India wins 3rd ODI at Mirpur – Bangladesh lose the chance of a whitewash

#INDvBAN #SureshRaina #ShikharDawan #ViratKohli #Mirpur Bangladesh could not do the whitewash and India beat the home team at Mirpur by 77 runs to win the 3rd ODI and but lose the series 2-1. If only they had played a proper game and had not been overconfident in the previous games, the result could have been different.
Bangladesh won the toss and asked India to bat first. India put up an impressive score of 317 for loss of 6 wickets and Bangladesh fell short by 77 runs.
This has been reported in hindustantimes.com dated 24 June 2015.

Some long partnerships helped India go past the 300 run mark. There was Dhoni's 93-run stand for the fourth wicket with Ambati Rayudu (44 off 49) and Dhawan's 75-run partnership for the second wicket with Virat Kohli (25 off 35).
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (69 runs off 77 balls) and opener Shikhar Dhawan (75 off 73) played to their potentials.
Man of the Match was Suresh Raina who had put an all-round effort with both the bat and the ball – he scored 38 before ending with career-best figures of three for 45.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Our blue-eyed boys in Blue left red-faced in Mirpur after loss of 1st ODI

It was a pathetic display of one day cricket put up by our blue-eyed boys in Blue after they were left red-faced following the loss of the 1st ODI at Mirpur by 79 runs.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 19 June 2015.

Batting first, the young team of Bangladesh began attack from the very first ball and left the Indian bowlers clueless on how to control the flow of runs. The Bangladesh batsmen treated the Indian bowlers with disdain and belted them to all corners of the stadium. Ravichandra Ashwin managed to bag three wickets but Umesh Yadav came in for plenty of punishment.
Anyway, the way Bangladesh was playing, at one point of time it appeared that they would post around 350 runs – but, finally, it was 307 and it was a formidable one as it turned out when the Indians took the field.
The bowling of the home team was superb as was their fielding and they gave nothing away. The Indians had to grovel for runs and it played in their nerves. Rohit Sharma was the highest scorer – he scored 63 runs. Apart from him, others who reached double figures were Shikhar Dhawan (30), Suresh Raina (40), Ravindra Jadeja (32). Bhubaneshwar Kumar (25) and Mohit Sharma(11).
Obviously, the Bangladesh team has matured and Indians cannot take them lightly. They had done their homework while Indians were overconfident. This is a 3 ODI series and with one loss, Captain M S Dhoni would have to rethink his strategies if he wants to win the series. (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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India-Bangladesh test match ends in a draw

It was the only one test match scheduled between India and Bangladesh scheduled in Fatullah, Dhaka, and it was disturbed by the rains and finally ended in a draw.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 14 June 2015.

India won the toss, elected to bat first and managed to put up a formidable score of 462 for the loss of 6 wickets. All the top order batsmen scored runs – Shikhar Dhawan had 173 to his credit while Murali Vijay added 150 and Ajinkya Rahane, missed out on a century – he scored 98 runs.
In reply, Bangladesh could manage to score only 256 with Ravichandra Ashwin picking up five wickets. India sked hem to follow-on and the game was declared a draw with Bangladesh scoring only 23 for no loss were stumps were drawn.
Harbhajan Singh picked up only one Test wicket – it was after 2 years and 102 days since he was on a comeback mission - the rain gods were not kind to him.
All eyes will now be on the ODI series – there will be three of them and M S Dhoni would captain the ODI series. (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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IPL8 – Mumbai win the title, Dhoni rues decision to field first

#IPL8 #IPLFinal #CSKvMI #RohitSharma #EdenGardens The IPL8 champion is Mumbai Indians who beat Chennai Super Kings by 41 runs at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, to win the coveted trophy for the second time in the history of the IPL. With this win, MI joins KKR and CSK in having the title twice. This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 25 May 2015.

