
© Cricinfo
India played virtually perfect cricket - the exact opposite of what they did against Bangladesh the other day - and blasted Bermuda out of the water at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad. A display of creative and powerful batting, where four of the big six fired India to 413, a record total in World Cups and the bowlers then did their job, bundling Bermuda out for 156, winning the game by 257 runs, the largest margin in terms of runs in all ODI cricket. David Hemp resisted with an unbeaten 76 but lacked support from the rest in a one-sided contest.
Irvine Romaine, the Bemuda captain, put India in, and like the other day, when Netherlands put South Africa in, the minnow tasted early success. Robin Uthappa flashed a ball to slip for Dwayne Leverock to defy the laws of physics and gravity to leap to his right and catch at a wide slip position.
Virender Sehwag, pushed down to the middle-order, began badly, slashing and missing outside the off stump. But soon he settled down, and began thumping the ball over the off side with the same lack of footwork that has been his undoing in recent times. But the straight strikes down the pitch, and one loft over extra-cover that landed in the second tier, suggested that it would be Sehwag's day. And it most certainly was.
Sehwag's half-century came off only 43 balls, with 11 fours, but the real hitting followed, only pausing briefly when he neared the three-figure mark. That's understandable given he has not scored an ODI hundred in 59 innings or two years, and it was the kind of innings that justified his captain's faith.
While Sehwag was roaring back to his run-scoring ways, Sourav Ganguly was sedately keeping his end going. At no point did he attempt to boost the scoring rate, but instead chose to play the role of an anchor. When Sehwag was dismissed for 114 (87 balls, 17 fours, 3 sixes) India were 205 for 2, in under 30 overs, with Ganguly on 76 from 94 balls. Soon after, Ganguly too fell, stumped after coming down and having a mighty heave, for 89.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni began responsibly, looking to set himself a platform to launch from, but his run was cut short when a brilliant catch by Janeiro Tucker at long-off sent him packing for 29. At that stage India were comfortable at 269 for 4 from 38.2 overs. But what had gone by was merely the calm before the storm. Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar played strokes of such purity and majesty that it was batting at its very best. The crowd were on their feet for the duration of their association.
Yuvraj was quick to plant one knee down and scorch the ball over the ropes in the arc from square-leg to midwicket, hitting as cleanly as anyone has in this tournament. Tendulkar, on the other hand, dripped class. He chose just the appropriate shot for each ball, never losing his cool, always playing late. Tendulkar lofted one delectable six over long-off, swept one startling six over fine-leg, and almost unnoticed got to 57. And it's not often that you score 57 off only 29 balls without using brute force.
Yuvraj certainly used excessive force, but not one of his 83 runs, which came off only 43 balls, with seven sixes, came off an ugly shot. Rahul Dravid, who pushed himself down the order, finished the innings of with a six, and India had 413 for 5, something that would have gone some way in erasing the memory of the forgettable batting against Bangladesh.
Bermuda never had any realistic chance of chasing 414, yet India's aim was not a simple victory. Rather, they needed to win by at least 243 runs, the margin Sri Lanka beat Bermuda by. And they achieved that without too much difficulty.
Zaheer Khan provided the opening, squeezing one through the defences of Oliver Pitcher in the very first over. Steven Outerbridge was the second to suffer, when a delivery from Zaheer jagged sharply back in from outside the off stump and drilled the stumps. A bit of a partnership then held up India's charge, but Munaf Patel, who beat the bat often enough, was a bit fortunate to get on the scoreboard when a ball struck Delyone Borden high on the pad, and the appeal for lbw was upheld. Anil Kumble, playing in place of Harbhajan Singh, had Romaine for a duck when he shouldered arms to a straight one on the stumps. Tucker came down the pitch to Kumble - a risky thing to do at the best of times - and lost his stumps as he swung across the line and missed.
Dean Minors and David Hemp added 43 for the sixth wicket, the best stand of the innings, but Minors was dismissed mis-hitting a pull to mid-off. Lionel Cann was then smartly snapped up by Uthappa in a slightly controversial catch at short cover, where the ball was snatched up very close to the turf. From there on there was little to play for, and Bermuda only managed 156, handing India victory by 257 runs.
