The Great Game Called Cricket...

Calcutta: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s zone-wise grounds and pitches committee, disbanded hours after Sunday’s fiasco at the Kotla, may not ever again be revived.

“As far as I know, we don’t have plans to reconstitute it... I guess we’ve all realised it was a farce and there’s no point going through a farcical cycle one more time,” a senior BCCI official told The Telegraph on Wednesday.

The official added: “The zonal head would visit the centre staging an international match just two days before the game... Anybody who knows even a bit about wickets will understand that nothing can be done in the last two days... A farce used to be enacted and shouldn’t start all over again...”

Apparently, most of the state associations pay their maalis (who do all the hard work) as little as Rs 3,000 per month and the lack of recognition from any quarter has actually led to a demoralised lot.

In fact, during Prasun Mukherjee’s regime at the Cricket Association of Bengal, in 2007-08, the maalis had even threatened to commit suicide!

“One can’t understand why most of our affiliated units, who make so much money, are reluctant to look after the men who’re responsible for the upkeep of the grounds and the preparation of pitches... The BCCI may have to intervene,” the official pointed out.

According to the official, the BCCI is quite cut up with former India opener and current Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) vice-president Chetan Chauhan for his comments on a TV channel.

Speaking on Monday, Chauhan, who’d been the head of the DDCA’s own grounds and pitches committee, said: “The Match Referee (Alan Hurst) told me unofficially that one side did not want to carry on and he could not force them... The Sri Lankans chickened out.”

“We’re upset with Chauhan’s observations... He should, instead, be accepting that the DDCA made a mess and moving on from there... What face has he left to show after Gautam Gambhir’s ‘the match should have been called off earlier’ remark (during a promotional) on Tuesday? Chauhan isn’t helping the DDCA and the BCCI,” the official maintained.

Harbhajan Singh rubbed it in even more, on Wednesday, by saying: “...The decision to call off the game was right.”

The fifth and final ODI, between India and Sri Lanka, was abandoned in the 24th over and Hurst, in his report to the International Cricket Council (ICC), has rated the pitch as “unfit.”

If the rulebook is followed strictly, then the Kotla faces a ban of between 12 and 24 months. The BCCI, though, is well known for using its clout.

For now, the BCCI is waiting for the DDCA to give its side of the story. Once that internal communication is received, it will prepare its own defence and place it before the ICC, which has sought an explanation.

On Monday, the ICC gave the BCCI 14 days to reply.

For a long time it appeared that the five overs Graeme Swann bowled in a one-day international against South Africa, at Bloemfontein, on the 1999-2000 tour might be the sum total of his England career. Another player picked too young, discarded back to county cricket and never picked again. But a second chance eventually came, firstly in ODIs in 2007 and then, finally, late last year in Test cricket. He hasn't looked back.

When he trapped Dale Steyn lbw to seal a crushing innings-and-98-run victory over South Africa, at Durban, it was his 54th wicket for the year, putting him second behind Australia's Mitchell Johnson. That scalp also completed career-best match figures of 9 for 164 and sealed consecutive Man-of-the-Match awards.

To think Swann was left out of England's side at the start of the West Indies tour in February. He didn't play in Jamaica and was again omitted for the abandoned Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Perhaps he'd impressed Andrew Strauss with his sandcastles in the underprepared outfield, because two days later at the ARG he was back in the fold, took 5 for 57, and hasn't stopped taking wickets since.

"Two man-of-the-match awards in two games, I'll take that to finish off the year quite nicely," he said. "Straussy left me out in Jamaica, so I thought 'right, I've got to show him what a mistake he's made here'.

"It's been magnificent for me. It started in the West Indies where, although we didn't end up winning the series, personally for me it was a breakthrough series. Then there was the Ashes which is seven weeks that I'll never forget. I'm certainly going to look back on 2009 with a fair bit of fondness."

Swann is one of the chirpiest cricketers around even after a tough day the field - which is why he is often wheeled out to discuss England's less-flattering efforts - so it was no surprise that he wore a permanent smile as he sat beside Strauss. When Strauss was asked about Swann's efforts this year he said it was difficult to discuss them with his team-mate sat beside him. Swann just put his hand on Strauss's shoulder as if to say 'it's okay skip, I can take.'

"He's had a massive impact on our side in the last 12 months," Strauss said. "He's always been a very attacking spinner, never one that settles at going for two an over; he's always given it a rip and bowled an attacking line. In Test cricket, with the extra pressure that batsmen are under, that can be invaluable. On the field, he's been exceptional and he has off the field as well."

Swann was just 21 when he was first thrown into international cricket by Duncan Fletcher and has long-since become the only member of the team still playing for England. Only two others from the XI - Vikram Solanki and Chris Read - still play first-class cricket and are unlikely to get another chance.

"I don't think he's changed a huge amount in that time," Strauss said. "That was very early in his career, and he was picked probably before he knew his game 100%. Now, he knows how to bowl people out and he's a very clever spin bowler and his batting has been a massive plus for us as well.

"As an opposition captain, there's nothing worse than a guy who really has no fear of getting out and plays outrageous shots. It's hard to stop that. He's more mature, but he still hasn't lost that sense of enthusiasm and fun which is important."

Swann's form has been the key reason why England's four-man attack policy has worked because he has been able to wheel away at one end, while also playing an attacking role. His latest success, which follows 5 for 110 in the first innings at Centurion, came on a day where Test cricket showed offspin is still very much alive.

Over in Melbourne, a few hours before Swann finished off South Africa, Nathan Hauritz claimed his maiden first-class five-for as he took 5 for 101 to help Australia to victory against Pakistan. Despite the development of the doosra and carom-ball, Swann was confident the conventional style of his art still had a future.

"Deep down, yes I did," he said. "But I'm quite shy and retiring, never one to voice my opinions. The game goes in circles. In three or four years' time, we'll be completely out of vogue again so I'll just enjoy the fairground ride while I can. It will come back round, sooner or later, that a brilliant mystery spinner will arrive and I'll be defunct."

Swann doesn't have to worry about becoming defunct any time soon. Shane Warne often says spinners only start coming into their prime at 30, and Swann is now that age, so there should be many years ahead. It was a long wait, but well worth it.

Ricky Ponting has now become the most successful Australian captain, and the player with most wins in Test cricket.
Ricky Ponting knows the winning feeling better than any other player in the history of Test cricket. But on a day when he broke the records for the most wins by any Test player and the most victories for any Test captain, Ponting called the 170-run triumph over Pakistan one of the team's best in a long while, and praised his young attack for as good a bowling effort as the side had displayed in the last two years.

When he came in to the team as a young man in the mid 1990s, Australia were just embarking on a decade of dominance. The list of men to have played in the most Test victories is revealing, as the top eight are all Australians of that brilliant era. The win over Pakistan took Ponting to 93, passing Shane Warne's mark of 92.

It also gave Ponting his 42nd success as a Test captain, surpassing Steve Waugh's world record. But since the retirements of Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and various other golden-era colleagues, things have become much tougher for Ponting. He has lost the Ashes for a second time, succumbed at home to South Africa and seen his team slip as low as fourth on the ICC Test rankings.

If nothing else, the dizzying highs and gut-wrenching lows have given him perspective. And so, after his developing side dominated Pakistan for five days at the MCG, with career-defining efforts from Shane Watson and Nathan Hauritz, Ponting was full of praise for his men. He was especially pleased with the performance of his bowlers, who have for three years struggled in the shadows of Warne and McGrath, and are finally becoming their own men.


"The bowling through the game has been as good as it's been in our team for the last couple of years," Ponting said. "The way we bowled in the first innings in particular was just outstanding. The way we used the new ball and we were able to maintain our discipline and execute our skills over such a long period of time at the start of their first batting innings was a real factor in the game.

"It's been a great game for us. It's one of our best Test wins in quite a while, starting right from the start of the game from the Katich and Watson partnership which really set the platform and set the foundation for a very good Test match for us."

The highlights were many. Watson scored his first Test century on top of 93 in the first innings; Ponting, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey and Hauritz all scored half-centuries; Hauritz collected his maiden five-wicket haul; and Mitchell Johnson continued to regain some of the spark he lost during the Ashes.

Coming after a tightly-contested series against West Indies, the dominant display was well-timed. There's also a bigger future to consider: Australia have only six more Tests before they attempt to regain the Ashes at home next summer. Until then every win, every positive that can be taken from a match, will be seen as a stepping stone.

"We are building a squad of players right at the moment that in a couple of years time are going to be a very dominant team again," Ponting said. "At the moment it is my job to keep the group together and keep challenging them and keep helping the younger guys out and keep winning as many games of cricket as we can."

