It's In TeH GaMe !!!

Lalit Modi, the head of the BCCI's fixtures committee, said the two-Test series would go ahead. The ECB, he said, had agreed to this decision.

The first will be surely played in Ahmedabad from 11 December, but, the main concern is about the Mumbai test which is going to be played from 19 December. The ECB wants to shift the location to southern India.

Today was also a day when Middlesex were scheduled to land in Mumbai for the CL T20. But obviously, due to the terror strikes, the tour has been postponed as well as their flight. Lucky them !

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The much awaited Champions League which was scheduled from December 3 - 10 in India has been postponed due to the recent terror attacks in Mumbai. Mr. Lalit Modi says that it is planned to be played early next year.

It is a big disappointment, but we can't do anything about it. Anyways, I will be waiting for more information and will update the blog soon.

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After 11 blasts that took place in Mumbai on 26th and 27th of November, ECB officials met the BCCI in Cuttack to discuss this matter. It has been said that England will be going back home, and the rest of the matches in the ODI series have been postponed.

The final call on the test series and the Champions League T20 is yet to be taken.

Anyways, as far as I know, the Champions League T20 might be played in Bangalore instead of Mumbai.

I will be updating more news on this issue as soon as I get it.

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Like me, many other cricket fans, especially English fans, might be praying to the rain gods : Rain, Rain go away, Please come another day. And finally, the rain gods did stop raining. But then the question came about the drainage facility in M Chinaswamy stadium of Bangalore. And the grounds men replied the question with full force, and struggle. India were put into bat first, and were in a comfortable position by scoring 82 runs in the 14th over of their innings with the loss of only Tendulkar when it first rained. The game was interrupted for at least 3 hours.

Finally after some hard work from the ground's men, play resumed, but not for very long. The maximum number of overs were reduced to 44. Sehwag soon reached his fifty and smashed Stuart Broad in the 16th over for a six and 2 fours. After the 17th over it started again. India were 107 for 1 and all their powerplays were over.

This time it looked like the match is going to be abandoned for it was raining quite heavily. But again the ground's men won the battle against the rain and even though it was still quite wet, Pietersen's effort (obviously, he would want his team to play this match and win it too, if they wanted to stay alive in the series) to convince the umpire seemed as if the play will resume.

The number of overs were reduced from 44 to 22. Yeah, almost a T20 game !!! With India having only 5 more overs to go, it seemed like England have the advantage. But Gambhir and Sehwag didn't gave up. Sehwag smashed a six on the first ball after the break. He got out soon, and then came Yuvraj Singh who trashed the England bowlers easily. He was unbeaten on 23 of 11 bowls which included three huge sixes. India ended their innings on 166-4 from their 22 overs. It looked as if England would chase down this target easily. But Duckworth Lewis method came into the game again and from 166, the target for England was set to an almost impossible 198.

England started poorly, loosing Ravi Bopara in the 2nd over of their innings. Ishant Sharma, who finally got a haircut took a brilliant catch of the bowling of Munaf Patel. In the middle overs it look like England could chase down the target easily courtesy Oawis Shah ( 78) and Flintoff. But even from the beginning, powerplays were their problem. They took their 2 over powerplay and struggled to capitalize on it. First Oawis Shah top edged an attempted yorker from Zaheer Khan to give Tendulkar an easy catch at the covers. Then in their last powerplay over, Ishant Sharma deceived Freddie with a slower one who holed out straight to Zaheer Khan at covers.

From there onwards, England were nowhere near the target and collapsed giving India a 19 runs victory in their 700th ODI. India are the first country to play 700 ODI's.

Anyways the Indian captain said that many other players may get their chances in the last 3 ODI's since India have already won the series.

Virender Sehwag was awarded the Man of The Match trophy, a RS. 1 lakh check and a motorbike to ride on.

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Finally, its a sigh of relieve for the world champions, who had a very tough tour in India. They have beaten the visitors New Zealand in the first test match at Brisbane by 149 runs. Though Australia's batting has still not come up, despite of Symonds coming back in the squad, it was their bowling who took the Kiwis apart, and made it look easy.

This is what Daniel Vectori had to say after the match : "It's been a trend for a while now. We need one or two guys to stand up and score hundreds. There's some talented guys in the line-up. It's just a question of self belief. "

And the winning captain Ponting : "We didn't have the best of games but it feels good to bounce back. We came to Brisbane after 6-7 weeks in India so out batsmen were a bit underprepared for the conditions. Hopefully our batsmen can get better in Adelaide. We're going to have to work a lot harder down there to get wickets. To get two late wickets last night was always a bonus."

Michael Johnson was the Man of the Match for his 9 wicket haul, though I think it should have been awarded to Simon Katich, for it was him who saved the Aussies from a big collapse, while he was batting brilliantly in the second innings, on the other side, the other batsmen were falling regularly.

Anyways, Australia are leading the two test match series 1-0, and the second test match will be played in Adelaide.