SittingKrishan Lal Sehgal, Virender Kumar Gupta, Amarjit Singh Daliwal, GurDev Sidhu (Senior), Dr Aulakh (Dean), Prof. Hazara Singh, Partap Khanna, Pran Nath Takkar, Bodh Raj Arora, Som Nath Sharma, Shiva Ram Arya, Major Om Dutt Joshi
1st Row Ramesh Chander, Brij Mohan Singh, Gurdas Chaudhary, Pritam Singh Deol, Rajinder Kumar Wazir, Satya Nand Sharma, Kartar Singh Chawla, Mukhtiar Singh Bal, Rattan Lal Kaul, Dila Ram Dhiman, Gajinder Singh Makkar, (from Alumni Assoc), Suraj Mal, Resham Singh Kooner
2nd Row(Mem. Alumni Assoc), Bachitar Singh Ghai, Librarian Harjit Singh, Awtar Krishan Malik, Vir Singh, Pritam Singh Madan, Balbir Singh, Devi Dayal Narang, Ajmer Singh, (Three members of Alumni Assoc), Syam Sunder Bhardwaj, Dila Ram's son
Sat Pal Gupta (missing) left early
In keeping with the rest of the games, the last match of the series produced another enthralling contest, but in the end India pulled off a comfortable 40-run win at Lahore to wrest the series 3-2. In a curious twist, India were put in and scored 293, exactly as many as Pakistan had in the previous match, at the same venue. Then, India had chased down the target with ease; here, Pakistan lost early wickets, and despite a spirited rear-guard effort, fell short.
The Indian victory was set up by two players - VVS Laxman, who caressed a glorious 107 off just 104 balls to ensure a competitive total, and Irfan Pathan, who came up with a superb performance of swing bowling to snare three early wickets. He finished with excellent figures of 3 for 32. Pakistan had their moments too - Shoaib Akhtar bowled with plenty of venom early on, while Moin Khan (72) and Shoaib Malik (65) retrieved a near lost cause, and made a match of it, but in the end, the target was just beyond their lower order.
After the ease with which India overhauled the same target three days back, Pakistan would have fancied their chances, but they were rocked early by Pathan, who took three of the first four wickets to reduce Pakistan to 58 for 4.
Pathan got into the act after Lakshmipathy Balaji got through Yasir Hameed's defences for 2 (8 for 1). Yousuf Youhana was trapped in front by one that straightened (9 for 2) - though replays suggested a thin inside edge - Taufeeq Umar paid the price for leaving his leg stump unguarded (25 for 3), while Younis Khan slapped a wide half-volley straight to Yuvraj Singh at point.
Inzamam was in glorious touch again, driving and pulling anything even fractionally off target with effortless ease. To add to India's worries, Sourav Ganguly was forced to leave the field after injuring his back while diving in the outfield. He was stretchered off the field, and Rahul Dravid took over the reins.
Inzamam had motored along to 38 off 50 balls, when he charged down the track to Murali Kartik, bowling over the wicket. The flat hit seemed to have just enough strength to clear long-on, but Tendulkar, skirting dangerously close to the boundary, hung on to the ball even as he ensured that he didn't step on the rope (87 for 5).
Abdul Razzaq's dismissal seemed to have sealed Pakistan's fate, but Malik and Moin then began the revival, first with singles and twos, and then, as their confidence grew, tonking a regular dose of boundaries as well. The asking rate kept mounting, but both batsmen ensured that it didn't spiral beyond manageable proportions. Malik finally holed out to Mohammad Kaif (195 for 7), ending the 99-run partnership, but Moin continued the fight, in the company of Mohammad Sami. Balaji and Virender Sehwag were both struck for sixes, as 27 came from two overs, and an asking rate of ten didn't seem completely unachievable.
However, sustaining that rate, with only three wickets in hand, proved to be the problem. Zaheer, so listless for most of the evening, produced a couple of splendid overs, defeating Sami's slog (248 for 8). Akhtar was run-out trying to evade the ball as Yuvraj hit the stumps, and Moin's spirited resistance was finally ended by Balaji. The match, and the series, was India's.
Earlier, Laxman was the star for India. Unlike in the previous games when he struggled for fluency early, here he found his groove from the start, timing the ball exquisitely on either side of the wicket. Sehwag fell an early victim to his own impetuosity, moving away to leg and trying to force a ball which was perfectly pitched in the corridor (34 for 1), but Laxman and Tendulkar motored along, feasting on some loose stuff from Sami. Tendulkar's 37 included some gorgeous drives through the off side, but an innings which promised much more ended in anticlimactic fashion, when he edged an attempted dab to the keeper (79 for 2).
Ganguly then joined Laxman, and while the singles - and the odd boundary - came along, the run-rate continued to hover at just more than five. Ganguly's 45 took 64 balls before he fell in a familiar manner, angling his bat and nicking one off Akhtar (171 for 3). The platform was perfect - India were 162 for 2 from 30 - but the launch didn't quite take off as expected, as Dravid and Yuvraj fell in quick succession, reducing India to 227 for 5.