Ponting was keen to celebrate the individual efforts from several of his newer team-mates at the MCG, but less effusive about his own record-breaking achievements. He said he was proud of the milestones but was unlikely to really appreciate them until he stopped playing.

"They're things I'll probably be most of proud of when I'm done," he said. "We all play to win games of cricket and be involved in a team that is winning games of cricket. They're things I'm very proud of, hopefully there are a lot more wins around the corner and if we play the cricket that we've played over these five days then we will definitely win a lot more games."

In India (BCCI) on Wednesday appointed IS Bindra to negotiate the terms of punishment of the Kotla pitch fiasco with the International Cricket Council (ICC).


It has been learnt that the board is flexing its muscles to get the minimum possible ban for the unsporting pitch that was presented for the fifth and final ODI between India and Sri Lanka. They are aiming to tone down the severity of the ban that is likely to be imposed on the ground, bringing it down from two years to twelve months.

The act is aimed at preserving the original plans of the 2011 World Cup as a two year ban to Kotla would mean that the BCCI would have to look for an alternative venue and it would be a steep task keeping in mind the security measures and other infrastructure.

MUMBAI: With the Mumbai team gearing up to face Delhi in the Ranji Trophy semi-finals at the Brabourne Stadium in the New Year, there’s speculation in the cricketing circles over Sachin Tendulkar’s participation in the match. As has been reliably learnt by TOI, Tendulkar will give it a miss.

Tendulkar wants to take a good (and deservingly so) rest before he resumes duty for the national team once again in the Test matches in Bangladesh that will follow the tri-series, also involving Sri Lanka, in February 2010.

Whatever Tendulkar decides to do is always well thought of and his decision to skip the triangular series in Bangladesh is one such step looking at the goals he has set for himself for the coming year.

For the time being though, Tendulkar could well afford to just rewind the phenomenal year that 2009 has been. In what was the 20th international year of the great player’s career, he has punctuated it with many more landmarks like the many stars in a galaxy.

Just look at what he achieved in the last twelve months: By the time Tendulkar decided he was done with the year, he had scored 88 international hundreds (43 in Tests and 45 in ODIs). His first century of the year came on March 8, 2009 when he registered an unbeaten 163 in the third ODI which India won by 58 runs.

Soon, he reminded us that all is well as he made his blazing magnum speak for him with a century against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on March 20, his 160 ensuring a 10-wicket win for India and their first in New Zealand since the Auckland Test of 1976.

Opting out of the four-game ODI series in the West Indies in June, Tendulkar joined his India teammates in Sri Lanka for the Compaq Cup, with a new endorsement on his bat. The result: His second ODI ton of the year - on September 14. He made 138 and India won by 46 runs. Tendulkar was both the man-of-the-match and series.

The biggest knock of not just this year but perhaps of the decade from Tendulkar arrived on November 5 when he scored the historic 175 in the fifth ODI against Australia at Hyderabad. In the process, Tendulkar also became the first to score 17,000 runs in ODIs and also the first to slam nine ODI tons against the Aussies.

The man who was showered with worldwide praise on his 20th international cricketing birthday, Tendulkar gifted his fans his second Test century of 2009 against Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad. The unbeaten 100 helped India save the match on the final day. It also saw Tendulkar become the first to log 30,000 runs in international cricket

Its was a year where India came across with many ups and downs, But the year ended
Up with a homw series win with the Srilankan's who had a very long tour in India.
India had great year as far as test cricket is concern won the test series in
Newzeland after 33 years and became the No:1 test team for the first time by winning
The home series with the lankans.

Next
The IPL gold-rush drew players in droves and Sachin Tendulkar completed two illustrious decades, but 2009 will be fondly remembered as the year of India's ascent to the pinnacle of Test cricket, a format that ironically languishes at the bottom of their priorities.

The 2007 World Twenty20 champions could not defend their title in England, came a cropper in the Champions Trophy - the second most elite One-Day tournament after the World Cup - and also allowed the opportunity to become the No 1 ODI team slip through their fingers with a home series defeat against an under-strength Australia.

It was rather an irony that Test cricket provided them their finest moments despite the Cricket Board's negligence of the format.

So engrossed in IPL proliferation, the BCCI has scheduled just two Tests in the next 11 months for the team, which is just not enough to protect the No 1 Test team's status.

Subsequently some sanity prevailed and it has apparently convinced South Africa to play two unscheduled Tests when the Proteas visit the country in February-March.

It was a day of shame for cricket in India.

The game and its followers were let down by the administrators who milk it for all it’s worth. The poor quality of the pitch prepared by the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium forced India and Sri Lanka to abandon their fifth one-day international (ODI) a little over two hours after it began on Sunday morning.

Sri Lanka’s batsmen complained the pitch was too dangerous to bat on, and the umpires agreed with them.

Angry spectators, who had filled the 45,000-seater stadium to near capacity, hurled water bottles and chair covers from the stands in protest as the match was stopped and players went off the field.

The fiasco has endangered Delhi’s chances of hosting any of the matches in the 2011 World Cup. Under International Cricket Council regulations, the ground now attracts a ban of between 12 and 24 months.

After India won the toss and put Lanka in to bat, a number of batsmen were hit on the body by deliveries from fast bowlers that leapt up alarmingly from a good length.

Not surprisingly, wickets fell in quick succession, and by the 24th over, when the match was abandoned, Sri Lanka were 83 for five wickets. When a ball from Sudip Tyagi, sent down at a little over 135 km per hour, climbed so steeply that it sailed over the batsman and the wicket keeper, Sri Lanka decided they'd had enough. Kumar Sangakkara, the captain, who was off the field, gestured animatedly to the batsmen in the middle, Thilina Kandamby and Muthumudalige Pushpakumara. The batsmen complained to the umpires. Umpires Shavir Tarapore and Marais Erasmus conferred with match referee Alan Hurst, and play was suspended.

Initially, senior DDCA and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials considered restarting the match on an adjacent pitch. But the idea was given up when that pitch too was found to be inadequately prepared.

It is the host association, in this case, the DDCA, which is responsible for the pitch's preparation. The BCCI's Grounds and Pitches Committee, however, oversees the task. The BCCI acted swiftly, disbanding its Grounds and Pitches committee, headed by Daljit Singh.

The DDCA refused to comment on the possibility of losing World Cup matches. “I don't want to comment on something which is in the realm of speculation,” said DDCA president Arun Jaitley.

“Our priority right now is to assess why it all happened and take remedial steps.”

Some DDCA officials directly associated with the pitch's preparation, have, however, resigned.

This was only the second time in Indian cricket history that a match was abandoned because of a dangerous pitch, the first being on December 25, 1997, in Indore, also against Sri Lanka. The Nehru Stadium in Indore was then blacklisted as a venue for two years.

This is a shameful moment for India, The same incident between these two country held 12 years ago, but it was indore, the match was abandoded due to bad pitch, on 25-12-1997 the crowed was full coz it was on X-Mas day, almost a similar incident has occured after 12yrs nd 2 days, its very shameful moment that too has happened in the capital of india, the sub-continent is gonna host the world cup for the year 2011 if we have these kinda pitches how can we manage it.. the BCCI officials must take firm action to solve these kinda problems as soon as possible.

We hav'n come across like these kinda results in recent times in any country,
This is a prestigeous issue for india its such a big country where we have 'N' numbers
Of grounds why don't we keep matches where the pitch is good? some place like Banglore
For example? this is not a healthy as far as indian cricket is concern, the government
And the BCCI officials must awake now and take firm action so that these kinda of
problem does'n occur in mere future.

The below comments where posted in Cricinfo and ESPNSTAR Courtesy to them.

Tricky pitch and bad bounce have held up play in the fifth and final one-dayer at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on Sunday.


Zaheer Khan struck with the very first ball of the first over to send back Upul Tharanga after India put Sri Lanka in to bat in fifth and the final ODI at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi on Sunday.

Thereafter, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya adopted a cautious approach as they looked to overpower the the early morning conditions.

The duo battled the conditions well before Zaheer Khan struck yet again to see off the dangerous batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan (20).

Then debutant Sudeep Tyagi got his maiden wicket in the form of Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara, as the visitors lost their third wicket.

Sri Lanka were in real trouble when they lost both Sanath Jayasuriya and Thilan Samaraweera in consecutive overs.

India, who have already sealed the series with an unassailable 3-1 lead, went into the match without Sachin Tendulkar as captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni returns to the team after serving a two-match ban for the team's slow overrate in the second ODI in Nagpur.

India also handed Sudeep Tyagi his maiden ODI cap, who replaced paceman Ishant Sharma.

Sri Lanka made two changes. Mahela Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga were replaced by M Pushpakumara and Chanaka Welegedara.

Start of the match was delayed by 15 minutes due to fog.