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As we say, fortune favours the brave, India deservingly won this match by 16 runs counting on the Duckworth Lewis method due to bad light. The match was seriously becoming very dull. It makes me remember the World Cup 2007 final.

It could be a bit unfortunate on England's part since they had a chance to rattle the Indian batting. Thanks, to the Indian captain MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan for surviving the rampaging Andrew Flintoff, and then scoring runs quickly to pass the 180 runs mark in 40 overs ( that were the required runs in 40 overs according to the D/L method), to see India home.

In the starting, the match was delayed by 45 minutes to fog. Though I feel, if floodlights were installed, then why didn't they use it ? The game was reduced to 49 overs per side. England won the toss and elected to bat for a change. There were a lot of changes in their batting line-up, with Ravi Bopara opening with Ian Bell, and Matt Prior coming down the lower order.England got on to a flying start courtesy Bopara and Bell. Just when Bell was eying his half century, when, he edged a delivery from Munaf Patel that was going just a bit away from him. Then came England captain Kevin Peitersen, who was also looking good, before edging a Harbhjan Singh doosra straight to long off. And after that all the England batsmen except Oawis Shah fell at regular intervals, and went on to be atleast 30 - 40 runs shorter than the expected total score after looking at their opening partnership.

India lost 2 wickets before crossing 50 run mark, when Rohit Sharma and Sehwag got India back on track. Unfortunately for them, they got out in quick succession, and the pressure was back on India, and especially Yuvraj Singh who was looking to become the fourth player in the world to score 3 consecutive tons in Odi's. Yuvraj scored a valuable 38 before getting out on a bouncer from Freddie who exchanged some heated words with Yuvraj on the previous delivery. Then came Pathan to support Dhoni, and saw Freddie off in the dying moments of the match by scoring 2 boundaries in the last over of the game.

Harbhajan Singh was judged Man of the Match for taking 3 important wickets in the England innings.

England are just one loose away from loosing the whole series. Will Kevin Peitersen and his boys be able to fight their way back to win the series ?

India are leading the series 3-0 and are just one win away from grabbing their hands at the Hero Honda Cup.

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Yes, I am talking about the radio station that I told you guys about. First of all I would be making the hindi version radio station, and after that comes the english version (which seems to be in a bit of doubt).

I don't know how much time it will take but, one thing is for sure, Crick-O radio station (hindi) is going to be done by this year end.

Meanwhile, do keep watching the upcoming matches between India-England, and New Zealand's tour of Australia. After that there's Champions League T20 !

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Hello everyone,

So I am back and seriously very happy with the way the India-England series is going on, after all, my favourite team - India is leading the series 2 -0. Perhaps it is all because of Yuvraj Singh. And obviously he deserves these back to back centuries. But there's a long way to go for both the teams as there are 5 more matches still to be played in the series.
Anyways, England is looking to fight their way back, while India who are in a comfortable position are looking to continue their good work.

The next match is going to be played on 20th November.

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Yet again I won't be able to watch and cover the first ODI and perhaps the second ODI as well of the England's tour to India. I am quite busy with my exams and some family functions. Anyways, I am quite sure I would back after 17th November. So guys hold on, there's a lot more on Crick-O coming up.

Before going I would like to inform the latest news from the England-India ODI series that Ishant Sharma and Ryan Sidebottom would be missing the first ODI.


Hasta La Vista (Till we meet again)
Rishabh

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Firstly is there anyone out there who does not played the GTA San Andreas ? Yet if it’s yes quit reading this review. Any ways if you can’t wait to get your hands on GTA 4 you can gave a try to gta sa or you can get some mods for GTA SA. I am reviewing one of my favourite mod - GTA SA MULTI PLAYER. GTA SA MULTI PLAYER is a MMO where u can play on junk of server where you can play a police or a gang man. Play together call someone in car and have fun (COUGH COUGH) or maybe roam around city and show people how bad you are as a driver and killed some guys by your car <<< class="MsoNormal">I would rate this MMO mod 4.2 STAR as it is a bit laggy L

It was certainly supposed to happen. With Ponting using his non-regular and slower bowlers (on day 4 after the Tea Break) in a situation that gave them the chance to level the series, this tactic actually left Australia in a complete mess.

Had Ponting not thought about the slow over rate and would have gone for his quicker bowlers (who were on fire) to bowl out India, it could have resulted a one match ban on him.

What annoyed me more was even if Ponting had to recover the over rate by using his slower bowlers, why didn't he use his regular spinners in tandom - Cameron White and Jason Krejza ?
Instead he used his part timers like Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey ! While if you look at India on day 5, even they were going very slow, but MS Dhoni introduced his regular spinners Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra to bowl in tandom. And not only was he about to recover the over rate fully( Australian innings ended before he could fully recover the rate) but also got to the victory by both the bowlers bowling beautifully.

Now coming back to Ponting and CA, I feel maybe it's time for CA to introduce a new and young captain like Clarke who can take the responsibility of their team's future.