All the while, Laxman moved along smoothly towards his hundred. His shots were seldom anything other than orthodox cricket strokes, but his immaculate timing and placement ensured that even a gentle caress found its way to the boundary. He found the gaps regularly even when the field was spread out - a couple of cover-drives late in the innings were wonderfully sublime, as were a two delicate late-cuts off Malik.
However, Pakistan's bowlers kept their heads, conceding only five wides and an equal number of no-balls, an enormous improvement from their effort on Sunday. Laxman finally fell to Malik, and only some late slogging from Pathan and Balaji took India close to 293. Before this match, every century-maker in this series had finished up on the losing side; Pathan's new-ball spell helped break that jinx.
S Rajesh is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.
BANGALORE, INDIA - FEBRUARY 11: Virender Sehwag of India signs bat stickers during a portrait session ahead of the 2011 ICC World Cup at the ITC Gardenia on February 11, 2011 in Bangalore, India.
The spectacular arrival of Virender Sehwag was bound to inspire others to bat with the same mindset. But the odds of a clone emerging from the backwaters of Jharkhand, whose state side has consistently scraped the bottom, was highly remote. That was until Mahendra Singh Dhoni arrived.
He can be swashbuckling with the bat and secure with the wicketkeeping gloves. His neck-length hair adds to his dash. Though Dhoni made his first-class debut in the 1999-2000 season, it was only in 2004 that he became a serious contender for national selection with some stirring performances when the occasion demanded. With his two centuries against Pakistan A, in the triangular tournament in Kenya, that he established himself as a clinical destroyer of bowling attacks.
In just his fifth one-dayer, against Pakistan at Vishakapatnam, he cracked a dazzling 148 - putting even Sehwag in the shade - and followed that up with a colossal 183 not out at Jaipur against Sri Lanka in November, when he broke Adam Gilchrist's record for the highest score by a wicketkeeper in ODIs. He made an instant impact on the Test level too, pounding 148 at Faisalabad, in only his fifth Test.
He was elevated to the vice-captaincy of the one-day squad for the tour of England and Ireland in 2007 and, soon after, was appointed captain of the Twenty20 squad for the World Championship in South Africa. A heady title triumph marked him out as a leader for the future and was handed over the reins of the one-day side in September 2007 after Rahul Dravid decided to step down as captain. It didn't take too long for him to enhance his reputation, claiming India's first tri-series triumph in Australia. He captained Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, losing out to Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals in a tense final. As a stop-gap Test captain, he was credited with leading India to their biggest ever win in terms of runs (320), against Australia in Mohali.
Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh at Sangrah in last and largest by Election Rally/ Campaign on 28th of November, 2011. Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal was welcomed by Transport Minister Mahender Singh, Health Minister Rajeev Bindal, MP Virender Kashyap, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sukh Ram Chaudhary, Chairman State Cooperative bank Chander Mohan Thakur and BJP leaders of the area at Sangrah. He addressed a Massive Rally/ large Public meeting near Bus-Stand Sangrah and thousands of area people/ BJP workers participated in program. He said that State Government would consider opening of SDM office at Sangrah in April, 2011 as he unused on 13th of October, 2011 at Sangrah. State President of BJP Himachal Pradesh Khimi Ram Sharma also addressed the rally. Sangrah is a Beautiful Town, Green Valley and Tehsil HQ of District Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh. Sangrah Town is about 358 K.M. from Delhi, 161 K.M. from Shimla, 152 K.M. from Chandigarh, 65 K.M. from Rajgarh, 63 K.M. from Nahan and 25 K.M. from Renuka Ji (By Road). Government Degree College Sangrah, Tehsil Office, BDO, HDO, ADO, BSNL Exchange, Police Station, Old House of National Awarded Kinkri Devi, Jawga Hils, Jawga Helipad, Rawlagarh Fort, Brah Forest, Bhagwan Parshuram ITI, Lord Vijat and Shiva Temple are the main attraction/Place of Sangrah. There are 41 Gram Panchayats in Sangrah Development Block and Tehsil. About 21 Panchayats of Sangrah Block has been covered with the Snow during winter season. Churdhar Hills, Jablog, Piulilani, Haripurdhar, Gattadhar, Balayandhar, Sunderdhat, Brah-Rupee, Jawga Hills, Choras and Diwri-Khrahan are the Snow bounded Area/ Hills/ Panoramic Valley/ Village/ Forest of Sangrah Block in winters. Population of Sangrah Bhoj/Area is about 6,000 and height is 6,700 Feet. Budechhu, Dhakuli, Nati, Geeh, Thoda Fight and Purua are the Famous Folk Dance of this area. The main crops/cash crops of Sangrah Tehsil are Maize, Wheat, Gram, Palsies, Tomato, Potato, Ginger, Pees and Garlic.