It was surprising it took them 23.3 overs to call off play. On a Kotla pitch where the bounce varied from shin to shoulder in as short a spell as consecutive deliveries, Sri Lanka had reason to be thankful for they got away with just two hits on the body that needed attention. At around 11.20am, one length delivery from debutant Sudeep Tyagi reared up from a length to almost clear MS Dhoni behind the stumps, and the players had had enough by then.

Full of action, the first 23.3 overs featured a wicket first ball; a dropped catch first ball of second over; blows on the elbow, shoulder, fingers; frenzied running; thick edges flying past third man; and wickets for Zaheer Khan, Tyagi and Harbhajan Singh. Dhoni, coming back from a two-match ban, was stupendous behind the wickets, getting his legs together for the shooters and reacting well to the lifters. Not one bye was conceded.

Sunil Gavaskar described the uneven sprinkling of grass on the pitch as a "hair transplant" with bald patches. When the ball hit the grassy areas it seamed and bounced, from the bald patches it died along the ground. What made it difficult for the batsman was that the lengths from where the ball behaved so drastically different were not too far apart from each other. The moisture didn't help either.

Zaheer got just enough seam movement to crash through the gap between Upul Tharanga's bat and pad first ball of the day. Ashish Nehra could have got Tillakaratne Dilshan with the first ball he bowled, but Suresh Raina failed to hold on to a high catch at cover-point. Perhaps Dilshan would have rather that he had got out then going by the way he had to consistently drop his wrists out of the way of balls bouncing from just back of a length. One such from Nehra got him in the elbow, just over the elbow guard. The way he came down, throwing his bat away immediately, it seemed a nasty blow. He came back up, hit his first boundary off the 23rd ball he faced, but couldn't last much longer.

Zaheer didn't need any of the assistance from the pitch with Dilshan's wicket. He continuously beat the batsman outside off, and kept getting closer and closer until he finally got the edge. Sanath Jayasuriya, 20 years and 1 day old in international cricket, fought it out, despite blows on his elbow, shoulder and fingers. He played two exquisite cover-drives, but the pitch seemed to have already affected his team-mates' mindsets. Kumar Sangakkara looked to make the most out of deliveries in his zone, but ended up chipping Tyagi to cover.

Jayasuriya finally got one with his name on it through some smart piece of bowling from Harbhajan in his first over. He followed three offbreaks with a topspinner that went in fast and stayed a touch low, and Jayasuriya was caught plumb in front, for 31 off 51. Raina compensated for his earlier blip in the field, with a direct hit on the run with one stump visible to send back Thilan Samaraweera.

Gambhir revealed being dismissed cheaply in the previous matches spurred him on to a good knock in the fourth onedayer against SL.

Gambhir scored an unbeaten 150 as India surpassed Sri Lanka's total of 315 for six with just under two overs to spare.

The left-hander added 224 for the third wicket with Virat Kohli (107), who made his maiden ODI century.

Gambhir was run out cheaply in the second ODI and made 32 in the last match, but was pleased with his effort at Eden Gardens.

"I was pretty unfortunate in the last couple of innings but once I crossed the half-century mark here, I kept telling myself to keep going," he said.

"It was important to win this series and I am happy I played a good knock. It was important to build a partnership because we always knew the dew would be a factor on this ground.

"When we played South Africa the last time we were here, Graeme Smith got a hundred and the bowlers had great difficulty handling a wet ball.

"We knew that if we got a good partnership it would be easy for us once the dew kicked in."

Gambhir was named man of the match but declined the award and nominated Kohli instead.

"When you have someone at the other end who can attack the bowling, especially when you lose early wickets, it takes the pressure of you," Gambhir said of his Dehli team-mate.

"With Kohli attacking I was able to take my time to settle down. We told ourselves we needed to stay together until at least the 35th over and then try to force things in the third powerplay.

"But the way we batted, we didn't need the powerplay at that stage because we were ahead of the target we had set for ourselves.

"We had planned to score 70 in the last 10 overs, but we were well ahead."

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said his bowlers had let the team down.

"We started off really well, Tharanga batting through the innings and the others batting around him," he said. "Once you get 315 on the board you expect your bowlers to really do the job for you.

"But with our bowling we were either too short or too full on either side of the wicket.

"The dew perhaps made it difficult for Sanath (Jayasuriya) and Suraj (Randiv) and (Tillakaratne) Dilshan when he came on, but I thought the fast bowlers should have been more disciplined."

Sri Lanka have been severely hit by injuries but Sangakkara was pleased with the effort from the replacements.

"We had so many debutants on this tour and all of them have really stepped up," Sangakkara said.

"Some of our best bowling has been from the debutants and that really augurs well. I have toured India since 2003 and I think we have been the most competitive in the one-dayers on this tour."

When a team is forced to change the captain mid-way through a series but copes with the change smoothly, the signs are clear that all is well with the team. It means that all the seniors have been on par beforehand when it comes to strategizing and things like that and it is simply about one of them taking over.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, thanks to the form with the bat was certain to be missed but that his absence as captain was smoothed over to a nicety, is a credit to the functioning of the side. It also shows that this is a successful team as with a losing team, such personnel losses means hitting further depths.

To the outside world a captain may seem to be on a pedestal but that is not normally the case within a good side, where everyone is treated equally. Also when you have senior players like Sachin, Yuvraj, Harbhajan and Zaheer doing well enough, the captaincy tends to take care of itself, as Sehwag would have undoubtedly found out at Cuttack.

It helped too that young Jadeja joined the party. Yusuf Pathan, the man Jadeja replaced, is more of a batsman while Jadeja is more of a bowler but the latter’s technique with the bat is decent enough. He only lacks the brute power of Yusuf but the left-arm spinner is street-smart and has the ability to quickly adapt to situations. I am not sure whether it was the seniors who advised him to bowl slow and thus procure turn on the Cuttack strip or if he thought of it on his own, but either way the performance will stand him in good stead in the days to come.

As far as the Lankans are concerned, they will be aware that whatever the start, no team that loses nine wickets for 75 runs is going to be able to make a match of it. Here, the loss of Angelo Mathews perhaps told the most. He is just 22 but the all-rounder has displayed immense maturity with bat and ball and has certainly left a void. Mahela Jayawardene’s loss of form has only made it worse.

A team has also got to help itself and when you leave someone like a Sanath Jayasuriya on the sidelines, you are bound to suffer. It is only in the sub-continent that senior players are treated so. Why pick someone like Sanath and have him sit and watch the game. In any case, my guess is that after the Cuttack show, Sanath will figure in both the remaining games.

Whether I get to see Sanath at the Eden Gardens or not, I sure was sad to see the pictures of a less than majestic Eden. It was hard to digest that half the ground was down but stadiums in India do need upgrading and I am confident it will be back to its old imposing self soon enough. But whatever the state before the renovations began, my heart will always beat for Eden.

Virender Sehwag, who oversaw India's last two one-day international wins, believed his team was handed an advantage when Kumar Sangakkara opted to bat. The pitch in Kolkata was expected to play slow and low but the dew was expected to counter that advantage for the team batting first. In the end, Sehwag's hunch proved right as Gautam Gambhir posted the highest individual score at the Eden Gardens to help India register the highest successful chase at the venue.

"We knew dew would be a factor here, in this weather. Even if I had won the toss, we would have fielded," said Sehwag after India won the series 3-1. "It [Sangakkara's decision] was good for my spinners who could grip the ball when it was dry. The spinners did well for us."

India, set a target of 316, were jolted early when rookie fast bowler Suranga Lakmal dismissed Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, but the chase was soon resurrected by centurions Gambhir and Virat Kohli. "Myself and Sachin Tendulkar got out early but Gauti and Virat batted very well," said Sehwag. "Especially Kohli has done well. He got fifties in the Champions Trophy and against Sri Lanka in his last game. We all knew he had the talent and it was just a matter of performing at the international level."

Sangakkara gave credit to Lakmal, playing his second ODI, and young offspinner Suraj Randiv, but rued the lack of support in the field. Sri Lanka had managed a large score, thanks largely to opener Upul Tharanga's seventh ODI century, but they were outclassed by Gambhir and Kohli.

"We started out really well, with Upul Tharanga batting really well and the rest batting around him. Lakmal and Randiv bowled well but there wasn't enough back-up," said Sangakkara. "The fast bowlers should have been more disciplined. Gautam and Kohli batted quite brilliantly."

However, Sangakkara credited the crop of youngsters to have made an appearance in the one-day leg of the tour owing to injuries and poor form from the seniors. Randiv has impressed in the ODIs and Lakmal, after a poor debut, had a decent outing in Kolkata. "We had so many debutants on our tour and some of them have really stepped up and that promises better things on future tours," said Sangakkara. "This is the most competitive we have been in India since I debuted."