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In the end I have to say this. The prediction I made about this match went completely wrong.
Anyways, I would like to congratulate Indian Team for their series victory.

It was one of those test matches that had many twist and turns before coming to a decision which seemed completely one sided. Perhaps the biggest highlight of this match was both the innings of Sourav Ganguly. I am quite speechless even as I am writing this post.

A terrific effort from each and every player throughout the whole series ensured another victory for Indians in this match as they have won the series 2 - 0. It was a series that India completely deserved to win. They were better than Aussies in almost every department.

Coming back to the outcome of this match, I think Australia had their chance on Day 4 to completely change the result. But some ridiculous strategies from Ricky Ponting let India claw back India into the game, and after that Australia were nowhere in a position to win and equal the series.

After setting a huge target of 382 for Aussies to win on the final day, India had complete control right from the first session of the day. The Australians lost 3 wickets ( Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke) before the first session.

The downfall continued after the lunch as Michael Hussey, Matthew Hayden and Haddin went in quick succession. From there onwards it was no chance for Aussies to even fight for a draw.
Their only hope was if it rained, which was impossible to happen since their was no cloud cover in Nagpur.

One of the funniest moment of the game was when Brad Haddin (the Australian wicket keeper) threw his glove to stop the ball ! Can you imagine this ? Seriously if this used to happen, players would have been throwing their caps, and the best of all would be that the fielders players start wearing helmets and then throw them to catch or stop the ball.

One of the biggest blunder in the game was made by Ricky Ponting. Coming out after tea on Day 4, most of us must have expected Ponting to go for the kill and bowl out India using his prime bowlers. But because he wanted to recover the over rate (which if he didn't, it could have resulted one test match ban), he used the spinners and non-regular bowlers. It resulted with MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh scoring runs freely and taking India from 166-7 to score a hundred run partnership.

Anyways, before ending this post I would like to congratulate Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble for contributing for India for so many years, and I wish them best of luck for their future.
The Era has really ended !

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First of all I would like to congratulate Jason Kreja for the 8 wicket haul in his first international career match. It's not everyday that a debutant comes and takes 8 wickets in his first innings. The way the match is going, I predict that it would be another tame draw. Anyways, its a bit to early to say anything. But yes I am waiting for a result, and I could only hope that this would be a game for Sourav Ganguly to remember ( In fact it will be, since he has already scored 85 in the first innings of the game.) I hope I can see him bat again in the 2nd Innings. Anyways the match is evenly poised and as I said before it seems like it going to be another draw.

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This was very much expected yet still a surprise for me. After Ganguly, who is playing his last series, it's time to bid adieu to Anil Kumble. It's a sad day for Indian cricket. The 38 year old veteran announced that this Delhi Test will be his last one, and therefore his last in international cricket. This also means that MS Dhoni who is the vice captain of Indian test team would be captaining the Indian side in the last test match at Nagpur. The tall right arm leg spinner gave an immediate surprise after the tea break on Day 5 when announced his retirement.
One of the world's best spinner, Kumble would be remembered for a long time for his achievements like the 10 wicket haul in the inning against Pakistan. More than that he was a great ambassador of this game and a kind and humble gentleman. He took 619 wickets in test cricket (3rd highest wicket taker) and 337 wickets in ODI's.
He was one of my favourite cricketer and tears are flowing from my eyes even as I am writing this post.

What would be interesting to see is how India copes up without him, and if someone would be able to fill up his void. (Though it will be very difficult for anyone to do so)

I would wish to see Anil being involved in the game somehow or the other, like maybe being a commentator, or opening his cricket academy, or maybe being an umpire, or a referee.
Anyways,
The whole nation is proud of you Anil. I wish you all the best for your life after cricket.

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Well, it is getting dull and duller as the match is progressing. This Feroz Shah Kotla pitch has proved to be a super batting paradise and this test match is most probably a draw until one of the sides make a huge blunder. I am sure India would be playing this game for a draw since they already leading 1 -0 with 1 more test match to go after this one. While on the other hand, Australia would naturally like to get the result in their favor. With Australia being all out making 577 runs, India are leading ahead by 36 runs. Now that India have made 43 runs with the loss of 2 wickets at stumps on Day 4 they lead by 79 runs and would be looking to bat for at least 1 hour after lunch or a bit more. Some of the best knocks in this match were by the in form Gambhir(206 runs) , VVS Laxman (200* runs) and Michael Clarke(112 runs). Surprisingly the guy failed with the bat for India did a marvelous job with the ball ! Yes I m talking about Virender Sehwag whose bowling figures were 40 overs - 9 maidens - 104 runs - 5 wickets (40-9 -104-5). He bowled as if he was one of the regular bowlers in the absence of Harbhajan Singh(not playing due to a tow injury) and Anil Kumble who injured his little finger while trying to catch Mathew Hayden.

Awww.... Its getting boring now.

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