The reason of why M S Dhoni chose to field first after winning the toss will never be known – it was a good batting track and was loaded with runs. But, Dhoni allowed Rohit Sharma to bat first and gifted the game away, literally.
MI hit 12 sixes (Lendl Simmons, Keiron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu hit three sixes each, Rohit Sharma hit two and Harbhajan Singh hit one) while CSK could manage to hit only 4 (Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Suresh Raina and M S Dhoni hit one each).
The CSK bowlers were clobbered all over the field and Dhoni rued his decision. It was most unlike him because he is known to be able to judge the playing conditions fairly well. Moreover, in view of the not too good form of Mike Hussey (played only 9 balls to score 4 runs) and Pawan Negi (went for 18 runs in 2 overs and scored only 4 runs), Dhoni could have changed the team composition.
But, that is neither here nor there – the fact remains that CSK lost.
The Man of the Match award went to Rohit Sharma for his 23 ball 50.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)


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BCCI says ‘No’ to Dhoni and Kohli – they have to go to Bangladesh

There were rumors that M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli wanted to take a break and not go to Bangladesh but BCCI has not agreed. The players announced for the tour include both of them – while Kohli would be captain of the test squad, Dhoni would be captain of the ODI matches.
This has been reported in zeenews.com dated 21 May 2015.

Mashrafe Mortaza, the captain of the Bangladesh team, is a happy man because India has announced full-strength squads for its tour next month. During last year’s Bangladesh tour, India had rested both Dhoni and Kohli and the team was led by Suresh Raina.
Mohammad Shami has been left out due to injuries and Harbhajan Singh has been recalled after a gap of two years. As per this year’s itinerary, the Indians would arrive in Bangladesh for a Test and three ODIs on June 7. There would be only one test match and it would be played at Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium. It will begin on June 10. The day-night ODIs will be held at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on June 18, 21 and 24.
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IPL8 – poor bowling by CSK leads to loss against MI who enter the finals

#IPL8 #MIvsCSK #LendlSimmons #KeironPollard Winning the toss, Mumbai Indians did not hesitate to opt for batting at the Wankhede Stadium and, in front of the home crowd, they played havoc with the bowling attack of Chennai Super Kings. Mumbai posted an imposing total of 187 for 6 and, it turned out to be an insurmountable total for CSK.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 19 May 2015.

This was the 3rdtime that MI has entered the finals after 2010 and 2013, and the scoring was mainly thanks to the hard hitting duo of Kieron Pollard who smashed a 17-ball-41 on the platform laid by Lendl Simmons who smashed 65 off 51 balls. Both of them hit 5 sixes each.
Chasing 188 to win, CSK were all out for 162 runs in the 19th over – they could not even play out the full quota of 20 overs!! Dwayne Smith and M S Dhoni could not open their accounts and Faf du Plessis top scored with 45.
And, for this loss, Chennai only have their bowlers to blame. They sent down a total of 8 wides and six of these were in the 19th over bowled by Mohit Sharma and 20th over bowled by Dwayne Bravo. MI jumped from 164 for 5 in the 18.5 ove185 for 6 in 19.4 overs – which means within a span of six balls, MI scored 21 runs.
The experiment with Pawan Negi failed – he went for 46 runs in his 4 overs.
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M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli want to skip Bangladesh tour

#IPL8 #bangladeshtour #ViratKohli #mirpur It is reported that both M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli have requested BCCI to be excluded from the team that would be going to Bangladesh for another round of cricket. As per the tentative schedule – there would be a one-off Test at Fatullah from June 10-14. That will be followed by a best-of-three ODI series from June 18-24 – all of these matches would be played at Mirpur and there would be one reserve day each.
This has been reported in cricbuzz.com dated 15 May 2015.

The IPL season is coming to an end in another weeks’ time. Indian cricketers had been fully engaged in the past several months with tours abroad in England and Australia-New Zealand followed by the 2015 Cricket World Cup. It is but natural that tiredness has set in and the players would like to have some time off to spend with their families. MS Dhoni has already announced retirement from Test cricket and Virat Kohli has been named the new captain. He had led the team in Australia after Dhoni's announcement at the conclusion of the third Test at Melbourne. However, he also wants to be excused from the Bangladesh tour.
Bangladesh cricket were minnows but, today, it is on the upswing and, in case India decides to send a No 2 team, it would reflect poorly on the commitment of Indian cricket to the cause of the game.
The selectors would decide on the team on 20 May.
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IPL8 – CSK beat RR by 12 runs to once again prove that they have the firepower

#IPL8 #CSKvsRR #RavindraJadeja #BrendonMcCullum It was a home game for Chennai Super Kings but, at one time, it appeared that the score of 157 for 5 that they had put up might not have been enough. But, Ravindra Jadeja rose to the occasion to scalp 4 wickets for just 11 runs to defeat Rajasthan Royals by 12 runs and allow CSK to regain the No 1 spot in the points table.
Mohit Sharma (3/25) also bowled a good spell and added to the miseries of Rajasthan Royals.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 11 May 2015.

MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first but when Dwayne Smith and Suresh Raina returned to the dugout with the score at 15 for 2 in the 4th over, it meant trouble ahead. However, Brendon McCullum smashed a quick-fire 81 and in the company of Faf du Plesis (29) steadied the ship with a 101-run stand for the third-wicket.
However, RR bowler Chris Morris (3/19) produced a brilliant display with the ball and managed to restrict CSK to a modest 157 for five.
Chasing this apparently achievable target, Rajasthan's innings just fell apart after a steady start by Ajinkya Rahane (23). He and Shane Watson (28) shared 37 runs for the opening wicket before disaster struck in the form of Mohit Sharma when he scalped Rahane.
Samson (26 off 17), James Faulkner (16 off 13) and Chris Morris (16 not out off 10) made useful contributions but Dwayne Bravo (2/43) got two wickets towards the end to snuff out any opposition.

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IPL8 – Dhoni, the miracle captain, defends another low total as CSK beats KKR

#IPL8 #CSKvsKKR #DwayneBravo #AndreRussell No matter what his critics might say but, even when the chips are down, M S Dhoni never loses his cool and has the courage and determination to script a win from a near impossible situation. This is what he did at Chepauk when his team Chennai Super Kings beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by 2 runs to go to the top of the points table.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 29 April 2015.

Gautam Gambhir won the toss and asked CSK to bat first – there were opinions floating around that he had made a grave mistake and would repent because, with the impressive batting lineup at the command of CSK, they could post a score of around 200.
However, that did not happen but Gambhir had to, in any case, repent his decision because, while his bowlers Brad Hogg and Andre Russell managed to restrict CSK to just 134 runs, his batsmen failed to rise to the occasion and fell short by just 2 runs.
Dwayne Bravo was declared Man of the Match.
This was the sixth win of the tournament for CSK. They are on top of the table and have maintained their unbeaten record at their fortress intact having won nine matches on the trot.

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IPL8 – Chennai Super Kings mauled by Rajasthan Royals at Motera

#IPL8 #CSKvsRR #Motera #AjinkyaRahane #ShaneWatson It was a day of disappointments for Chennai Super Kings as the Rajasthan Royals mauled them on their home turf at Motera in Ahmedabad – it was the 5th straight win for RR. This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 20 April 2015.

Captain M S Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat under the scorching 43 degrees Celsius temperature and, their top three batsmen returned to the pavilion with hardly 30 runs on the board. It was then the turn of Dhoni himself and Dwayne Bravo to set things right and put up at least 180 runs on the board. But, while Bravo did bat aggressively, the same aggression was missing from Dhoni’s bat. In the end, the CSK could not go beyond 156 which was peanuts for the RR.
Dhoni is known to be one of the best finishers in T20 cricket but, this was one occasion when he looked totally at sea and could not hit the sixes as he usually does when near the finishing line. He would have this loss on his hands for a long time to come.
Chasing 157 for their 5th consecutive win at their adopted home ground at Motera, RR posted a 144-run record opening stand between skipper Watson (73 off 47 balls) and Rahane (76 not out). RR made it home 18.2 overs to hand CSK their first loss in IPL8.

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2nd successive win for CSK in IPL8 - Brendon McCullum’s 100 not out set the tone

#IPL8 #CSKvsSRH #BrendonMcCullum #DaleSteyn #CSK #SRH Brendon McCullum did not pull his weight in the previous match of CSK and, in order to make amends, he hit an unbeaten 56-ball century against the Sunisers Hyderabad SRH at the MCA Stadium to set the tone for a second successive win for CSK in IPL8. This has been reported in www.cricbuzz.com dated 11 April 2015.

M S Dhoni won the toss and selected to bat and it was a surprise to notice the absence of Dale Steyn in the attacking team of fast bowlers - it resulted in an imposing score of 209 for loss of 4 wickets by the CSK and, to overhaul that, the SRH needed a planned attack and a dedication of a high order. But – they faltered and, in the end, lost by 45 runs.
Brendon McCullum had hit seven fours and nine sixes against a bowling attack of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Trent Boult and Ishant Sharma. Captain M S Dhoni hit 53 runs from 29 balls (4x4, 4x6) and, the ineffectiveness of the Sunrisers bowling attack was evident from the fact that Dhoni's was the only wicket to fall to a bowler – the other were run outs.
As expected, Brendon McCullum was adjudged Man of the Match.

