It's In TeH GaMe !!!

Now, most of you must have got the idea from the title itself. Of course, it is the IPL and Mr.Lalit Modi who have struck again. And they along with the whole BCCI individual giants are encouraging a format, where India doesn't even rank in top 5. Come on BCCI...why do you always have to something atrocious and harmful for the team in your control? Bring in some more tests please :s ...before we, the fans of Indian Cricket break your luxurious, exquisite office made from the money-through-IPL into bits and pieces.

For MSD and Co. somehow provided the icing on the cake by first marking Indian Cricket's 100^th test win, and then of course, taking India to numero uno. Now that playing against minnows like Bangladesh is going to give India not even one single point in the table, and with the NZ test series still not confirmed, I doubt if India might even slip to as low as 3 or 4 in the rankings. Possible enough? Isn't it? Here is where, MSD's golden luck will come into play. Don't forget how SL players were left licking their wounds due to the lacking of UDRS. Had it been there, at least the 3rd test could have resulted in a draw. And now in the present and the future, if by god's grace, the Aussies and the Saffas could fail to make amends of the opportunities coming at them, it is going to be Dhoni's luck again.

Still though, credit has to be given to the whole Indian team, not only the one in the present but right from the 90s when our legendary heroes were cementing their place in the side right to youngsters coming in the side and doing well of late. Needless to say, it has been a long journey, and the whole of Indian Cricket deserves to cherish these precious moments. Who knows..kal India No.1 ho ya na ho?

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Finally after a long time we have experienced a solid opening partnership by Gauti-Viru. In ODIs one might blame Sachin for blocking the next Ganguly-Sachin like opening partners. But hey, even he is doing his job well.



Never mind, back to the present game. After already witnessing two great tons, I do hope as an Indian supporter to see Dravid and Tendulkar cementing their positions on-field and score a ton tomorrow. But who knows, the pitch might just get better for the bowlers later. In fact if you see, even in the last game played at Kanpur where both Gambhir and Sehwag featured in an opening partnership was against South Africa in 2004 where they took the toll to 218 runs.
That game resulted in a draw. Let's hope it doesn't happen this time around. I won't say the pitch will continue to be a batting paradise for whole 5 days like the one in Ahmedabad. I just think the Sri Lankans weren't up to the mark, especially Mendis. It could have been much better for them...really better had Mahela not dropped Sehwag when he wasn't even off the mark. Sehwag really did punish all the bowlers after that cautious little period early during the morning session.

India look good enough to take the team total to at least 600 runs if they don't collapse. Tomorrow's first hour could be an important one especially for Dravid if he wants to capitalize his innings and score about 150 runs. The Indians have a strong line-up to come. But on a day even the line-up loaded with the likes of Laxman, Yuvraj and Dhoni can falter. And as I said before, if the pitch starts cracking up...expect Murali and Mendis to take revenge. In fact only these two, all the bowlers could come very handy.

Some Shocking Decisions

I turned my Television on at around 8:30 AM waiting for toss only to here the changes made in the lineups of both the teams.

First up was India - Sreesanth comes in for Ishant, Ojha for Mishra. The former one in my opinion was totally atrocious. How can Dhoni and Co. loose confidence in him. Did Dhoni forgot how he used to show confidence in players like Yuvraj(during his early reign as captain) who were once going through bad form? Ishant has to be considered a bit unlucky. If you see, he did well in the first two games against Australia during the ODI series. Yet when he got a little expensive figures to show in the 3rd ODI, he was dropped for the rest of the series. And yet again, Dhoni expected him to bring in some wickets for the team on a dead flat batting track.

Mishra's exclusion was no less than atrocious too. Again, Dhoni seems to have lost confidence in a young talented spinner bringing in another young turner. I anyways won't say much about it...after all it is Ojha's birthday today!

