The Great Game Called Cricket...

Ross Taylor has said New Zealand's capitulation to R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha in the Hyderabad Test was more to do with a mental block against spin than technical shortcomings. New Zealand lost 18 of their 20 wickets to Ashwin and Ojha to begin their tour with an innings defeat, in stark contrast to their previous visit here when they had put India under pressure in the drawn Ahmedabad Test. "A little bit of technique but I think most of it is probably in the mind," said Taylor, who made 2 and 7 in the game and fell both times to Ashwin. "[It's about] trusting your defence and trusting your attacking shots. When you get bogged down, it puts a lot of pressure on you and there was a lot of pressure going out there. It's about rotating the strike, finding your single options. We are not big players of using our feet, so we need to create lengths in different ways." Taylor pointed to New Zealand's highest partnership of the game - Kane Williamson and Brendon McCullum added 72 for the second wicket in the second innings - as an example of showing an ability to survive against spin. "I guess any time you are bowled out for 160 [159 and 164] both times, you have got to be disappointed. We have three-four days to rectify that. Obviously spin is an area we need to work on and come back harder and stronger for Bangalore [in the second Test]. I thought Kane and Brendon applied themselves really well for a long period of time and showed that it can be done." McCullum and Williamson had batted through the truncated morning session on the fourth day, but the former was given out leg-before when on 42 soon after lunch by umpire Steve Davis off Umesh Yadav. Replays indicated the ball had hit the bat and pad simultaneously even as a furious McCullum stormed off swishing his bat. Taylor was asked about the absence of the Decision Review System. "Obviously [there is] no DRS. The umpires are human and make mistakes. It's a part and parcel of cricket. Different parts of the world have different rules in different sports. It's part and parcel coming to this part of the world." New Zealand crumbled after McCullum's dismissal, losing their last nine wickets for 66 runs, and their last seven for 26. Taylor said India had put a lot of pressure on the New Zealand batsmen and praised the efforts of Ashwin and Ojha. "Not only Ashwin, Ojha bowled very well and they bowled well in tandem. They put a lot of pressure on us, bowled in very good areas. They are both very good spinners in turning conditions. When the ball does turn and bounce a lot - when it does turn, it is a lot easier to play but when it bounces [as it did in this game], it's a different ball game. "I guess when you enforce a follow-on and have got a big total, you can have a lot of men around the bat and [MS] Dhoni did that. Come Bangalore, we need to be as positive as possible, clear the mind, trust our defence, but also find a way of scoring runs." Ashwin felt Bangalore won't be as easy for India as Hyderabad was, and was pleased with the winning start. "Last time when New Zealand were here, they batted really well and almost drew the series. But this is a good start. We knew this was not a venue where we had won the last time, so came here with a lot of apprehension but at the end of the day, I thought we did really well as a unit and won the Test in four days. "I think there will be a much stiffer contest in Bangalore, the [New Zealand] batsmen will come out with better plans. So we will also have to be up for it. The team had a tough year [in 2011] but it happens with every team. We have to put that behind and we are starting on a good note. Hopefully we can continue and have a great season."