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Chennai Super Kings remain favorites for IPL8

#CSK #IPL8 #PepsiIPL #EdenGardens Cricket festival is back in India and IPL8 is set to be launched tomorrow at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. In spite of a series of unpleasant revelations connected with match-fixing in the wake of IPL7, the ownership of CSK is now with a new entity – namely, a wholly owned subsidiary Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd as reported in ibnlive.in.com dated 6 April 2015.

The CSK has a well-knit team and has an impressive record – it was two-time winners, two-time semi-finalists and three-time runners-up, and have never gone out in the group stages. Its strength is in Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. This year CSK has retained 17 players and bought 8. Two of them, prime performers Irfan Pathan and Michel Hussey, were bought in for 1.5 crores each. The other new arrivals are Rahul Sharma, Kyle Abbott, Ankush Bains, Pratush Singh, Andrew Tye and Eklavya Dwivedi.
It already has strong hitters like West Indian Dwayne Smith and New Zealander Brendon McCullum and are backed by Faf du Plessis and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo besides M S Dhoni himself and Suresh Raina. Australian veteran Michael Hussey returns following a disappointing stint with Mumbai Indians in 2014.
In the bowling department, pacer Mohit Sharma and offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be a handful – they would spearhead the attack.

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Cricket World Cup 2015 – end of an Indian dream

#cwc2015 #sydneycricketground #IPL #INDvsAUS From a win-win situation in the seven matches leading up to the semi-final clash with the Aussies at the Sydney Cricket Ground, it was a lose-lose situation for the Indians in CWC 2015 in Sydney. They first lost the toss, then they lost their way in the bowling department allowing the home team to pile on the miseries and, while batting to defend a 300 plus score, they lost the will to fight back. It was abject surrender all the way – most unlike the way they are known to fight back.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 26 March 2015.

One can safely assume that too much hype is bad for health of Indian cricket and this has been proved in the lead up to the forgettable 26th March 2015 – none of the Indian players would want to relive that day. It was a day of failures galore and captain M S Dhoni had no answer to the way the world crumbled around him and he remained a silent spectator to the downfall.
In fact, his run out has also raised questions – from all appearances, he could have made a last attempt to save the run-out but he did not. Obviously, he knew that he was battling for a lost cause and must have been missing the company of Suresh Raina and Ravinder Jadeja.
Should the blame lie with the bowlers who allowed the Aussies to hammer them at will and create a mountain of runs that was insurmountable? Or – should the blame be assigned to the batsmen who failed to rise to expectations? Those who had scored centuries earlier in CWC 2015 just did not deliver.
Anyway – their stint in foreign soil is over for the time being and they will return home to join the extravaganza known as IPL. The past would be a closed chapter.

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#2015iccworldcup #carltonmidtriseries India take on arch rivals Pakistan in the opening game of the 2015 ICC Cricket World cup in Adelaide on 15 February 2015 and, given their miserable showing in the Carlton Mid tri series, BCCI has agreed to give them a break. This has been reported in sports.ndtv.com dated 1 February 2015.
The intention is to allow the players to regroup themselves and make an effort to put the bad show behind and rise as one to defend the title.
When India won the last time around in 2011, the venue was India – this time it is in Australia. They have been in Australia for quite some time and should have got acclimatized by now, hopefully.
Moreover, in 2011, India had stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Virendra Shewag – but, alas, this time, those names are absent and India would have to rely on a whole bunch of newbies. Newbies in the context of the World Cup even though most of them are exciting players. The worry is their performances have lacked consistency. They have been flashes in the pan and, at the world cup level, what is necessary is determination and consistency.
Captain M S Dhoni has an unenviable task ahead of him – he has to extract the best from his players and, the whole country would wait with bated breath to see how best he can make use of the resources at his disposal.
As per information – the team has been booked into a resort near Adelaide where they would have the option to switch off their mobile phones and relax and recover comfortably. It seems Sourav Ganguli had suggested that the players need to send some time with their families. Accordingly, permission was granted to a few players who wanted to go to Melbourne or Sydney to meet their relatives.
India is in Group B with Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland and the UAE.