Then came the Sri Lankan captain. At once I thought Sangakkara might have made a good decision to bring back Mendis for injured Damika Prasad. But later, when he was taken apart by all the Indian batsmen, Sanga might himself be ruing this decision. Well...he has at least shown some faith in Mendis.

By the tomorrow is my 15th birthday. And so as a birthday gift, I do hope to see the Indians end this match as well as the whole series on a winning note.

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My first post after a long time!

It couldn't have gone any worse for the Indian team. They really seem to be out of colors ever since the IPL. Oh well...in a way ever since I wrote my last post. They seem to be lacking the self-confidence and form that they carried with them coming into the year 2009.

The 3rd day was totally dominated by the Lankans thanks to some over-defensive tactics by MSD. This is one kind of a situation where Aussie captain, Ricky Ponting found himself when his team came to India for a four match test series last year. All strange tactics, flat fielding and bowling resulted in zero-pressure on the Lankan batsmen. But you can't really steal the credit from their batsmen as well. They seemed to have batted India out of this game totally. The current lead is around 165 runs. Expect the lead to increase to at least 250 runs, and then the SL bowlers would have enough time to test the so-called experience batting order of Indians.

What really annoyed me was the fact that the singles kept coming on quite easily. I wouldn't have set such a field even in shorter formats of the game. MSD seems to be lacking his out-of-the-box thinking. Or if you would like...his stars are not shining, therefore his gambles not paying off well. But why blame him alone? Some non-sensical and lousy bowling also resulted in Jayawardene duo getting away. Mishra just kept bowling from around the wicket, outside the leg to both the batsmen expecting the ball to turn miles(which of course even Warnie would have been able to do). Bhajji still seamed to be confused and a bit insecure. And part time bowling of Yuvi was at its worse. Either he bowled short, or bowled non-turning half volleys with 5-6 fielders outside the 30 yard circle. Ishant and Zaheer too looked decent enough.

Indian Batting in the 1st Innings -

The first half or so of the game sent shockwaves throughout the dressing room. Right after the 6th ODI against Australia played earlier this November, this was another top-order collapse. I remember Viru once said how fatherhood has made him more responsible even in his game. It seemed true for quite a while. Sehwag injured...he came back and with him came back the showdows of his gameplay during his early days when he used to get out trying to hit every ball out of the park. As one senior batsman, one does not expect this out of him. And the collapse continued to follow...Sigh. But again, the SL have stolen the credit for utilizing the early conditions well, especially Welegedara. Yuvraj,Dhoni and Dravid played extremely well to help India reach a total which looked completely out of India's reach.

What Can really Happen Now?

For India, it's near to nothing. They failed to attack Lankans the way a top team is expected to do. As an Indian supporter, I do hope to see India coming back well and at least saving their skin by drawing the game.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka have got an excellent chance to register their first win on Indian soil. Tomorrow's day is going to be very interesting and important one!



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Not at all a good news for Indian fans.You all must have watched the match between the two arch rivals and have witnessed India's mistakes in such an important game. But one can't ignore the fact that this wasn't a full strength Indian side and surely missed world class players like Yuvraj, Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. I will highlight some of the things that went against India.
Firstly, Dhoni decided to have his par-timers bowl when India were going good and Yousuf and Malik were new to the crease. Had he continued with the pacers or even introduced Harbhajan Singh, India could have avoided the record partnership.
Bowlers bowled short on a track which seemed to be favouring the batsmen. India leaked away too many runs in the region behind square. They got the first tirthy overs right, not giving too many runs, but in the last twenty overs India conceded over 160 runs with a run rate over 8.
Gautam Gambhir made up for the early loss of Sachin Tendulkar and played a magnificent ininngs
before he got himself run out, this probably cost India the match, because he seemed to be simply unstoppable.
Middle order batsmen weren't able to maintain the run rate fell victims to Boom-Boom Afridi. Afridi's double blow consisting of Kohli's and Dhoni's wickets.
Suresh Raina being ruled out unjustly as the umpire did not notice the big inside edge. He lost his wicket just after striking two huge sixes. He along with Dravid planned a good recovery, but finally failed.