Gambhir, the Man of the Match for his unbeaten 150, heaped praise on young Kohli who batted his way to a maiden century. He too concurred with Sehwag's opinion of fielding. "We knew the dew would be a big factor. Even when we last played here, Graeme Smith got a hundred and it was hard for the bowlers," he said. "We lost two wickets but we had someone who could play positively and score quickly and that allowed me to keep going. The way Virat batted took a lot of pressure off my shoulders and we told ourselves to see what was happening after 35 overs, but then we didn't need to take the Powerplay.

"I've been pretty unfortunate in the last two innings but I am happy to play a good knock to help us win the series. And its been fantastic to get a hundred in Eden Gardens."

The dead rubber will be played in Delhi on December 27.

Virtually chanceless centuries from Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir made sure they would go to their home ground, Feroz Shah Kotla, with the series in the bag. The ease with which they chased down 316 in 48.1 overs, with Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar out inside the first four overs, and the absences of MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh for this match, was remarkable. On a day that youngsters outshone the more familiar performers in the series, Upul Tharanga's first ODI century in 53 innings and more than three years, along with Suranga Lakmal's opening burst finished second-best to the 224-run partnership between the Delhi batsmen.

The Sri Lankan spinners were hampered by the dew, and were not helped by the ease with which the Indian batsmen kept alternating the strike. Kumar Sangakkara's strategy to sit and wait for a mistake in the middle overs confounded equally. Of the 224 runs that Kohli and Gambhir added, they ran 125. As a result, they were not forced to take risks, neither did the required run-rate ever go over 6.7.

That had little bearing on how well Kohli - who scored his maiden international century - and Gambhir played. The main features of Kohli's innings were the flicks into the leg side, and punches off the back foot. Gambhir looked to run the ball off the face of the bat, place it into gaps for couples, and he also made sure he was there till the end.

Lakmal would have happily settled with Sehwag and Tendulkar as his first two international wickets, within seven deliveries and before either batsman had settled down, had Kohli and Gambhir not staged the comeback. Neither batsmen needed to take the aerial route. The only element of risk was Kohli's moving across the stumps, but his bat kept coming down at the right time.

Debutant Thissara Perera went for 28 in his four overs, and was replaced by Lasith Malinga, who helped in opening the floodgates. Kohli flicked him for two boundaries on the leg side, and crashed him through the off side for two more, off consecutive deliveries in his first over. After nine overs, India had galloped along to 70, and Kohli to 26 off 22.

Lakmal continued to get the odd ball to rise awkwardly, but he lacked support from the other end. And once India's run-rate went above the required rate, both the batsmen settled down into milking mode and waited for the loose balls, which Malinga kept providing India with.

With spin came signs that the dew would have an effect on the remainder of the match. In his second over, Suraj Randiv bowled a lob down the leg side, and Kohli took advantage. The boundary again took India ahead of the required rate, and in the next couple of overs both the batsmen reached their fifties.

They cruised towards their centuries, but not before Kohli presented Sri Lanka with the only glimpse of opportunity. He had reached 88, and India 207 for 2 in 33 overs, when he nicked the first ball from Tillakaratne Dilshan. Sangakkara, though, couldn't hold on to a tough chance. The two batsmen then reached their respective centuries mirroring each other - moving from 99 to 100 in consecutive deliveries. In what was the definitive tale of the innings, both got those singles with only four fielders inside the circle.

The century attained, Kohli holed out to long-on, trying to finish off the game early, but Gambhir made sure there were no further mishaps, scoring 47 off the 70 remaining runs.

Tharanga was made to work harder for his seventh century earlier in the day. For the first time in the series, India came out with an effective plan to keep Tharanga and Dilshan quiet in the opening overs. Both Zaheer and Nehra kept two men on the leg-side boundary for Dilshan, the third man was left vacant, but no room was given and neither was he offered anything to drive.

As a result, India managed their first maiden of the series - bowled by Nehra - and not one boundary was conceded in the first five overs. In the first three matches, Sri Lanka reached their 50 in 3.4 overs, 6.3 overs, and 7.2 overs. At those various stages, Sri Lanka had scored 6 for 0, 23 for 0 and 24 for 0 today.

Dilshan fell into the trap and pulled Nehra low to Kohli at fine leg, but in one swift act of acceleration, and solid consolidation thereafter, Tharanga almost single-handedly undid India's improved effort.

India's fielding was a huge improvement over their earlier efforts, but they still dropped Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara. That cost them 171 runs, and left them chasing 300-plus - a total that did scant justice to the efforts of Zaheer and Nehra who took 4 for 117 between them.

Like Malinga with Kohli later in the match, Ishant Sharma provided Tharanga with the release and the momentum in the 12th over. Ishant provided him driving length, and also width, and was punished with five boundaries in his first over. All of a sudden, Tharanga was 45 off 43 balls.

A period of consolidation followed, and Tharanga and Sangakkara added 126 runs in 23.4 overs without any concern. After Sangakkara's dismissal, and Tharanga's soon after, Perera stunned India with 31 off 14 balls, but Zaheer and Nehra came back well to ensure the damage done was not beyond repair.

A day after TIMES NOW reported of a possibly security breach by Sri Lankan players in Kolkata before the 4th ODI against India, Tilakratne Dilshan was caught misbehaving and manhandling a photographer in the city. This shameful behaviour by the star Sri Lankan batsman took place outside a night club joint on Wednesday (December 23).

Pictures taken by a local newspaper in Kolkata suggest that both Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya are present in the night club, on the even of their crucial encounter against India at the Eden Gardens. After these pictures were clicked by the photographer, Dilshan reportedly chased him and caught him by the collar demanding the journalist to delete the picture.

On Wednesday (December 23) Sri Lankan cricketers Sanath Jayasuriya and Tilakaratne Dilshan reportedly breached security, after stepping out of the team hotel giving security officials a miss. However, rubbishing these rumours the team manager Brendon Kuruppu had said that both the players left only after informing the security control room.

Speaking to TIMES NOW Kuruppu had said, "Both of them informed me and the security control room before going out of the team hotel. They also informed the security manager of the hotel. They were accompanied by police officials wherever they went. All the players keep me updated about their moves. There was no such breach of security."

At the Eden Gardens on Thursday (December 24), the Sri Lankan players will be driven straight to dressing room during practice as part of heightened security following reports of Taliban-trained terrorists sneaking into the city.

A senior city police officer said that in a departure from the past, the players would not alight from the team buses at the main gate and then walk into the dressing room.

"The bus will head straight to the dressing room area. We have asked the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) to pull down portions of the outer wall to make space for the two buses to get in," he said.

KOLKATA: Nearing the end of a month-and-a-half of battles across the country, India and Sri Lanka come to the Eden Gardens counting their missing men.

Fans in this cricket-crazy city, starved of full-blown international encounters for the last couple of years, will be hoping there's enough left in the two teams to present another absorbing contest in Thursday's fourth ODI.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, both irrepressible entertainers, may be among the latest casualties but their absence has done nothing to dim the clamour for entry passes here. Stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag added fuel to fire by suggesting "there are plenty of runs in the wicket", a strong enough pointer that there will be no let-up in Team India's aggressive approach as far as batting is concerned.

But, then, in a series devastatingly dominated by batsmen, bowlers are in a position to make a big impact by just hindering that free flow of runs. The Eden provides a wonderful window of opportunity to them.

The track, rolled into a fine flat surface, is still unlikely to break out of its character a slower and lower wicket which will frown upon the recent gay abandon in strokemaking. But, go tell that to Sehwag or Dilshan!

The two have lifted the contests to a slug-fest like never before, and will be crucial to the contest. It is here that India have held the edge, their middle-order able to soak the setback better than the Sri Lankans. Now, with the Dhoni-Yuvi hole in the Indian line-up, the onus will be on youngsters like Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina to provide the surefootedness, even if they cannot quite make up for all the firepower the missing duo would have brought.

The form of Sachin Tendulkar, who scored an unbeaten 96 as India took a 2-1 lead in Cuttack, will be a huge source of confidence for the camp. Will he be brought back to the middle-order under the changed circumstances?

With the slow bowlers likely to play a bigger role, just as they did in Cuttack on Monday, batsmen may not be called upon to relentlessly swish the blade as they had been doing before the bandwagon came east.

The dew factor is a much discussed subject in these parts in winter, and just how much it butts into Thursday's game will have to be seen. After the pre-match media briefings by the two teams, one thing seems almost certain India are going to chase. Drawn to the dew, Sri Lankan coach Trevor Bayliss indicated "it would still be better to put runs on the board" while Sehwag was more categorical with his "well bowl first if we win the toss".