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Unmukt Chand led India to World Cup glory at Tony Ireland Stadium, his unbeaten century ensuring his side saved its best batting performance for when it counted most, pulling off the highest successful chase at this venue to beat defending champions Australia in the final. Chand, who was ably supported by Baba Aparajith and Smit Patel, secured India's third Under-19 world title, after triumphs in 2000 and 2008. Chand and Patel shared an unbroken 130-run stand for the fifth wicket, after India had slipped from 75 for 1 to 97 for 4. At no stage of the chase did they let the asking rate climb too much, and several huge hits on the home stretch ensured the target was achieved in the 48th over. Smit pulling Turner to the midwicket boundary was the signal for thirteen Indians to sprint to the middle, carrying flags and piling on to their heroes. Chand's innings was the defining performance of the World Cup and he chose the perfect moment to produce it, outshining his worthy counterpart William Bosisto, whose 87 had dragged Australia from 38 for 4 towards a competitive score. Bosisto finished unbeaten for the fifth time in six innings, ending the tournament with an average of 276. He would have gladly swapped that for a more human figure, though, in return for not dropping Chand when India needed 49 off 41 balls. India's manic celebrations at the finish indicated a release of tremendous pressure that had built up during the pursuit. They had lost Prashant Chopra early and, in Mark Steketee's second over, Chand was lucky to survive a close lbw shout. He was on 3 at the time. Like in the semi-final, Chand was a nervy starter, playing and missing and edging past his stumps. At the other end, however, Baba Aparajith began to play an array of exquisite drives on the off side, and Chand soon found his touch too. When Gurinder Sandhu was brought into the attack in the ninth over, Chand attacked him right away, cutting in the air to the backward point boundary and lofting on the up for six over long-off. The 50 partnership came off 48 balls. Aparajith showed he could play the short ball too, controlling a hook off Steketee to the fine-leg boundary. India had been 11 for 1 after four overs. They were 60 for 1 after ten. The Chand-Aparajith partnership had produced 73 when Aparajith was caught on the drive by Turner at extra cover, two balls after he had driven Sandhu for another sublime four. Turner made another quick breakthrough, catching Hanuma Vihari off his own bowling for 4. As Vijay Zol walked in, Chand went up to him, had a chat and patted him on the back, but he edged to Peirson for 1 off 14balls. India were suddenly 97 for 4. They would have been five down had Peirson held a tough chance off Chand in the 19th over, when he was on 38. Patel was let off by Peirson too, on 2, and he made Australia pay. Patel was the cool partner that Chand needed and the two batsmen focused on keeping wickets in hand for the end game, finding the boundary occasionally but taking singles and two frequently. The asking rate touched six an over for the first time when there were 17 left; India needed 102 and they had the batting Powerplay to come. In the final over of fielding restrictions, Chand heaved Turner for perhaps the biggest six hit at Tony Ireland Stadium during this tournament. It nearly went on to the road beyond the midwicket boundary.

The equation had boiled down to 49 off 41, and then Chand chipped Gregory straight to midwicket, where Bosisto dropped a sitter. Three balls later, Chand launched Gregory over the straight boundary, a blow that was bound to have broken Australia. He hit another six off Gregory, his fifth of six, over cover to bring up his century and stayed on to finish the job. India's batsmen came good after their bowlers had a hot and cold day, their first such performance in this tournament. India had won the toss for the first time at this venue and Sandeep struck with his fourth delivery. He bowled an inswinger that Jimmy Peirson shouldered arms to, hit off stump, and celebrated with the nonchalance of a man who has made an early wicket a habit. In his second over, Sandeep had the other opener Cameron Bancroft lbw, reducing Australia to 8 for 2. The other new-ball bowler Kamal Passi wasn't as successful. At the end of their first spells, Sandeep had figures of 5-2-8-2 and Passi 4-0-24-0. Chand brought on his offspinner in the 11th over and Aparajith went round the wicket immediately to the left-hand batsman Kurtis Patterson and bowled him. In the next, Ravikant drew an edge from Meyrick Buchanan and Australiawere 38 for 4. Bosisto and Travis Head had to rescue the innings, like they had against England and Bangladesh. They had barely got started when Head, on 5, cut Ravikant to point where Akshdeep Nath dropped a straightforward chance. He was lucky to survive an lbw appeal from Aparajith on 20 as well and went on to score 37 out of a 65-run stand with Bosisto. The partnership ended in a run out, after Harmeet Singh had moved swiftly to his left at point to intercept a Bosisto cut and threw at the non-striker's end. Head had run a long way down and was a few inches short when Aparajith broke the stumps even though he dived desperately. Australia were 103 for 5 in the 30th over and Head stormed off the field rapidly. The mix-up did not fluster Bosisto. He forged a 93-run partnership with the offspinner Ashton Turner, who was dropped on 2 when he tried to cut Aparajith and gave Smit Patel a reflex chance. Passi returned for a third spell in the 35th over but his day did not improve. Bosisto pulled a short ball, it had taken him 71 balls to hit his first boundary. Bosisto picked up speed, sweeping both spinners and driving Sandeep for boundaries, to score 59 off his last 50 balls and was a knackered man as he walked off the field to the applause of his team-mates and the crowd. Bosisto was applauded later, too, when he picked up the Player of the Tournament award. However, it was his counterpart, Chand, who had won the day and the World Cup for India.