It has now become a knockout tournament for India, as Dhoni said. India must improve their feilding standards and the lines and lengths of the bowlers before the crucial game against Australia. I wish the Indian team ALL THE BEST!!!!!!!

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What a shame for the top order and what a game going on! A result is foreseen this time around. I would rather like India to go for a win than slowing down things and playing just for a draw. India's 1st innings is almost over other than (if)the last partnership between Ishant and Munaf can take the score to 450+ runs, it would be a merry and a cherry on the the cake served(I mean the efforts) by MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh and SRT. Congrats to Ian O'Brien for taking his 50 wickets. He continues to show a fine package of disciplined line and length bowling mixed with some fine pace.

From India's perspective what really hurt me the most was the middle order slump just after the Tea. But it's good to see MSD back in the side and why not? He has shown his worth by scoring a half century. Bhajji has again showed that he can bat and mat his counterparts. And as the cricinfo.com commentators said, Vettori would really be hopping madly back in the dressing room after failing to stop the Indian tail wag and score runs heavily. Definitely, the Kiwis have underestimated Harbhajan and Co.

A few records were tumbled down on this day and another one which is regarding this blog is that Crick-O marks it's 100th post with this one adding to the total.

Now moving forward to expectations from India for Day 2 all I can say is 'reverse swing'. That's it. Chilly, windy conditions are perfect for the Indian seamers to get the bowl to swing and once again prove their mettle after being hammered in the 2nd test. But again, DON'T Underestimate Harbhajan Singh.

While many of the Indian supporters would be wanting to see the 100th test win for India, it would be too early to say anything, at least after looking the mauling Indian bowlers received in Napier.

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Road to IPL Season II has had so many hurdles and finally this latest one of shifting it out from India has probably deflated one of the wheels of the IPL vehicle. Now should I still call it Indian Premier League,English Premier League or probably South African Premier League?

You know why ? Just look at the points following below to understand my frustration and disappointment like many other Indians -

1. Player Values

Kevin Pietersen - $1.55 million - England

Andrew Flintoff - $1.55 million - England

Mahendera S Dhoni - $1 million - India

Even the icon players like Sachin, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj are receiving just about Rs 4.50 crores which are around $800000-900000 which of course is no comparison
to that of the new Bengaluru Team captain ,Kevin Pietersen.

2.Captaincy

Thanks to the above mentioned point about K.P.'s new role that made me stretch this topic of captaincy further. Does our Indian players have no knowledge of how to lead a side whatsoever? Or are the foreigners more brainy when it comes to this job ? Doesn't seem to be true, isn't it? At least not after looking at the current healthy situation of the Indian Cricket team.If this is not enough then here's another good example that would reprimand this thought that Indians are not capable of leading a side - Sourav Ganguly. Both of them have had the midas touch to lead India to victory. Recently, Mallya and Co. replaced Rahul Dravid with K.P. as the captain and they also made a remark that once K.P. is gone back to England...oops, I mean for his national duty(since IPL is likely going to be held in England), Kallis would become the leader of the pack. And the recent speculation of removing Ganguly from his job as the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders is nearly true. And it does seem that the former Australian, John Buchanan who is now the coach of Kolkata Knight Riders would replace Dada with the Australian captain who also used to lead under his realm, Ricky Ponting. Soon we might Mukesh Ambani replacing Tendulkar with someone else. Though again, you just can't forget that if a team does remarkably well and gets into a habit of winning, it makes the job easier for the captain whosoever he is.

3.Foreign Coaches
Do we have any other team other than Mumbai Indians without a foreign coach? Let alone the franchises in IPL, do we presently have any international team(exceptions : South Africa and Australia) that doesn't have a single foreigner in their support staff?