Sangrah Vikas Manch
E-mail:sangrahvikasmanch@gmail.com
Sangrah Town, Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, India.
When Australia began their twin series against South Africa in 2001-02, it was billed as a world championship, a battle between the top two teams in the world. In the event, Australia demolished their opponents, not only on the field of play, but psychologically. Careers tottered, and South Africa were never the same side again. A similar process reached a significant milestone at Nagpur, as Australia beat India in the third Test by a massive 342 runs, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Not only were Indian players outplayed, but their spirits were shattered, as all their gains of the last three years looked set to come undone. It was a great win by one of the greatest sides of all time, and they made it look easy.
When India came out to bat, 542 behind, they looked a parody of the side that had fought so hard against Australia during their last tour there, like body doubles accidentally finding themselves in the thick of the action. Their footwork was uncertain, their strokeplay was tentative, and they appeared out of their depth. The diffidence they have gained from the travails of this season was to blame for that, but so was the remarkable bowling they faced.
Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie bowled lethal spells, enjoying the pace and bounce of the pitch, and the sideways movement they could generate from it. McGrath lurked in the corridor, getting the occasional ball to snort up viciously from a length to surprise even the wicketkeeper. Gillespie was equally hard to face, with his incoming ball holding possibilities of gaining an lbw or a bowled dismissal, and his straighter one keeping four slips interested.
One by one the Indians succumbed. Aakash Chopra played down the wrong line to Gillespie and was bowled (1 for 1), after which Rahul Dravid edged a Gillespie incutter onto his stumps (9 for 2). Sachin Tendulkar was beaten by the bounce of a ball of a McGrath special in the corridor, with the ball going off the splice into the hands of a diving Damien Martyn at point (20 for 3). VVS Laxman meekly pulled Michael Kasprowicz's first ball straight to McGrath at fine leg (29 for 4). Mohammad Kaif then unleashed an expansive drive at a good-length ball from Kasprowicz, and only managed to edge it behind to Adam Gilchrist, who leaped to his right and took an athletic catch (37 for 5).
Virender Sehwag, on the other hand, was his usual strokeful self, batting with such abandon that you'd have thought it was nets at Najafgarh. With a lusty eye for the loose ball, he played some delightful drives and cuts, and refused to be daunted when he played and missed, or when he was dropped. His first reprieve came early in his innings, when Justin Langer dropped an edge at third slip off McGrath's bowling, and an uppish cut a ball later eluded the outstretched hands of the man at gully. But no-one supported him until Parthiv Patel came to the crease.
Patel, perhaps knowing that he had nothing to lose, showed no sign of nerves, and played some classy strokes square on the off side when not defending solidly. The two added 65 in 98 balls. But this was building the stable after the horses had died. India had slipped too far to be redeemed, and the partnership was duly broken when Sehwag, on 58, tried an inside-out lofted drive off Shane Warne, and mis-hit it to Michael Clarke at cover (102 for 6). Patel, who had made a fiesty 32, edged Gillespie to Gilchrist 12 runs later.
Strokeful cameos followed from Murali Kartik, Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan, but they were innings played under no pressure, with the match already decided. There was reason for India to wonder, though, at the 163 runs their last five wickets added, after the first five added 37. It was a gulf that reflected the state of India's batting in the series, where the last five had added more then 100 in three of the last four innings, but the specialist batsmen had repeatedly let them down.
The most memorable partnership of the day was not the futile one between Sehwag and Patel, or the sloggacious 52-run stand between Agarkar and Zaheer, but the scintillating one between Clarke and Martyn in the morning session. Australia accelerated furiously and Clarke led the way, unleashing strokes that few batsmen would even conceive. His driving on the back foot was breathtaking, and some of his shots were hit so hard, with such bat-speed, that field placings were virtually redundant.
Clarke was out for 73 when he misread the pace of a ball from Kumble and pulled it to Kaif at short midwicket (319 for 4). Martyn, meanwhile, started playing scratchily as he approached what would have been his third consecutive century. He was dropped on 85 by Sehwag at point, who failed to hold on to an uppish cut. He played and missed a couple of times, and was eventually caught behind off Zaheer for 97 a few minutes before lunch, the third Australian to be dismissed in the 90s in this Test (329 for 5 dec).
But personal milestones missed would not have mattered today. Australia achieved a collective goal that they have dreamed of, and worked towards, for the last three years. They had already charmed India with their behaviour through this tour - much walking and no sledging - and now they had won the series as well. They would cherish their hard-earned and emphatic victory here, just as cricket lovers would always remember, with a glint of nostalgia, the magnificent manner in which Australia lit up an Indian autumn.