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At some stage, in an increasingly distant future, teams will learn to make proper use of the batting Powerplay. At the very least, they will figure out a way to take 30 runs without losing a bagful of wickets in that treacherous five-over block. In Adelaide, Sri Lanka's batsmen became the latest to find themselves on the wrong side of the double-edged sword. Dinesh Chandimal had batted with flair, and added a menacing 94 runs off 100 balls with Mahela Jayawardene. The pair had weathered early losses in consummate style, and set Sri Lanka up for the big surge. The Powerplay had other plans, though.

Sri Lanka stumbled from a heady 168 for 3 in 35 overs, losing 18 for 3 in the next five overs, including the two set batsmen. The complexion of the game changed so drastically that R Ashwin bowled with two slips in the 40th over, when he got Thisara Perera to miscue a loft.

Sri Lanka had turned the momentum their way admirably in the lead-up to the Powerplay. Chandimal was at the forefront once again, imposing himself with a series of pulls and whips through the leg side, imparted with a flourish that was once the trademark of Marvan Atapattu. Chandimal's technique was adept for the conditions, as he used soft hands and decisive feet to milk India's attack.

Jayawardene, too, suggested he was finally ready to shrug away the poor form that has dogged him since the South Africa tour. Everything seemed well with the world when he skipped out and carved Ravindra Jadeja inside out over the covers for four. Chandimal ushered in the Powerplay by leaping out and depositing Jadeja over the midwicket boundary in the 35th over. The innings went pear-shaped from that point, though.

Vinay Kumar dismissed Jayawardene with an indipper, which meant Sri Lanka were suddenly down to their last recognised pair. The nerves showed: Chandimal escaped while attempting a risky second run, when MS Dhoni backed away from collecting a throw from fine-leg. Two balls later, the opportunity came again, and this time Dhoni stepped up to break the bails in good time. Ashwin then invited a slog from Thisara that spiralled straight to mid-off. Sachithra Senanayake slogged hard in the end overs to lift Sri Lanka to 236 for 9, but they seemed to be at least 20 runs short.

India made three crucial early strikes, which meant they were only one wicket away from the lower order even when Chandimal and Jayawardene were in full flow. Vinay made the first impression, preying on Upul Tharanga's unending trouble outside the off stump, consigning him to his 13th ODI duck, and fifth against India.

Irfan Pathan then took over, his career having come full circle since his international debut at the same venue eight years ago. After a considerable time spent in the wilderness, much against the wishes of his clamorous legions of fans, Irfan returned with a remodelled action and improved fitness levels, to suggest he just might turn the clock back. He got promising shape going away from the left-handers right from the outset. Tillakaratne Dilshan looked intent to stonewall his way through the new balls unless he was given gifts. Irfan, however, managed to tempt him into a hard-handed thrash through the off side, but the ball slanted in to take the inner edge through to MS Dhoni.

Ashwin continued to have a series of two parts: clueless and meek against Australia, as opposed to attacking and confident against Sri Lanka. He tussled with Sangakkara and pinned him with the good old three-card trick. The first ball drifted in with the arm to nearly have Sangakkara lbw, and the next one landed on a length, spun and bounced deviously to beat the outside edge. Sangakkara was out of his crease next ball, anxious to negate the turn, but Ashwin beat him in the flight to induce a leading edge. That set the stage for Jayawardene to rebuild the innings, but the final Powerplay allowed India to alter the script.

The best death-overs bowler in the game went face-to-face against the best finisher in the business with four to defend off the last ball. It was only fair that neither Lasith Malinga nor MS Dhoni ended up on the losing side of that contest. Malinga's wide full-length ball would have hoodwinked most batsmen who would have been setting themselves up for the swing to the leg side. Not the fleet-footed Dhoni, though, who calmly stretched across and carved high over the covers even as he balanced on one foot. The ball didn't have the strength to beat Sachinthra Senanayake on the boundary, but Dhoni and last-man Umesh Yadav pranced through for three runs to tie a nerve-wracking classic at the Adelaide Oval.