We have seen over a decade or so and in fact we still are seeing teams like Saffas and Australia making merry with their local coaches and staff. So why can't have our local coaches in IPL as well ?

Conclusion

90% about IPL is foreign now including the crowd and all the points mentioned above. It's just those franchise owners and BCCI that make the remaining proportion.
Now tell me, is there any Desi Tadka which makes Indian Premier League Indian?

Think about it and do share with us anything Desi about IPL.

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Yet again, India is showing their true domination and is near to tear all those records which suggests the smashing that previous Indian teams have received before in New Zealand. The bowling department has probably found a fitting bowling attack and especially the 3rd seamer in Munaf Patel. Tendulkar has probably blunted all those fingers pointing his retirement and form.

While on the other hand, the only bright rays of light for the Black Caps has been the all rounder, Jesse Ryder and Chris Martin's superb bowling. New Zealand nearly looks out of the game and they would now have to play the catch-up game in order to save the match.

Here's an extract from the day's play by cricinfo.com

Walk on
When Mahendra Singh Dhoni cut a wide delivery from Iain O'Brien, Ryder pulled off another athletic effort at gully, diving to his right this time, and claimed a low one-handed catch. Dhoni refused to walk, and was told by the crowd to "walk mate". Replays showed the ball might have touched the ground before reaching Ryder's hand. Dhoni was booed when the not-out decision was finally made. Three balls later, he went for a hook, gloved it, and walked right away. This time he was cheered.

This is hilarious. I do remember the Australian crowd doing the same to Indians during their tour late in 2007-08. In my opinion this is ridiculous, though of course, you do want to see your team win. But you can call it almost unfair. After all, Dhoni himself walks out so many times even when the umpires are doubtful whether it is out or not. He(or in fact any Indian batsman) has never ever refused to walk when they know they are out(a rare case if it is false).

Well anyway, here's another rare case -

Four for all
When Munaf Patel went down on his knee, and swept Daniel Vettori with one hand to the square-leg boundary to get off the mark, he became the ninth Indian batsman in the innings to start scoring with a boundary. Tendulkar and VVS Laxman started with one and two respectively.

Can anyone tell me if it has ever happened before?

The star of the day, Sachin has got another post in his name, this time from Naked Cricket - Sachin Tendulkar Exposed!

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Oh and finally I managed to watch the full game(I was suffering from severe fever so I didn't go to school today). Finally, it is a relieve on the face of the Indian fans as their team beat NZ by 53 runs(thanks to the D/L method).

The Kiwis looked totally helpless today. They were off colour and failed to make a mark in any of the department. The rain started to pour down heavily in Napier and the game was reduced to 38 overs a side. Viru was at his usual best. He hammered the bowlers all over the small ground. Tendulkar as I had said before wasn't really able to concentrate. After Tendulkar was out I, in fact most of those watching this game would have expected Gambhir at No.3. But the captain Dhoni promoted himself at that one of the most important slot and did wonders along with Sehwag who was later dismissed by the Black Caps captain Vettori. Then came Yuvraj in the middle who couldn't do much and was run out on a paltry 2 of 13 balls. Bringing himself(MSD) and his deputy at the top clearly showed the intentions of the Indians to go after the ball even in the middle overs. In my opinion that wasn't a good move. Number 3 and number 4 are that kind of positions which requires(and in fact gives them the power) the batsmen to control the pace of their team's innings. I would have preferred to bring either Raina or Gambhir at No.4 as this would have created a balance between aggressive hitting and singles and doubles. But Dhoni was in some other mood. He rather himself was first settling down by rotating strike with Raina who scored a solid 66 of just 39 balls which was the turning point of the Men in Blue's innings. India ended their batting with 273 runs on the board with the loss of 4 wickets at the average of 7.18 runs per over. Awesome ! Isn't it ?!