Amit Verma
Believe me - this Indian cricket team can walk on water. Believe me - they can stride across a pit full of burning coal and come out unscathed. Believe me - if India could win the match against South Africa on Wednesday, they can win anything.
It is true that the maxim "No match is lost until it is won" is especially appropriate to limited-overs cricket. But surely few teams could have won a match from so lost a cause. Conversely, few teams could have lost a match from such a winning position. In fact, it was not just a winning position, it was a veritable stranglehold that the South Africans held. How the Indians managed to wriggle out and then manage to tighten the noose on the South Africans will be debated for years. Well may Sourav Ganguly ask, "I don't know how we won." He is in plentiful company, for all of us are still unable to comprehend how the incredible turnaround was scripted. Indeed, the Indian captain has also hinted that perhaps destiny had something to do with the victory. He may not be far from the truth.
Just think of the scenario as it was, with South Africa at 192 for one after 37 overs. They needed only 70 runs from 13 overs with nine wickets intact, which translates into a run-rate fractionally over five per over. The batsmen did not have to do anything silly or go for the big hits. Singles and twos would have sufficed for South Africa to wrap things up.
Surely a comfortable victory was only a matter of time. The bookies had closed their books, the TV commentators were already looking ahead to South Africa's opponents in Sunday's final, and who could blame them? On the field of play, the Indians seemed to have virtually given up. The body language said it all - the drooping shoulders, the mournful look, the sad eyes, the slow walk, they were all tell-tale signs that the Indians had almost thrown in the towel.
And then came the metamorphosis. Not, for a change, through the fall of a wicket but with a batsman retiring hurt. As Herschelle Gibbs wended his way back to the pavilion, Jonty Rhodes came out to join Jacques Kallis. In the dressing room, awaiting their chance to bat if required, were Boeta Dippennaar, Lance Klusener, Mark Boucher and Shaun Pollock.
Even after Harbhajan Singh took the wickets of Rhodes and Dippennaar in one over, the odds still heavily favoured South Africa. But now there was a palpable change in the Indian mind-set. There was an extra spring in the step, the fielders strode to their places briskly, and there were frequent consultations between the members of the team's brains-trust.
And then there was Virender Sehwag. The man with the golden bat now became the man with the golden arm. Sehwag can do nothing wrong at the moment, and much the same can be said about the team too. Giving Sehwag the task of bowling the 48th and 50th overs, allotting Zaheer Khan the 49th, was obviously going to be a gamble. But Ganguly and his think-tank were willing to take the risk. Such a bold outlook in a tense situation is to be appreciated.
Astonishingly the South Africans, faced with a similar situation, played it safe. It might have helped if Pollock had promoted himself in the batting order, ahead of a Klusener now a pale shadow of the hero who almost won the 1999 World Cup for South Africa. The supreme irony was that Pollock finally came to the crease in the last over but had not yet faced a ball when the match ended.
From the Indian viewpoint, the most encouraging aspect was the ability to rise from the dead, as it were. Indian cricketers traditionally are not known to be fighters with the never-say-die attitudes of the Australians. But Wednesday's performance was something else. It will not only further raise their confidence already high after the smooth annihilation of England but will also will help earn much greater respect from any future opposition.
The same cannot be said about the South Africans, who have lived up to their dubious reputation of being champion chokers. Remember the Hero Cup semi-final against India in 1993, the World Cup quarter-final against the West Indies in 1996, the World Cup Super Six encounter and the semi-final against Australia in 1999? One has almost lost count of the number of times South Africa have not been able to convert a winning position into victory.
But the focus is now on India. They are one steep step from the summit, and with the way things are shaping up, the team with a muchmaligned bowling line-up and with fielding standards not yet up to highest international levels - though the youngsters have certainly helped lift that aspect of the game - could end up winning the ICC Champions Trophy. First the mini-World Cup and then the World Cup early next year? It's a heady thought, but first let us emerge triumphant on Sunday. One last thought. India were semi-finalists in 1998 and finalists in 2000. Will the upward graph now have the perfect finish?
Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh at Sangrah in last and largest by Election Rally/ Campaign on 28th of November, 2011. Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal was welcomed by Transport Minister Mahender Singh, Health Minister Rajeev Bindal, MP Virender Kashyap, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sukh Ram Chaudhary, Chairman State Cooperative bank Chander Mohan Thakur and BJP leaders of the area at Sangrah. He addressed a Massive Rally/ large Public meeting near Bus-Stand Sangrah and thousands of area people/ BJP workers participated in program. He said that State Government would consider opening of SDM office at Sangrah in April, 2011 as he unused on 13th of October, 2011 at Sangrah. State President of BJP Himachal Pradesh Khimi Ram Sharma also addressed the rally. Sangrah is a Beautiful Town, Green Valley and Tehsil HQ of District Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh. Sangrah Town is about 358 K.M. from Delhi, 161 K.M. from Shimla, 152 K.M. from Chandigarh, 65 K.M. from Rajgarh, 63 K.M. from Nahan and 25 K.M. from Renuka Ji (By Road). Government Degree College Sangrah, Tehsil Office, BDO, HDO, ADO, BSNL Exchange, Police Station, Old House of National Awarded Kinkri Devi, Jawga Hils, Jawga Helipad, Rawlagarh Fort, Brah Forest, Bhagwan Parshuram ITI, Lord Vijat and Shiva Temple are the main attraction/Place of Sangrah. There are 41 Gram Panchayats in Sangrah Development Block and Tehsil. About 21 Panchayats of Sangrah Block has been covered with the Snow during winter season. Churdhar Hills, Jablog, Piulilani, Haripurdhar, Gattadhar, Balayandhar, Sunderdhat, Brah-Rupee, Jawga Hills, Choras and Diwri-Khrahan are the Snow bounded Area/ Hills/ Panoramic Valley/ Village/ Forest of Sangrah Block in winters. Population of Sangrah Bhoj/Area is about 6,000 and height is 6,700 Feet. Budechhu, Dhakuli, Nati, Geeh, Thoda Fight and Purua are the Famous Folk Dance of this area. The main crops/cash crops of Sangrah Tehsil are Maize, Wheat, Gram, Palsies, Tomato, Potato, Ginger, Pees and Garlic.
Sangrah Vikas Manch
E-mail:sangrahvikasmanch@gmail.com
Sangrah Town, Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, India.
"He is talented, very talented, but has no brains," was Geoff Boycott's on-air verdict after Virender Sehwag's attempt to hook a ball from outside off stump found the fielder at deep square leg and triggered a first-innings collapse at the SSC.
Sehwag's response to a question regarding his approach after his maverick innings - a 15th Test century at a strike-rate of 104.91 - was deadpan. "How can I stop the way I've played?" he said. "Yes, there is pressure if wickets fall and you think 'What if I go for a shot and get out too?' But if that happens you're never going to score runs."
After two batting collapses in the first Test it was imperative that India got a solid start. Sehwag provided that by using a simple mantra: if the ball is there to be hit, hit it. Circumstances rarely affect Sehwag and he put the pedal to the metal. A whip off the pads past midwicket got him started, a wild sweep that was unsuccessfully referred didn't stall him, and when he charged Ajantha Mendis and swung him over cow corner for six, Sehwag was at full throttle.
The stand-out feature was the effortless manner in which Sehwag handled Mendis, who was virtually unplayable in Colombo. The key, in his own simple words, was that here Sehwag "picked him [Mendis] off the track, from where the ball pitched", something only he and and Sachin Tendulkar have managed to do in this series.
When Mendis tossed the ball up on middle and off, Sehwag smothered the spin, and when the bowler drifted on to middle, he went back and turned it fine. If it spun in sharply, Sehwag adjusted his back leg and brought his bat down quickly to kill the ball. Sehwag also picked the two-fingered googly and moved back to cut or punch through the off-side. He failed to beat cover with the drive once but replayed the shot two balls later with more power and placed it to perfection. Mendis' first four overs cost 29.
Sehwag accelerated and yet remained in control with Gautam Gambhir, fleet-footed against spin, in the passenger seat. There were cracks at one end of the pitch and Nuwan Kulasekera asked a few questions but Sehwag steered clear of them. He cut Muttiah Muralitharan's first ball, a doosra from around the stumps, to reach his half-century off 50 balls. His strike rate, like a speedometer, fluctuated from 60 to 98 and beyond. India's 100 came from 115 balls and Sehwag's contribution was 59.
Like Sri Lanka did at the SSC, he and Gambhir ran hard, hustling for the second, and constantly looking for scoring opportunities. Sehwag and Aakash Chopra, another Delhi team-mate, did this effectively during the majority of their 19 partnerships, notably in Australia in 2003-04. Some of today's singles were risky but the intent was obvious and it frustrated Sri Lanka.
In the over before lunch, Sehwag put his arm around Gambhir's shoulder and had a word. Gambhir reached his fifty off the next ball and a beaming Sehwag rushed to congratulate him. When Sehwag dabbed a single behind point to raise the 150 partnership, he punched gloves with Gambhir as they crossed. How many batsmen can power a side to 150 for 0 at lunch? The camaraderie was plain to see.