The beauty of the ODI format shone throughout the duration of the chase, with the best minds in the game feeling the pressure of a close finish. India were coasting on the back of another polished effort from Gautam Gambhir, whose faultless 91 showed he has moved on from his Test-match woes. Dhoni had added 60 runs with Gambhir off 12.4 overs, leaving India needing 59 off 58. At that stage, Dhoni made the first decisive error, when he called Gambhir through for a tight single before sending him back. Gambhir was caught short by a direct hit from Nuwan Kulasekara. Gambhir's fall gave Sri Lanka an opening; Dhoni would later say it cost India the win.

India's rotation policy was bound to come under scrutiny, as Gautam Gambhir was left to anchor another tricky chase after the cheap dismissals of Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. All three batsmen got off to starts, before curiously falling on the same score - 15. Gambhir buckled down for a fifty, and looked good to go one better than the 92 he made against Australia.

Tendulkar wasn't at his best and it is debatable whether the break for Sunday's game did his fluency any good. Gambhir continued to build on the assurance he displayed in that match, but should sit out of the next game if India stick to their policy of musical chairs for the openers - a decision that would be contingent on Virender Sehwag's fitness. After another failure, Rohit, too, must be feeling the pressure of being singled out as the reason behind the unnatural rotation.

India's chase began sedately, with the first couple of boundaries coming when the Sri Lankan seamers strayed onto Tendulkar's pads. Nuwan Kulasekara dismissed Tendulkar in his third over, getting a length ball to angle into the worrying line outside off stump. Tendulkar went for the drive, but nicked it through to Kumar Sangakkara.

Kohli's short innings, like his effort against Australia over the weekend, was a throwback to Rahul Dravid in the early stages of his career. He defended with assurance, and drove decisively, but too often straight to the fielders. When he gets in, Kohli has the range of strokes to make up for a slow start, but today he perished early, lbw trying to work Thisara Perera across the line.

Gambhir batted through it all, seemingly in a different plane, his Test match woes well behind him. He didn't score his first four until the ninth over, when he stepped out to carve Angelo Mathews through the covers, but was in complete control despite the early lack of boundaries. Sri Lanka fed him with a series of deliveries on the pads, and Gambhir routinely worked them through square leg for runs. His only moment of madness came between the wickets, when he took on Mahela Jayawardene's arm with a push to mid-off, but the throw missed by inches.

The next time Jayawardene got a chance, though, he threw down the stumps, with Rohit caught short attempting a quick single. Earlier, Rohit had creamed a couple of peachy cover drives against pace and spin - strokes that reinforced that he belonged in the XI, and didn't need favours from the team management. Runs under the belt would surely help his cause, though.

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Sachin Tendulkar's long list of admirers keeps on growing with world and Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt today saying he was one of "greatest cricketer" and he dreams of watching the Indian champion play on the cricket field.

Bolt, one of the most celebrated modern sporting icons, also said that he would one day run in India, despite the fact that had pulled out of the Commonwealth Games held in that country last year.

"For me he (Tendulkar) is one of the greatest cricketers I have seen. He has done extremely well and he is a very aggressive cricketer. I look forward to the day when I can see him play live," said the Jamaican 100m world record holder (9.58secs) about Tendulkar who opted out of India's ongoing West Indies tour to take rest.

"It would be great had he (Tendulkar) played in Jamaica (in India's first Test against West Indies). I want to see him play, that is my dream," said the triple Olympic and World Championships gold medallist.

Bolt also said that he loved the aggressive attitude of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the first Test in Kingston.

"I loved to watch Dhoni, he is aggressive. Both of them (Dhoni and Tendulkar) are aggressive players," he told "Times Now".

Bolt's favourite West Indies player is swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle, who was axed from the squad due to a stand-off with his Cricket Board.

"I want to watch Chris Gayle play. I have never met him and he is my favourite," said Bolt about his compatriot.

Asked about any chance of running in India, Bolt said, "In future I hope I can make a comeback in India as I heard there is a big fan base for me there. I like to thank them for the support and I would urge them to keep supporting me."

He said his focus now is to reach peak form during the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea from August 27 to September 4.

"I want to do my best in the World Championships and I am working for that. My focus is the World Championships and I want to be the best there."