Fans here will be hoping India get back to their winning ways at the Eden to clinch the five-match series here. While their last match here, against the Sri Lankans in February 2007, was washed out, India lost their previous three encounters by big margins and their last win here was some seven years ago.

Both camps stopped short of naming their playing XIs, but Sri Lanka will be tempted to bring in Sanath Jayasuriya for left-handed Thilina Kandamby. Though the visitors may stick to their new opening combination of Dilshan and Upul Tharanga and push the veteran to a middle-order slot, Jayasuriyas slow left-arm stuff could be pretty effective on the Eden track. India's Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and even Sehwag himself will see their chance as well.

One Mutthiah Muralitharan would have loved to flaunt his skills here. But, its not about the missing men anymore. Its about those that are left in the park.

Calcutta: Team India, already without regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was dealt another blow when Yuvraj Singh was ruled out of the Eden one-dayer because of a finger injury.

The senior pro will miss the fourth and fifth one-dayers against Sri Lanka, the BCCI said on Tuesday.

“Due to the finger injury sustained earlier, Yuvraj Singh has been advised rest and therefore will not play in the fourth and fifth ODI matches against Sri Lanka,” secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.

Bengal’s Manoj Tiwary was included as the 15th member for the fourth ODI. The decision was taken after the BCCI thought it wasn’t necessary to fly in a replacement hours before the match.

The Punjab all-rounder played his only match in the series in Cuttack on Monday, scoring 23 off 40 balls as India won by seven wickets to go 2-1 up in the five-match series.

Yuvraj sustained the injury while fielding during the second Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka in Mohali where the left-hander starred both with the bat and the ball to script India’s series-levelling win.

Yuvraj, who was also down with flu during the Nagpur one-dayer, didn’t play the first two ODIs, with Virat Kohli substituting him in the playing XI.

This is the second serious injury he has suffered this year.

It may be recalled that Yuvraj fractured the little finger on his right hand in the midst of a conventional training session in Johannesburg on the eve of the Champions Trophy. That injury kept him out for almost six weeks.

He took part in five of the seven ODIs against Australia at home before Sri Lanka arrived. The left-handed batsman had averaged 25.60 in the series as he totalled 128 in the five innings he played.

His highest score in the series was 78. He had also taken two wickets in the series.

Team India are already without pacer Sreesanth, who is recovering from swine flu.

The decision to include Manoj was taken late in the evening. “Manoj is a local boy. Also the fact that he is a brilliant fielder led to his inclusion. Since Yuvraj was a brilliant fielder, we wanted someone who could match him in this department. Since the arrangement has been done on an SoS basis, Manoj’s selection as the 15th member is strictly for this match. He will also be instructed to be present during the afternoon practice session on Wednesday,” a source said.

Incidentally, the first time Manoj donned India colours was also as an additional member and against the same opponents — Sri Lanka in February 2007. The match was abandoned because of a downpour.

Mumbai: Irfan Pathan Tuesday said leading Baroda had helped him discover a new facet of cricket and made him a better player.

Reflecting on 2009, which has not been that good a year for him, Irfan said he was taking positives from a strong performance domestically.

“The captaincy was good. To be part of team meetings and getting involved in the selection, it was a new experience for me. The amount of responsibility you get when you are a captain is great,” Pathan, in the city for a promotional along with brother Yusuf, said.

This year has been difficult for the pacer who was dropped from the Indian team after the World T20 in England and then sidelined for two-three months after suffering an injury. He last played in a Test in April of 2008 against South Africa at home. His last appearance in ODIs was on the tour of Sri Lanka early this year.

But the 25-year-old all-rounder is not unduly worried over comments that he has lost the form that made him a sensation upon debut in the 2003-04 tour of Australia. Nor did he crib about not being the new ball bowler any more, but highlighted the new rules in ODIs that have made things difficult for bowlers.

“Natural talent will not die... With Powerplays coming in, the average and strike-rate is going to go up. That’s what happened to me,” he said.

This season, in domestic cricket, Irfan has had a satisfying show with bat and ball, scoring 397 runs at 49.62 beside picking up 22 wickets in five matches. However, the pacer was not anxious about selection for the tour of Bangladesh.

“One can expect anything. To be honest, I was expecting to be picked even for the (current) Sri Lanka series. I have done my job, it is now up to the selectors,” he said.

“2009 was not a good year for me. But the new season has been good for me… When I return (to the Indian team) I will be a better cricketer.”

Pathan did not foresee any reduction in the number of matches in the calendar and said the players must safeguard against burn-out.

“With the amount of money that has come in to cricket, there will be only an increase in professional cricket. It is up to the individual… if he feels he will get injured, he should tell the team management,” he said.

“Cricket is not going to decrease. Because of T20, it will go global.”

Having watched the Sri Lankans go through the grind of two tight chases, India’s batsmen must have sensed at the break the need to finish things off with plenty to spare. The fact that they had only 240 to get helped, as did the fact that Sachin Tendulkar seemed determined not to give up his wicket at the Barabati Stadium on Monday. And though he missed a century, finishing on an unbeaten 96, he never looked like missing out on seeing India through to a comfortable victory, which they did with plenty left in the tank.

India won by seven wickets, completing the chase in 42.4 overs, and now lead the five-match series 2-1 going into the Kolkata game. But while Tendulkar’s innings was what sealed it in the end, the groundwork was done much earlier in the day by the Indian bowlers, led by Ravindra Jadeja.

Sri Lanka got the perfect start to the day, with Kumar Sangakkara winning the toss and deciding to bat first.

On a wicket that offered some turn but still had plenty of runs in it, the Lankan batsmen went on overdrive, choosing not to slow down even when wickets started falling, and paid a heavy price for their audacious shot selection.

Tillakaratne Dilshan (41 off 18 balls, with 10 boundaries) had given the vistors another explosive start before falling to an aimless pull against Ashish Nehra. However, his opening partner Upul Tharanga struck a pacy 73 and with Sangakkara too at his punishing best, they looked set for a big one. They had reached 165 for one in 22.3 overs — and Sehwag admitted later that thoughts of a 400-plus total crossed his mind.

Indian captain Virender Sehwag has praised his bowlers for their performance in the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Cuttack. The hosts won comfortably by seven wickets to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

After Kumar Sangakkara, his opposite number, opted to bat, a solid performance from Sri Lanka's top order had put them on course for a massive total but India's bowlers hit back to shoot out the visitors - who were 160 for 1 after 22 overs - for 239 in the 45th over.

"The credit for this victory ought to go to the bowlers, especially Harbhajan [Singh] and [Ravindra] Jadeja," Sehwag said. "The wicket was slow and it kept low at times and it helped the spinners a bit.

"With the kind of start they got, I was praying they wouldn't get 350 or 400 on the board," Sehwag said. "But we were constantly looking to take wickets and Ashish Nehra did a fantastic job during the Powerplay.

"Once he got [Tillakaratne] Dilshan out, Harbhajan and Jadeja did their job very well and the game turned on its head."

Sehwag then got India's chase off to a lightning start with 44 from 28 deliveries, while fellow-opener Sachin Tendulkar remained unbeaten on 96 as India made light work of the target, getting home with 7.2 overs to spare.

"My job is to give the team a good start and score as many as I can," Sehwag said. "I was in good form and I utilised the first 10 overs very well. Tendulkar then played right through the innings and ensured we won. Overall, this was an excellent team performance."

His Sri Lankan counterpart blamed the defeat on the poor batting display after his side lost their last eight wickets for 74 runs. "We had everything going for us: a blazing start, a good partnership which I managed to put on with Tharanga which gave us a good base," Sangakkara said. "But too many wickets lost and that was probably the story of the game.

"We didn't really have a target in mind at the start but the focus was on keeping rhythm, working hard and building partnerships. We just lost too many wickets and with it momentum."

Sangakkara said Sri Lanka had effectively lost the game in the early overs of the Indian reply. "We had to try and get something with the new ball but these are not the easiest of wickets to bowl on. The bowlers did a really good job and we were good in the field as well but we really had nothing to defend.

"We need to take a good look at ourselves as individuals and take a lot more responsibility when we get out there again. We have got to keep fighting and we have got to come back."


Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and a solid performance from Sri Lanka's top order had kept them in line for a massive total but India's bowlers hit back to restrict the visitors - who were 165 for one after 22 overs - to 239 all out inside 45 overs.

Sachin Tendulkar then made 96 not out and featured in useful partnerships with Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik as India achieved victory with 7.2 overs to spare.

"With the kind of start they got, I was praying they wouldn't get 350 or 400 on the board," said Sehwag, who was standing in for the banned Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"But we were constantly looking to take wickets and Ashish Nehra did a fantastic job in the powerplay.