After a four-hour rain delay, Mendis tested Gambhir with his variation but at the other end Sehwag disdainfully smashed Vaas over cow corner off his second ball after the resumption. Two balls later he played a booming straight drive to reach his century, which he celebrated with a proud wave of the bat to the dressing room and an embrace from his partner. His 15th hundred took only 87 balls with 15 fours and two sixes but the message was deeper.
At the MCG, in 2003-04, India were 311 for 3 but collapsed for 366 after Sehwag was dismissed for 195 at the end of the first day. In Adelaide earlier this year Sehwag scored 151 out of India's 269 in the second innings. Today, Sehwag had driven India to a position of strength at 167 for 0 before four wickets fell in 20 balls for 11 runs. As he had done against England in Galle during the winter, Chaminda Vaas, rejuvenated after the rain delay, struck twice in an over. Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were dismissed with the score on 178 and the morning's work had come undone.
"I didn't notice any change in my batting after the four-hour break in play," Sehwag said. "Every batsman has his own mindset with which he plays, but I just played my shots." Even as stumps approached, Sehwag relied on his base instinct. Mendis went around the stumps and Sehwag used his feet to smash him down the ground and hit two consecutive fours through cover.
Sehwag had fulfilled his responsibility of providing a sound start but the collapse meant that he had to hold the innings together. His unshakeable approach did not change. "I am not satisfied because there's plenty left in this game," was Sehwag's closing statement. "If I can convert this into a double-century or more tomorrow, get India above 400-500, apply pressure on Sri Lanka, then I will be satisfied."
Crushed in Colombo, India arrived in Galle needing to find a way to bounce back. Only a vivid imagination could have conceived of a fightback without it being led by Sehwag. Like the white breakers of the Indian Ocean, lashing across the rocks in the background of the Galle International Stadium, Sehwag has injected life into a one-sided series.
He has brains alright, and he's used them rather well.
Jamie Alter is a staff writer at Cricinfo
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56/365.
In this photo: Virender Singh Kainth
Inspired from Brian.
Finally. Took this photo with Viru yesterday night. Wanted to take this photo since a long time. And it turned out okay.I am going to post soon the complete motion sequence of all the images just because it looks really awesome with the particles flying and disappearing in the darkness. I imagined very sharp streaks but what the heck, there's a riot in the streets! Haha. Please press L.
:) :)
On a thrilling final day that went all the way down to the wire, Pakistan defied the odds at Bangalore and pulled off a magnificent series-levelling victory, taking all ten Indian wickets - the last one falling with just six overs left in the day - and winning by 168 runs. Shahid Afridi was the star performer with the ball for Pakistan, taking three middle-order wickets for 13, but every member of the team played his part in a famous victory.
It was Pakistan's second remarkable fifth-day effort of the series, after the staunch resistance offered by Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq at Mohali, and the 1-1 result was just reward for the fighting qualities displayed by Pakistan all series. It is a result that is likely to have a far-reaching impact on Pakistani cricket.
A draw was still the most likely result when the day began, with Pakistan not appearing to have the ammunition to bowl the entire Indian line-up out in 90 overs. And when India went to lunch at 103 for 1, they were comfortably placed to save the game. But Pakistan struck just after lunch, claiming the wicket of Gautam Gambhir for 52 (108 for 2). And then Arshad Khan, recalled to the team for this series after more than four years out of Test cricket, claimed the most important wicket of his career, having Rahul Dravid snapped up at silly point (118 for 3).
All this while Afridi, who produced an incendiary half-century yesterday to set up the declaration for Pakistan, had been straining at the bit, firing in his mixture of legbreaks, offbreaks and topspinners and from time to time advertising his impatience with these subtleties with a faster ball that made Akmal wince with pain every time it beat the bat.
Now he struck two decisive blows to break open the Indian batting, trapping VVS Laxman in front with a quick skidding delivery (127 for 4), and then comprehensively bowling Sourav Ganguly with a breakback that beat Ganguly's optimistic drive (135 for 5). Ganguly, stunned, hung around the crease for quite a while, as if wishing to turn time back one ball and not play the same stroke this time around.
India's hopes now rested on Sachin Tendulkar, the last man left from the top six, and for a while Tendulkar batted magisterially. Neither Afridi's variations, nor the varied words he let the batsman hear after each ball, seemed to trouble him, and he struck majestic poses in defence, offering a dead bat to virtually everything. But almost on the stroke of tea Mohammad Sami surprised Tendulkar with a short ball that he fended off his face, and the heart of every man on the field was in his mouth as Asim Kamal at short leg reached for the ball, seemed to pouch it in one hand, and then juggled it and spilled the chance.