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It takes lot to bowl over Sachin Tendulkar as bowlers around the world would confess but tennis ace Roger Federer managed to do it just by his knowledge of cricket when the two legends caught up during the Wimbledon.

Tendulkar, a self-confessed Federer fan, met the winner of 16 Grand Slams at the All England Club after the world number three beat David Nalbandian to advance to the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Tendulkar chatted for an hour with the Swiss and posed with him for the shutterbugs.

"Spent an hour with Roger Federer chatting on the balcony of Wimbledon Royal box. What a humble guy! And by the way he knows a lot about cricket!!" Tendulkar later tweeted.

The two reportedly also had dinner together after Federer's match.

Federer too talked about his meeting with Tendulkar on his Facebook page.

"Today was a special day, played a good match and had the chance to catch up with the great indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar," read the status message on his Facebook page.

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In another demonstration of their improving record overseas, a weakened India eased to only their fifth Test win in the Caribbean. The resistance from West Indies was disappointingly limp at Sabina Park as they lost six of the seven remaining wickets in the morning session. Praveen Kumar, sporting a buzz cut, snapped the home side's resolve by removing both overnight batsmen, Darren Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, in the first half hour. There were some big hits from Darren Sammy and Ravi Rampaul, but they merely delayed an Indian victory.

The resolve the West Indian batsmen showed on the third evening didn't make an appearance on Thursday. The Indian bowlers weren't particularly threatening early on, regularly providing harmless leg-side deliveries. One of those broke the stand that had frustrated India for nearly two hours, with Bravo losing his leg stump after walking across to try and guide the ball to fine leg. In Praveen's next over, he had Chanderpaul chipping a catch to cover as the ball, after causing a cloud of dust on pitching, came on slower than the batsman expected.

West Indies' chances evaporated with those two strikes, and Harbhajan Singh made it worse, removing birthday boy Carlton Baugh for a duck. Sammy wasn't going to give up, though. He was struck on the forearm by a kicker from Harbhajan, which prompted him to attack. Some blacksmith-swings sent the final three deliveries of the over for leg-side sixes, with the last two flying into the second tier at least. The entertainment ended with Amit Mishra's first delivery, a tossed-up, over-pitched ball that Sammy wanted to send out of the ground but sent only as far as extra cover.

Brendan Nash, the vice-captain who has been desperately short of runs over the home summer, restricted himself to defensive nudges. When he attempted one of his first enterprising strokes, a pull off a short ball from Mishra, he was horrified to see the ball scoot through impossibly low to be trapped plumb lbw.

Ravi Rampaul gave the few fans that turned up something to cheer about with a series of swept and driven boundaries, the highlight of which was an inside-out six over extra cover off Harbhajan. Like Nash, he too was done in by a ball of unpredictable bounce, from Ishant: it took off from a length and had him gloving it to MS Dhoni, who leapt acrobatically to take a one-handed catch over his head.

The last pair kept out the final seven deliveries before lunch, and then kept India waiting for half an hour after the break. With the specialists unable to finish things off, Dhoni turned to the part-time offspin of Suresh Raina, who needed only two deliveries to bowl Bishoo and secure a 1-0 series lead.

Smart stats

India's 63-run win is their second in Jamaica and their fifth Test victory in the West Indies. The number of wins in West Indies (5) brings it level with their number of wins in Australia, England and New Zealand.
Praveen Kumar's match figures of 6 for 80 is the third-best by an Indian bowler in a Test win in West Indies. BS Chandrasekhar's 8 for 208 in the six-wicket win in Trinidad in 1976 is the best bowling performance by an Indian bowler in a win in the West Indies.
Ishant Sharma's match haul of 6 for 110 is third on the list of his best bowling performances in a match in Tests. His finest is 7 for 58 against New Zealand in Nagpur in 2010.
Among captains who have led in at least 25 Tests, MS Dhoni has the best win-loss ratio (5.00). He is followed by Steve Waugh (4.55) and Mike Brearley (4.50). Dhoni has now led in five away-Test wins bringing him joint-second on the list of Indian captains with most wins in away Tests.
The 74 runs added by West Indies for the last two wickets is the second-highest aggregate for wickets nine and ten in Tests in Jamaica. Their highest is 98 against Australia in 1990-91.