There was more to come. The hero for NZ in both the T20s - Brendon McCullum was caught for a duck. The scoreboard read 111-4 in 20.5 overs when it started to rain again. The match was now reduced to 28 overs and the new target set for the Black Caps was 216 runs. Perhaps, one would say that the rain made things difficult for the islanders. It surely did. The pressure revolved around Martin Guptill to score as quickly as possible. But the Indian bowlers, especially Harbhajan Singh had different ideas. The 24th over of the Kiwi innings was a dream over for Bhajji. He quickly dismissed Guptill, Neil Broom and Mills to reduce the New Zealand from 132-5 to 132-8. Soon it was all over for Vettori's men in black. They ended their run chase managing 162 runs with the loss of 9 wickets.

Finally, the Indian team seems to have settled down well and are reading the conditions well! There's a lot more to think for Vettori and his team.

India leads the series 1-0 winning the first game tonight.

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On the back foot after twin Twenty20 losses to New Zealand, Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday said Sachin Tendulkar's return to the side has boosted the team's morale ahead of the one-day series.

"He is a great player. Not only from a batting or bowling point of view, if you see the amount of contribution he can make to the side from his experience is amazing. He changes the dressing room atmosphere completely," said Dhoni ahead of the day-night ODI series opener.

Dhoni said he cannot quantify Tendulkar's influence on the team and the opponents.[LINK]

Okay...agreed, Mr.Dhoni that he brings a lot of experience to this side. In fact it's very true,but, this set's a question on Tendulkar's retirement again. Though of course it's up to him to decide the time to set the curtains on his remarkable career! But give it a thought. Can't he be in the team as a mentor(or say a coach) rather than a plaayer. After all he isn't the previous Tendulkar of even 2003. He looks a bit loose nowadays.

I found him very shaky and he was living dangerously ever since when England came to India last year and series that followed. Clearly, I would say that it's time to retire from the shorter versions of the game. Although he is likely the most important member in the team during the test matches. India is going through a transaction period in test cricket - a format which is perhaps the toughest and requires a lot of patience(which of course, many young cricketers loose very early). So maybe one more year in the tests for Tendu.

But again...who are we to decide his retirement ?

Have your own thoughts about his retirement ? Feel free to share it in the comments section.

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It's surely very disappointing to say the least. But this is how Indian team's luck has been going. Jersey changes...India looses ! The first T20 was in any case a disaster but the 2nd wasn't far behind either. Perhaps, the second T20 made the Indian pace attack a bit weaker with Ishant Sharma getting his shoulder injured while fielding. He never returned back on the field. And another disaster that could be in this whole tour for India is Brendon McCullum's sublime form. He is looking unstoppable. While on the other hand, for the first time both the Indian openers(Viru and Gambhir) looked helpless and of course...scoreless.

One of my friend was so frustrated about this loss that he screamed in my ears: "All the Indian wins now look to me a fluke." And maybe he's right. I was there in the school when the match was being played. I managed to get back home when the last ball was about to be bowled. I looked at the full scorecard and was completely shocked. Back in the game...Pathan was taking this run-up and I was praying the god like anything. But it was all too late. Pathan bowled a short one which in my opinion wasn't a bad one. When the ball was hit in the air, my heart just like McCullum was in my mouth. Luckily his heart came down to it's original position while I was still in a state of shock and was cursing Rohit Sharma for dropping that catch. But it wasn't a easy one to pull off.

What this series win has showed is that the Kiwis are one of the best team in this format and why not...they have beaten the world champions twice, in fact thrice(Yes! In all India-New Zealand encounters) counting the T20 world cup victory. Doesn't seem like India can win this T20 world cup. And I would recommend other Indian fans not to expect from their team. You know why ? Just like the inaugural T20 championship where not many had much hope(including me) of Indian victory, Dhoni and his boys proved them wrong. Similarly, if you ask too much from the team, they are obviously going to be in pressure.

Anyway, coming back to the present tour, I would like to see India hit New Zealand back hard in the ODI series.