"Once he got (Tillakaratne) Dilshan out, Harbhajan (Singh) and (Ravindra) Jadeja did their job very well and the game turned on its head.

"The credit for this victory ought to go to the bowlers, especially Harbhajan and Jadeja.

"The wicket was slow and it kept low at times and it helped the spinners a bit."

Sehwag gave India's chase a lightning-quick start with a knock of 44 from 28 deliveries, while the rest of the batsmen chipped in with useful contributions as India made light work of the target.

"My job is to give the team a good start and score as many as I can," continued Sehwag.

"I was in good form and I utilised the first 10 overs very well. Tendulkar then played right through the innings and ensured we won.

"Overall, this was an excellent team performance."

Sri Lanka lost their last nine wickets for the addition of only 74 runs, and captain Sangakkara blamed the defeat on their poor batting display.

"We had everything going for us: a blazing start, a good partnership which I managed to put on with Tharanga which gave us a good base. But too many wickets lost and that was probably the story of the game," he said.

"We didn't really have a target in mind at the start but the focus was on keeping rhythm, working hard and building partnerships.

"We just lost too many wickets and with it momentum."

Sangakkara indicated Sri Lanka had effectively lost the game in the early overs.

"We had to try and get something with the new ball but these are not the easiest of wickets to bowl on," he said.

"The bowlers did a really good job and we were good in the field as well but we really had nothing to defend.

"We need to take a good look at ourselves as individuals and take a lot more responsibility when we get out there again.

"We have got to keep fighting and we have got to come back."

After Virender Sehwag had bludgeoned 44 from just 28 balls, an unhurried and unbeaten 96 from Sachin Tendulkar took India to a facile victory that gave them a 2-1lead in this five-match series. Sri Lanka had dominated the early stages of the match, galloping to 165 for 1 from 22.2 overs but they then subsided in bizarre fashion, undone by a combination of Ravindra Jadeja's spin, poor shot selection and two wickets in two balls from Ishant Sharma, who had gone for 46 in his first three overs. They lost the remaining nine wickets for 74 runs and slumped to 239 all out, which India eased past with 44 balls to spare.

The game changed once Sehwag, captaining in placed of the banned MS Dhoni, brought the slow bowlers on, and it was he himself who dealt the vital blow, having Kumar Sangakkara stumped for 46 despite Dinesh Karthik initially fumbling the take. India built on that success soon after, with Upul Tharanga losing his off bail in Jadeja's opening over after an attractive 73. Sri Lanka never recovered from those twin strikes.

Mahela Jayawardene's poor series continued when he slugged a long hop from Harbhajan Singh to short midwicket, where Suresh Raina timed his leap perfectly to take the catch. Thilina Kandamby and Chamara Kapugedera stopped the rot for a few overs, but then Jadeja and Ishant combined to end all hopes of a large total.

First, Kapugedera played on off Jadeja, and then Kandamby too found the inner edge off Ishant. When Suraj Randiv got a thin edge to one that moved away, it was 210 for 7. Jadeja then trapped Nuwan Kulasekara plumb in front as Sri Lanka unravelled completely. When Jadeja slid one through the defence of Ajantha Mendis, he had 4 for 32 from his 10 overs.

It had been so different at the start of play, with Zaheer Khan bowling three wides in an opening over where Dilshan added two fours for good measure. Ishant, playing in place of Praveen Kumar, was greeted with a crisp shot to long-on and two meaty flails through cover. With Tharanga then whacking one down the ground for six, and Dilshan slapping another ball through cover, the 50 took just 3.4 overs, the fastest-ever against India.

Ashish Nehra came on to stem the tide, and Dilshan could have gone on 36 had Karthik not made a mess of a flick on to the stumps that would have run him out. It wasn't a costly miss, however, with a top-edged heave at Nehra ending up in Karthik's hands soon after. By then, though, the run-rate was 10 and, with Tharanga steering and cutting the ball neatly, the runs continued to mount.

Sangakkara drove Ishant straight down the ground to bring up the hundred, and when Tharanga edged Harbhajan down to third man, he had his half-century from 51 balls. Sangakkara then lofted Sehwag for a straight six, and things were looking exceedingly grim for India until the spinners and Ishant had their say.

Chanaka Welegedara started the Indian innings with a maiden, and Sehwag then watched Tendulkar clip and cover-drive Kulasekara for fours. When his turn came, he took Kulasekara for three fours in an over, a feat he repeated when Lasith Malinga came on without his radar in place. Welegadara was also then smashed for three fours before Dilshan held, at the third time of asking, an attempt to belt the ball over point.

After Sehwag's exit, the run-flow eased temporarily. Tendulkar was fortunate when an inside edge off Kulasekara missed leg stump on its way for four, but with some lovely strokes being played through the covers and midwicket, the innings was soon back on track.

Tendulkar greeted Mendis with a paddle and a cover-drive for four, and when he then upper-cut Kulasekara for four more, Sangakkara brought on Randiv in a bid to emulate what the Indian spinners had done earlier in the day. He duly got Gambhir, a return catch off the leading edge, but with Tendulkar well set and Yuvraj Singh finding his off-side rhythm, it looked likely to be no more than a blip.

It took Tendulkar 57 balls to reach yet another half-century, and when he then dabbed Mendis through vacant slip, the target was well below 100. Yuvraj went, playing a lazy drive at Welegedera, but with Karthik taking Mendis for two fours in an over and then chipping a Malinga yorker over mid-on, India hurtled towards the target.

Tendulkar carried on in unhurried fashion, with deft dabs and clips off the pads, and glances so fine they just evaded the keeper. But with Karthik clouting Randiv over long-on for a six, the century that the crowd was looking for never arrived. Not that it mattered. With Sri Lanka succumbing to the Christmas spirit of giving, what might have been a challenging chase for India became instead as pleasant as a moment under the mistletoe.

It was bad start for india y'day, Shewag was out for just 4 runs and Gambhir too
Fell cheaply for a run out. Tendulkar managed to get 43 but was not enough.
Yuvi was replaced by Virat Kholi he made a decent score of 53 before he was trapped
Leg before, then the skipper was joined by raina. They both boosting the run rate
Dhoni had 3 lifes y'day before he reached his half century all three were left by
The Lankan sikpper Kumar Sangakara, then he batted excellently and scored his 6th
ODI 100, Raina who backed his skipper scored a useful knock of 68, Which led India
To 301-7 in 50 overs. India reached 100 only in its 22nd over but the lankans did
that in their 13th over itself, which means the indians bowling was not up to the
mark. And especially indian feilding was very sloppy. they concided extra runs
very easily, Thanks to Dilshan for is 2nd consicutive Ton in this series and and
Against india. Dhoni has been banned for the next two ODI's for slow over-rate
Which means that he will be missing the next two ODI's in the series.


MS Dhoni, the Indian captain, has been banned for two ODIs because India maintained a slow over-rate during the second match against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. The ban is effective immediately, which means Dhoni will be unavailable for the games in Cuttack and Kolkata, returning only for the final ODI in Delhi.

Dhoni had been informed of the ban verbally, BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla confirmed, and the board was awaiting written notice from the ICC.

"We have received information that the match referee has put a two-ODI ban on Dhoni for slow over-rate," Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI's chief administrative officer, said. "We are waiting for a formal communication on this. We will look into details and then make further comments."

The second ODI ended about 45 minutes after the scheduled finish time because of frequent discussions between the Indian players during the closing stages of Sri Lanka's chase. The visitors won the game by three wickets to level the five-match series 1-1. The decision to ban Dhoni was taken by match referee Jeff Crowe.

Sri Lanka were penalised for their slow over-rate during the second Twenty20 international against India in Mohali after falling two overs short of their target. The captain Kumar Sangakkara was fined 40% of his match fee while the rest of the team was docked 20% each. Crowe said Sangakkara just escaped a much bigger penalty.

West Indies spinner Sulieman Benn has been suspended for two one-day internationals, while Australia's Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson have been fined over a heated on-field altercation during the first cricket Test.

The International Cricket Council said Friday that Benn will miss the opening two limited-overs matches against Australia in Melbourne on Feb. 7 and Adelaide on Feb. 9. Haddin and Johnson have been fined 25 percent and 10 percent of their respective match fees for their part in the altercation.

The incident that led to the charges being laid took place during the 118th over of Australia's first innings. On the first ball of the over, Benn collided with non-striker Johnson while trying to stop the ball off his own bowling.

Two balls later, Haddin became involved when he pointed his bat at the bowler who had shaped to throw at the striker's end with the batsman standing in his crease.

The three players then got embroiled in a heated altercation at the end of the 118th over with the 28-year-old from Barbados pointing at the Australia wicketkeeper over the shoulder of Johnson.