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produced his best international innings since his big-stage arrival in Australia three years ago to help India chase down 226 from 92 for 6. Harbhajan Singh supported him with a seventh-wicket partnership full of sensible cricket and worth 88 runs. Rohit stayed unbeaten on 86 to outdo a similar effort from Andre Russell who blasted 92 off 64 to give West Indies a defendable target after they had been 96 for 7. With the result, India took an unassailable 3-0 lead. West Indies last won an ODI series against a Test-playing nation in April 2008.

Without doubt this was the best of India's tour so far. A day when West Indies showed remarkable fight after getting off to the worst start of the series. A day when Amit Mishra mesmerised them with old-fashioned legspin full of turn, drift, bounce, straighter ones and googlies. A day when two tails wagged to provide uncertainty and drama. A day when a young talent announced himself well and proper on the international stage. A day when a young talent who has fumbled with mediocrity played a comeback innings well and proper.

There were also collapses that didn't make for pretty viewing. At 65 for 1 West Indies lost six wickets for 31, India four for 32 from 60 for 2. There were similarities in the collapses. Both began with avoidable run-outs, West Indies' with Ramnaresh Sarwan's and India's with S Badrinath's. Both lost their bats as they tried to make their crease.

West Indies could claim the rest of their collapse was down to some special legspin bowling. During that period, Mishra took three wickets for one run. He set up Marlon Samuels with four legbreaks bowled with a scrambled seam. None of those turned big, and were defended well by Samuels. The change-up was the orthodox legbreak, which drifted, dipped, and then ripped past Samuels who had been lured out of the crease. Debutant Danza Hyatt was done in by a googly, and Lendl Simmons fell to another big legbreak that he was forced to play at.

Simmons fell short of what would have been a sixth fifty in the last seven innings. India, too, lost opener Parthiv Patel in the 40s again. The batsmen who followed played too many shots even with the asking rate under 4.5 an over, and lost their wickets. In between Virat Kohli got a bad lbw decision. Yusuf Pathan's dismissal seemed just as unfair; Simmons had no business back-pedalling from short midwicket - after having instinctively moved in to save the single - to complete an overhead catch well behind his body.

West Indies' comeback in the first half of the day was unexpected because of the way they have been squandering positions of strength. Here Russell and Carlton Baugh did the opposite. The two added 78 for the eighth wicket, but that alone would have been strictly consolation.

To make a fight out of it, West Indies would need something special. And special Russell was in the last three overs, scoring 42 off the last 14 balls he faced. The last two overs of the innings, bowled by Raina and Praveen Kumar, went for 37. Russell just kept clearing the front leg, kept hitting off the middle of the bat, and the ball kept clearing the ground. Russell walked back to an applause from his team-mates who had found a new belief.

While Russell's innings could be seen as one played from a position where he and West Indies didn't have much to lose, Rohit is one man who has it all to lose on this trip. Today he only gained. He tends to be a touch edgy at the start of all his innings, but today his start was the most fluent part of his innings. Coming in at 60 for 3, he went after Darren Sammy who had earlier been on a hat-trick, lofting him for a beautiful six and four off back-to-back deliveries.

Rohit was in a mood to boss the game, but when he saw wickets fall at the other end he went into accumulation mode. Harbhajan proved to be an ideal partner. With the asking-rate still within reach, neither man tried to hit boundaries. There were two boundary-less spells of 10 overs each in the middle of the innings. The first one was during the collapse, and was broken only when Rohit got a low full toss on the pads, moving to 38 in the 28th over.

Ten overs later, he played another beautiful punch, caressing the ball past point for four. The next three overs featured a couple of half chances, a couple of uppish shots that didn't make it to the deep fielder. That's when the game broke towards India. Harbhajan went with the flow and hit a four and a six in the 41st over. Russell, though, hadn't had his last say. Off the last ball of the over, he got Harbhajan with a slower ball.

In a deliberate ploy, Rohit then took the back seat, asking Praveen Kumar to go for the big hits in the batting Powerplay. Praveen's twirls paid off, and Rohit stayed solid at the other end. After hitting the match-winning runs, Rohit pulled out one of the stumps. It could signify a turning point in a career that many believe should have taken off long ago.

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