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If India is really worried it is probably due to the weather rather than New Zealand. Because of this poor weather the Indians doesn't seem to getting used to the conditions in New Zealand which is completely different than that in India. Obviously, the Kiwis are comparatively inexperienced than the T20 world champions. Though again they do have the home advantage. And to make it higher is the low weather conditions which aren't letting India to practice to get used to the conditions.

Also, India had previously lost to New Zealand in the T20 world cup. Revenge must be on the back of the minds of Dhoni and Co.

Vettori had earlier said that hard hitting guys like Dhoni, the Pathan Bros, Yuvraj, Sehwag can hit the ball easily out of the small grounds in NZ. And one of my friend said: "If Yusuf, Dhoni and Yuvraj can hit the ball out of the grounds in Australia and India,then, even players who aren't known for their big hitting like Gambhir, Rohit Sharma can clear the boundary rope quite easily." And if you look at the big hitters in the Kiwi side, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum are one of the most famous names. But batsmen like Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina have proved that T20 is not just about clearing the park. Instead strike rotating and quick running between the wickets is also very important. And when it comes to quick running and strike rotating, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are probably the best partners doing it regularly followed by their captain M.S. Dhoni.

In my opinion, the key players from both the sides would be -

India - Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh(big hitters to entertain the crowd), Pathan Bros(gosh...people would be expecting too much from them after their heroics in the T20 game against Sri Lanka), The bowling duo of Zaheer and Ishant( to see whether they prove good in conditions which are probably favorable to them)

New Zealand - Vettori(one of the best spinner and now the leader of the Kiwis), Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum(big hitters and match-winners), Jacob Oram(one of the finest all-rounder who has the skills to clear the grounds and pitch the bowl in the right areas)

The first T20 game is going to be played tomorrow in Christchurch.

For the full schedule click here.

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They are at it again. Somebody said right about the present situation of cricket in India :

"Morons are on the run and are ruining the game"

BCCI has again proved why they are the stupidest board of the game. The Indian team ODI jersey is simply getting darker and darker!


One might wonder if the Men in Blue would turn Men in Black. Who knows ? Maybe, by the time I pass out my school, the Indian jersey could turn just around the color of the Black Caps(New Zealand). The New ODI Jersey

Maybe you are rich BCCI, but remember that recession might hit you as well!

Alright, now to be honest I am seriously worried about the growing hype around the team. Why ? Because whenever the hype grows up, the Indian team goes down. And to add to the woes is this new Indian cricket team look. Whoever the designer of this new look is, in my opinion he/she can be criticized as well as praise about. Criticized because of this dull, fugly look and praised because as Dhoni said,"Hopefully, this one won't get too dirty and this would save the laundry charges as well"!

Maybe I am being superstitious, but I am seriously afraid that NZ tour might be a disaster as World Cup 07 was when before it started, the Indian team jersey got another new look.

Yuvi's a good model indeed !

Throughout this presentation, Yuvraj was at his hilarious best, and this pose of him explains it all. Harsha Bhogle, who was the host of this event kept the audience in good humour with his Q & A sessions with MSD, Yuvi, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Dinesh Kartik and Rohit Sharma. Yuvi chose to add 'ask Dhoni' to a few of his replies. For instance when asked if he was happy with his batting position at No.4, he said: "Very happy, but you have to ask Dhoni. He decides the batting line-up."

In any case, even as I am ending this post, the fear of a disasterous tour of NZ is still looming large on my mind.

Anyway, I wish India the very best for their tour. Go India !!

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It doesn't happen every day or even every year. First it were the Hussey brothers who batted the Aussies to equalize the equation against the New Zealand setting up a thrilling decider on Friday the 13th. But in my opinion the better ones were the Pathan Brothers who not only saved India from the blushes but also showed why India is one of the best teams in this Twenty20 format.