Commenting on his findings, Broad said: "It was an incident which could have been avoided. No one likes to see cricketers pointing bats at their opponents or pushing each other away.

"It is not the sort of example that players should be setting at any time, least of all in a series which is being played in a great spirit and being followed by millions around the world on television.

"The decision to find Sulieman guilty of a Level 2 offence is indicative of the fact that conduct contrary to the spirit of the game is completely unacceptable. I hope he has learnt his lesson and will be careful in the future."

Sanctions included in Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct can range from an official reprimand to a fine of up to 50 per cent of a player's match fee, while the penalty for a Level 2 offence ranges from a fine of between 50 and 100 per cent of the player's match fee and/or two suspension points.

Haddin and Johnson pleaded guilty to their respective offenses. Benn has the right to appeal the match referee's decision within 48 hours.

NAGPUR: After an extraordinary high-scoring thriller at Rajkot, bowlers should expect no respite in the second ODI between India and Sri Lanka to be

played here on Friday. The pitch at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Jamtha would be a bowlers' graveyard indicating another run-riot in the offing.

At Rajkot, where the first One-dayer saw 825 runs being scored, India found out that even a total of 414 wasn't beyond Sri Lanka's reach.

The bowlers would be aware that in the last ODI here, India posted a total of 354 for 7 against Australia in a match that saw over 600 runs being scored.

And just last week when both India and Sri Lanka crossed swords in a Twenty20 match, over 400 runs were scored in 40 overs - Sri Lanka scored 215 while India finished with 186.

The pitch report from Praveen Hinganikar, a former Vidarbha Ranji Trophy skipper, was on expected lines: "It will be a good, sporting wicket. Given the pitch's hardness, the ball will come on nicely to the bat and the strokeplayers will enjoy batting on this surface. However, the bowlers willing to bend their backs will also get some help."

Asked whether he got enough time to prepare the pitch, Hinganikar said, "It requires 25 to 30 hours of rolling and we have enough time on hand. It will be a good wicket."

Nagpur: Paddy Upton, Team India’s mental conditioning specialist, stayed back in Rajkot, awaiting the report on the swine flu test done on him a “couple of days ago.”

“Paddy’s baggage has come with us, but his travel plans will be finalised once the report is known,” a member of the support staff told The Telegraph on Wednesday evening.

[Later, at night, an agency report quoted the district’s chief health officer, A.S. Sanghvi, as saying that Upton had tested “negative.” There was, however, no communication from the Board.]

Sreesanth, it may be recalled, tested positive for swine flu in the lead up to the Mohali T20 International and had to be hospitalised.

Tests on some of the others, Gautam Gambhir, for example, turned out to be negative.

Virender Sehwag is enjoying sensational form for India, thanks to his faith in his own natural aggression after an injury break as well as unusually cautious starts.

The explosive opening batsman's match-winning knocks of 131 and 293 in Kanpur and Mumbai in the home test series against Sri Lanka gave the team a 2-0 win this month and the number one ranking for the first time.

The 31-year-old Delhi batsman has carried the same approach into one-dayers which helped him to stroke a career-best 146, his first ODI hundred at home since 2005, and set up a thrilling three-run win in Tuesday's high-scoring first game in Rajkot.

His latest exploits have removed any lingering doubts about his place as an all-time great test batsman.

The Mumbai innings, when he almost became the first to notch up three test triple hundreds, added a new dimension to the constant debate in India about who is the country's greatest test batsman.

That discussion will no longer be confined to former opener Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

Sehwag's destructive innings in Mumbai even won him comparisons with West Indies great Viv Richards.

His special value to the team was underlined after a shoulder injury, which needed surgery, sidelined him for the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June and the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa where India fared miserably.

OWN TECHNIQUE

In Mumbai, Sehwag almost emulated Don Bradman, the only test batsman to have scored 300 runs (309) in one day.

His breathtaking attack turned the game on its head as he amassed 284 runs at stumps on the second day before failing to better the record of two test triple hundreds he shares with Bradman and Brian Lara.

Former test batsman Mohinder Amarnath praised Sehwag for the focus which has enabled him to top 150 in all but one of his last 13 triple-figure test knocks.

"He has got his own technique," said Amarnath while doing television commentary. "But the temperament is what is important and he has got tremendous temperament."

Dropped after scoring one run on his India debut in a one-dayer in 1999, Sehwag bounced back two years later with a century on his test debut in South Africa.

Sehwag, whose shots early on mirrored those of his boyhood idol Sachin Tendulkar, was persuaded by then skipper Saurav Ganguly to switch to opening to ensure a regular berth due to a packed middle order.

Quickly growing in stature by dominating bowlers, he showed his steely determination to stick to his style.

On the 2004 Pakistan tour, Sehwag became the first Indian to score a test triple hundred (309), reaching the mark with a six.

That was despite a similar attempt to reach 200 in Melbourne on the previous tour ending in his dismissal and triggering a batting collapse which led to defeat.

BAD BALLS

In Mumbai, he attacked champion spinner Muttiah Muralitharan on a bouncy pitch, paddle-sweeping to reach 100 and then a double century with fours.

Asked about his cautious approach in the initial stages in Mumbai before scoring the second-fastest test double hundred, he explained in his inimitable style: "My mind was totally blank. I only wanted to hit the bad balls. In the dressing room, they were saying I was also hitting the good balls, but I was only hitting the bad balls."

Former Sri Lanka opener Avishka Gunawardene, commentating on television, joked: "Looks like Sehwag is saying Sri Lanka bowled only bad deliveries."

Sehwag enjoys an impressive test record, having scored 6,248 runs in 72 tests at an average of 52.50 with 17 hundreds.

However, his strike rate of 80.44 and the ability to score big knocks give India extra time to bowl out the opposition and have played a key role in their improved overseas record.

He has amassed 6,876 runs from 212 ODIs, although his all-out attack has not paid off as often in the shorter format with only 12 hundreds against his name.

Sehwag, whose comments often reveal his simple approach to batting, has also mastered the art of tongue-in-cheek remarks.

On Tuesday, after the close win in Rajkot where Sri Lanka almost pulled off the second highest one-day run chase, Sehwag was asked if he was nervous watching from the dressing-room after hurting his knee.

"I was actually supporting Sri Lanka," he said. "I'm a bit superstitious, so didn't want to support India."

If India hopes to maintain its No 1 ranking in Test cricket and climb the ladder in ODIs, it is imperative that it improves its bench-strength, says former India all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar.

He is of the opinion that there should be three teams, one for each format.

"Give youngsters a chance to perform in T20s and ODIs. Once they prove themselves in the T20 and ODI format, then only they should be given a Test cap.

"We should have good bench strength -- something that is missing -- if we have to play top-level cricket," added the former Delhi coach, who has been entrusted the role of spotting a new generation of pace bowlers, in the Gatorade Pacers 2010 Talent Hunt.

Gatorade will pick players from over 1,500 sports clubs and schools in six cities. Camps will be held under different age-groups, and under each category the two best bowlers will be selected. Those who make the grade will not only have the opportunity to work under Prabhakar, but also be provided the best in-class training and conditioning to nurture their skills.

"Being part of this campaign is a challenge for me. It's a challenge, in that we are not only looking at speed, but accuracy. Variation and attitude are other criteria that budding players need to fulfill to get selected for this event.

"We in India have lots of fast bowling talent, but the search is missing. We need to unearth talent from the small towns, where most of the talent lies. We have to go to these places to give players the exposure and an opportunity to perform at a higher level. This campaign helps that cause," says Prabhakar.

One of the first few Indian bowlers to use the reverse swing to good effect, he conceded that India has failed to produce a tear-away fast bowler.

"To be a pace bowler one has to be athletic. We have bowlers like Sreesanth who are not athletes. And that is where we are losing out. But, most importantly, a bowler must get his basics right. You have to get your basics right to be effective and constantly strive to maintain that pace at a consistent level.

"We can be a hub of pace bowling if we want, but if our basics are not in place we will not get good pacemen to compliment our strong batting line-up," added the controversial cricketer, who was banned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for five years in 2000 for his role in the match-fixing episode.

Prabhakar, who was in Mumbai on Tuesday, also rued the fact that India does not have surfaces conducive for fast bowling.

"Indian pitches give no positive results for bowlers. Our pitches don't have good soil. Good bowlers are coming out of the MRF Pace Foundation because Dennis Lillee, who was the coach at this nursery for fast bowling, helped create pitches made from hard soil to help bowlers become effective in training. Pace bowlers don't come with extra-ordinary talent. It's the pitch they play on that helps bring out their best".

Talking about Ishant Sharma , Prabhakar said, "He should work on his basics. He should control his left arm. When your wrist is not behind the seam then you are in big trouble. RP Singh has the same problem."