Pakistan must have gone into tea with a sinking feeling in their hearts, but on resumption their spirits seemed to have flagged not one jot, and Sami quickly struck again by uprooting Dinesh Karthik's offstump with a full inswinger (164 for 6).
But it was in the next over that Pakistan struck the killer blow, Afridi getting one to lift on Tendulkar and loop to short leg off the inside edge. This time Kamal made no mistake (164 for 7).
If India succeeded into taking the game as far into the evening as they did, it was because of some staunch resistance from Anil Kumble, who rounded off a wonderful series with the bat - he was dismissed just once in five innings - by making an unbeaten 37. Kumble managed to play out nine overs with Irfan Pathan and another five overs with Harbhajan Singh, and Pakistan were just beginning to worry again after he saw out another five overs with Lakshmipathy Balaji when Balaji padded up to Danish Kaneria and was adjudged lbw.
When all was over, it seemed remarkable that there was one stage in the morning when Virender Sehwag and Gambhir skipped along at four an over, and Sehwag seemed to be entertaining thoughts of actually going for the target. This remote possibility was shut out when he was run out in a misunderstanding with Gambhir, and after that, as has happened so often this season, the runs dried up completely and Pakistan were able to surround the batsmen with close fielders.
India could be justifiably criticised for going too much on the defensive after lunch and playing into Pakistan's hands, but it has to be granted that runs by this stage had ceased to matter - in fact, this was precisely for this reason that Inzamam-ul-Haq delayed his declaration yesterday and let his batsmen amass such a big lead.
The truth was that Pakistan wanted victory urgently, pushed for it on every day of this Test match, and finally - after five days of sapping, often nervewracking cricket, and with shadows falling on the final day - left the field with their heads held high.
Virender Sehwag is a primal talent whose rough edges make him all the more appealing. By the time he had scored his first centuries in one-day cricket (off 70 balls, against New Zealand) and Test cricket (on debut, against South Africa, from 68 for 4), he was already eliciting comparisons with his idol Sachin Tendulkar. It is half true. Like Tendulkar, he is short and square with curly hair, plays the straight drive, backfoot punch and whip off the hips identically, but leaves Tendulkar in the shade when it comes to audacity.
Asked to open the innings in Tests on the tour of England in 2002, Sehwag proved an instant hit, cracking an 80 and a 100 in the first two matches. Regularly thereafter, he kept conjuring pivotal innings at the top of the order, none as significant as India's first 300 (which he bought up, characteristically, with a six), at Multan against Pakistan in early 2004.
Sehwag bowls effective, loopy offspin, and is a reliable catcher in the slips. He also once almost split the cricket world: when he was banned for a match by the ICC referee Mike Denness on grounds of excessive appealing, the Indian board wasn't prepared to listen, and even played an unofficial Test with South Africa to prove a point. When a compromise was finally reached, Sehwag was back to his merry ways.
Though he continued to dominate in the Test arena, Sehwag's one-day form dipped alarmingly - after January 2004, he went through a period of 60 matches where he averaged under 29. Despite his fitness levels dropping and his one-day spot being under threat - he was dropped from the side for the home series against West Indies in early 2007 - Sehwag continued to sparkle in Tests, as shown by his magnificent 254 at Lahore. In June, he came excruciatingly close to scoring a century before lunch in the first day against West Indies in St Lucia, a feat never accomplished before by an Indian batsman.
After a string of poor scores, Sehwag was dropped from India's Test squad to Bangladesh in 2007, and was not considered for either the Test or ODI sides to England. He was a surprise pick for the Test team to tour Australia after not being named in the initial list of probables.
Sehwag had to wait for two matches before he made a strong comeback in the Perth Test, where he gave the innings' momentum with knocks of 29 and 43, and took two wickets with his offspin in Australia's second innings, to help India claim one of their greatest wins. He followed it up with scores of 63 and an imperious 151 - his first century in the team's second innings - to help India draw the Test in Adelaide. Then, in the first Test against South Africa in Chennai, he made an even more emphatic statement, rattling off the quickest triple-century in Test cricket, off just 278 balls. He eventually made 319 - the highest score by an Indian - and in the process became only the third batsman, after Don Bradman and Brian Lara, to pass 300 twice in Tests. In his next Test series against Sri Lanka in 2008, Sehwag thrived while the Indian middle-order struggled against the mystery spin of Ajantha Mendis. His double-hundred and half-century were instrumental in India winning the Galle Test.