It wasn't one of the greatest starts for India during bowling to their opposition as well.Irfan Pathan dropped a sitter that was offered by Dilshan when he was yet to open his account. Later Ishant Sharma caught Jayasuriya one handed of Irfan Pathan. He was on a onslaught and he not got out at that time of the game, Sri Lanka could have posted a massive total of over 200 runs. Finally when he got out, things slowed down for Sri Lanka. They ended posting a good total of 171 runs.

During the start of Indian innings when Sehwag and Gambhir got out early, it seemed all over for India. I switched off my T.V. for 10-20 minutes and just to check the position of the game, I started watching the game in Live Simulation on this blog. Yuvraj and Raina shared a partnership of 67 runs between themselves before both of them fell in quick succession. Wickets continued to fall in regular intervals and India were reduced to 116-7 before the Pathan Bros started their onslaught.

Hats off to all four of them (both the Hussey Bros and Pathan Bros) !

Twenty is really the most unpredictable format of the game.

By the way luck is really shinning on Dhoni. Even the tosses go his way and even if they don't, then there are his opposition captains that make a decision favoring Dhoni !

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Alright guys, I am ready to watch today's exciting T20 game between India and Sri Lanka! To me the Indians seems clear favorites(not because I support Indian team but we know what the t20 champions can do). Though nothing can be said about this unpredictable game. You may seem to be thinking - "Okay, now we are going to win it clearly.", and then suddenly your team looses a couple of wickets and with it the chance of winning the match.

It is also going to be the first T20 game being hosted in Lanka, and I am pretty sure, the Lankan fans wouldn't like to go back with disappointment written all over their face.

There were a few surprises given to me by both India as well as Sri Lanka in selection matters. Sri Lankans won't be having Jayawardene and Sangakkara as well as the spinning duo of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajanta Mendis playing this game. Which means things will get tougher for the stand-in captain Dilshan. Meanwhile in the Indian squad I was expecting a player like Robin Uthappa(form doesn't matter to me in T20 cricket). We can't forget his heroics during India's glorious win in South Africa. The rest of the squad seems pretty much fine and I was expecting this.

Here's my pick of Indian team's playing XI for today's game :
Gautam Gambhir
Virender Sehwag
Yuvraj Singh
Suresh Raina
M.S. Dhoni
Yusuf Pathan
Irfan Pathan/Rohit Sharma
Pragyan Ojha
Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Praveen Kumar

The Sri Lankan team looks very new to me and since I don't follow Sri Lankan cricket, I am not sure about their line-up. So I leave it to others to pick their playing for both the teams.

The match is going to begin at around 7pm IST(Indian standard time).

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Obviously the standard has increased and somewhat it good enough as of now. But I must say, India could have done better today. They can't take a dead rubber lightly. The fielding was sloppy, the bowlers were whacked all over the ground by the Lankans which seemed pretty similar to the whacking they(Sri Lanka) got in the previous two ODIs. The batting wasn't up to the mark either. Should I blame everything to the toss ? Maybe I should. After all, the team who has won the toss has always won throughout the series. And as achettup replied to my comment in his post, it might have been very much true if Mahela had won all the 4 tosses in the previous games.

Though the best reason for this loss in my opinion is Dhoni's over-experimenting with the line-up. I would have wanted Zaheer and Sachin back in the playing XI if I also wanted Jadeja and Balaji as it would added some experience to the team. Jadeja did fairly well on his debut. He made a patient knock(although a quick fury of runs were needed) of 60 runs in 77 balls. Though he wasn't as impressive as a bowler as one might expect him to be. Balaji couldn't do much, since the Srilankans for on fire. So goes for the other bowlers as well.

Well anyway, now the series is over and India has done extremely well. While on the other hand Australia's downfall continues though it was a bit of relieve for them as they won the 3rd ODI against NZ. While the race for No.1 spot is still open. Before writing this post I also learnt that the team on the No.1 spot as on April 1 2009, will be awarded US $175,000 while the team in second spot will get US $75,000 by the ICC.

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