India lose in Brisbane – beaten hollow by England in Carlton Mid tri-series ODI

#INDvsENG #carltonmidtriseries #gabba #2015CricketWorldCup It was yet another collapse of India at the Gabba in Brisbane when England beat them hollow by 9 wickets to earn a bonus point in the Carlton Mid tri-series. It was England’s biggest win against India. One wonders why the captain opted to go in for batting after winning the toss when it is a fact that Indians are good at chasing targets instead of setting targets.
The poor form at the top order continued with Shikhar Dhawan raising doubts of whether he would find a place in the playing eleven of the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Virat Kohli, India’s test captain failed yet again and this was strange.
As to Suresh Raina, he wanted to blast off from the word go to prove a point that he had arrived but was stumped – he had gone way outside his crease and committed suicide.
Captain M S Dhoni with Stuart Binny tried to mend the innings but could not and India crumbled to end at 153 runs – it was at least 100 runs short – and could not even complete the quota of 50 overs and finished in 39.3 overs. This score of 153 was their lowest ever ODI score against England – the previous low was 158 at Headingley in 1996.
Such display of attitude and irresponsible play is not what India would have wanted as the World Cup draws near and it would require complete attention of the captain, the team manager as well as the director to work out better strategies.

It’s Sachin versus Ganguli again – this time it is the football field and ISL final

Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguli are both cricketing greats of Indian cricket and, after leaving the 22-yard strips for good and when the Indian Super League ISL was created, both of them bought football teams.
Sourav became co-owner of Atletico de Kolkata and Sachin became co-owner of Kerala Blasters.
Fortunately, both the teams have now come to the finals of the inaugural ISL which will be played in Mumbai on the 20th of December – the game had kicked off on 6th October.
Sachin’s team had advanced to the finals by besting M S Dhoni’s team Chennaiyin FC 4-3 in extra time.
However, Sourav’s team Atletico de Kolkata beat FC Goa in a penalty shoot-out after the teams finished goalless after 120 minutes in the second leg of second semi-final. The final result of the match was 4-2.

BCCI announces that Virat Kohli will lead India in 1st test against Australia

India’s star batsman Virat Kohli is on a high – he has scored the fastest 6000 runs in ODI and eclipsed the record set by Vivian Richards who had scored 6000 runs in 141 innings while Kohli did it in 135 innings.
Incidentally, Anushka Sharma was present in the stands and Kohli blew her a flying kiss on achieving the record – her name has been linked with Kohli and the Bollywood actress is believed to be his lady love.
Kohli has also reason to celebrate because he would continue to captain India in the remaining two ODIs and also be at the helm for the 1st test in Australia since the regular captain M S Dhoni is not well – he has suffered from an injury to his forearm and, hence, would miss the first Test against Australia. However, he will lead the squad in the rest of the series against Australia.
The Indian team would leave for Australia on November 21 and are scheduled to play a four-match Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy from December 4, 2014 to January 7, 2015. The Test matches would be held at Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
The Border-Gavaskar trophy is played between Australia and India and was started in 1996 in honor of the two cricketing greats of Australia and India namely Alan Border and Sunil Gavaskar. Before the start of this trophy, the two countries had played each other 50 times in Tests in a 49 year period from 1947 to 1996.
Incidentally, the Border-Gavaskar trophy began in 1996–97 with a one-off Test that was captained by Sachin Tendulkar – it was played at Feroz Shah Kotla Ground in Delhi.

Cuttack cuts Sri Lanka down to size – visitors beaten by Virat Kohli & Co

It was a literal run feast in the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack as India beat Sri Lanka by a huge margin of 169 runs to take a lead in the 5-match ODI series timesofindia.indiatimes.com. With the Indian openers scoring centuries each and with Ishaant Sharma’s haul of four wickets, the visitors had no answer to the Indians. They could not bat beyond 40 overs and were all out for 194 runs.
The Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane scored 113 and 111 runs respectively and set up 231 runs for the first wicket stand which helped the remaining batsmen to pile up the miseries on the Sri Lankans.
Moreover, the pace bowlers ensured that the advantage was never frittered away and captain Virat Kohli was a happy captain.
The sudden void created by the West Indies pulling out of their scheduled tour of India due to a dispute with their Cricket Board, Sri Lanka seized the opportunity given by the BCCI to get some much needed match practice before the 2015 Cricket World Cup. They also had to groom new players because some of the Sri Lankans stalwarts were aging and replacements were necessary – such newcomers needed to acclimatize with cricket on the international arena. And – what better to do so other than playing with their neighbors who are loaded with talent.
This sudden change of itinerary helped M S Dhoni to get some rest and also allowed Virat Kohli to step out in the role of the captain for the first three ODIs.