He advocated the need for a specialist bowling coach, saying the BCCI should look for home talent.

"You can't have any coach teaching bolwers the technical aspects of fast bowling. It's a professional job, a specialists' job. We need a specialist coach for bowling.

"It's nice when current players go to former Indian cricketers to find solutions to their problems. There is no shame in that. From past experience I've seen that we are obliging to foreign coaches. We also have good talent in India, so the BCCI should look to Indian coaches.

"BCCI employs foreign coaches, but where are the results? Why shouldn't the board give former Indian players a chance to become coaches? BCCI should use the expertise of retired players. If Sachin retires, say after two years, then he should be made chief coach of the NDA, so he can train youngsters."

Prabhakar said he can make a difference if the BCCI makes him the bowling coach.

"If BCCI gives me the opportunity to become India's bowling coaching I will show that I can make a difference

"BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world. Instead of putting that money on building stadiums they must spend that on creating academies and making sporting pitches."

With India playing just two Tests in 2010, Prabhakar slammed the cricketing calendar, saying too much of T20 is draining fast bowlers.

"Test cricket should be played regularly, only then will the players' characters be tested. Test match cricket is the real thing.

"There is so much T20 cricket these days; I call it tamasha cricket that is being played. There also are so many ODIs at a stretch. All this is obviously going to lead to player burn-out. Fitness levels of bowlers will drop. Not only will the wear and tear destroy bowlers, it will also hamper their confidence in the bargain."

The Rajkot ODI has produced three stands of 150-plus or four stands of 100 a feat recorded for the first time.

# Both the teams' opening pairs have recorded 150, which has happened for the first time in an ODI.

# Zaheer Khan (10-0-88-0) has earned a dubious distinction of conceding most runs in an innings for India, bettering the figures of Srinath (10-0-87-0) against Australia at Johannesburg on March 23, 2003.

# Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become the third wicketkeeper to complete the double of 5000 runs and 200 dismissals in ODIs.

# Dhoni became the first Indian wicketkeeper and the ninth to complete 200 dismissals (149 catches + 51 dismissals) or more in ODIs.

# Dhoni, during the course of his 72, has become the eighth Indian to amass 5,000 runs in ODIs. The seven Indians with more runs than Dhoni were: Sachin Tendulkar(17247), Sourav Ganguly(11363), Rahul Dravid(10765), Mohammad Azharuddin(9378), Yuvraj Singh(7226), Virender Sehwag(6876) and Ajay Jadeja (5359).

# Dhoni (5026) is the fourth wicketkeeper to make 5,000 runs as wicketkeeper, joining Adam Gilchrist(9410), Kumar Sangakkara(6767) and Andy Flower(5845).

# Tillakaratne Dilshan has recorded his career best - 160 off 124 balls.

# Dilshan's 73-ball century is the fastest by a Sri Lankan batsman against India, obliterating Sanath Jayasuriya's 79-ball century at Karachi on July 6, 2008.

# Dilshan's fourth hundred in ODIs is his first against India. His innings is the second highest by a visiting batsman against India on Indian soil.

# India have registered a three-run win - their narrowest victory margin over Sri Lanka on Indian soil.

# The first ODI between India and Sri Lanka at Rajkot has provided the second occasion when both the teams have recorded 400 or more in the same ODI. Australia-South Africa encounter at Johannesburg on March 12, 2006 (Australia 434/4 and South Africa 438 for 9).

# The first ODI of the series has produced 825 for 15 wickets, which is the best ever in India and the second highest in the history of Limited-Overs Internationals the highest is 872 for 13 in the Johannesburg ODI as above.

# The total posted by India (414 for seven) is the highest total by any team against Sri Lanka, surpassing their own total of 373 for six at Taunton on May 26, 1999.

# Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were associated in an opening partnership of 153 - India's highest against Sri Lanka at Rajkot.

# Another 150-plus stand was shared for the second wicket between Sehwag and Dhoni(156) - the highest for this wicket-position at Rajkot, surpassing the 109 by New Zealand pair, Nathan Astle and Roger Twose against India on November 5,1999.

# With two successive stands of 150 and above for the first and second wickets, a rare feat has been witnessed for the first time.

# Dilshan and Tharanga were involved in a first-wicket stand of 188 - Sri Lanka's best against India.

# Upul Tharanga (67 off 60 balls) has posted his 12th fifty - his second against India.

# Kumar Sangakkara (90 off 43 balls) has posted his 50th fifty in ODIs - his 8th against India.

# India's match-winning score (414/7) is now their best score, obliterating the 413 for five against Bermuda in the World Cup at Port of Spain on March 19, 2007.

# Sri Lanka (411/8) have recorded their second highest total in ODIs - their highest being 443 for 9 against Netherlands at Amstelveen on July 4, 2006.

# Sri Lanka became the third team after South Africa and India to register two totals of 400 or more.

# Sri Lanka is the only team to have lost the match after scoring 400 in the second innings of an ODI.

# Sehwag's career-best 146 off 102 balls is his 12th century in ODIs - his second against Sri Lanka. His 66-ball century is the quickest for India against Sri Lanka.

# Sehwag holds an Indian record with his 60-ball century against New Zealand at Hamilton on March 11, 2009.

In the end it was the battle of the sluggers: Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Two openers who have always managed to play cricket that is exciting and daring. And if they are able to sustain their aggression for long periods, as they did today, no summit is really beyond them.

Sehwag had set the pulses racing in the morning with a blistering century that formed the springboard for India vaulting past 400. He was his usual spontaneous self, assaulting all bowlers with equal disdain. With a full house roaring behind him, Sehwag wasn't short on motivation as he ran roughshod over the hapless Sri Lankan bowling, weakened by the absence of the unfit Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan. Nuwan Kulasekara had tested Sehwag's patience by getting a hint of swing early in the morning, getting him to play and miss three times in the opening over. In the second he was unfortunate because Sehwag got away with an inside edge that dropped dead at the base of the stumps.

But just like he had done in the Test series, Sehwag played for time in the initial overs. He had admitted that staying calm helped him score big hundreds, including the rare feat of cracking a double-century in a day in Mumbai recently. But in the ODIs, after promising 30s and 40s, his impatience had often shortened his stay at the wicket. Today he diligently avoided committing that mistake.

Yet his batting remained a joyous affair. He punished the bad balls, made the good balls look bad, crafted those exquisite off-the-hips clips towards the leg side having picked the ball outside off and, when Kumar Sangakkara placed an extra fielder to arrest the run-flow, Sehwag hit the next shot exactly in the same area to prove his supremacy.

It would be a mistake to read his actions as audacious, because Sehwag is an intelligent batsmen who likes to play with the opponent's mind. In the ninth over, bowled by Kulasekara, Mahela Jayawardene was moved to short point from the slips to strengthen the off-side field in front of square. The idea was to stop those hard cuts that Sehwag was hitting with regularity. In response, Sehwag moved a yard forward before slashing hard over the two point fielders for another four.

Just as Sehwag can make bowlers and their captains pull out their hair in frustration with that ridiculous ability to pick the ball early and hit it with a still head, Dilshan's strength lies in taking the issue to the bowler confidently. In 2009 Dilshan, a converted opener, has managed to successfully make that role, carried out by Sanath Jayasuriya for 15 years with great success, his own. In his prime Jayasuriya dropped the bowler to his knees with rasping cuts and sharp, short-arm jabs. He is less refined but even if his shots aren't as memorable he has that uncanny ability to unsettle his opponent's mind.

Zaheer Khan came around the stumps in his first over against Dilshan for two reasons: to create doubt in the batsman's mind and to make an angle that could clip Dilshan's wings by bowling into his body. Dilshan simply took a step back and sent a crashing drive over the extra-cover fielder, forcing Zaheer to revert to a customary over-the-stumps line.

Dilshan spared no bowler through his knock, which came at almost as good a pace as Sehwag's. In a way the conditions were more challenging for Dilshan than for Sehwag because he needed to provide a powerful launch to the innings in order for Sri Lanka to keep their hopes alive of overhauling a mammoth target.

Another constant challenge was the absence of any crowd support - the locals had gone silent with Dilshan, Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara gaining the upper hand. Still Dilshan maintained his inner calm. He realised he had to switch between the roles of anchor and aggressor to keep the momentum in Sri Lanka's favour. While he was around India could not breathe easy.

"Dilshan's and Sangakkara's wickets were the turning point," Sehwag said later. On Dilshan, his Delhi Daredevils team-mate, Sehwag said he had batted superbly. "He realised I had scored 140 in 34 overs so if he batted 40-45 overs he could even score a double hundred. He played some amazing shots."

That was as good a tribute as any Dilshan could expect on a day he outgunned India's top shot but still fell short.