India's Chances in Cricket World Cup 2011

Where do India go from here? They are still at the top of group B with 7 points. But, there is a small probability of them not making it to the quarterfinals. But, thats more of a theoretical calculation. But, I believe they should be through.

Why Dhoni is not giving Ashwin a chance? Can someone remind Dhoni that Ashwin is the bowler who helped him to win IPL3 and the Champions League for Chennai Super Kings? I am not discounting the performances of Bollinger or Murali, but Ashwin was the key; he was the surprise element in IPL. Why Dhoni always hesitates to use Ashwin for India in international matches?

Its time India gives Ashwin a chance in the last league game, that too at Chennai (Ashwin's home ground). I also would like to try Suresh Raina in place of Yusuf Pathan in the last match. My team for the game against West Indies would be:

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Gautam Gambhir
4. Virat Kohli
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. Suresh Raina
7. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
8. Harbhajan Singh
9. R. Ashwin
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Munaf Patel

Let us do it boys; we have much more challenges awaiting in the knock out rounds.

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Indian Squad for ICC World Twenty20 2009

ICC World Twenty20 2009 (WT20) is going to be held in England, in about a week's time from now. The Indians are coming to the Twenty20 tournament fresh from the just concluded Indian Premier League (IPL 2009), which also belongs to the twenty overs a side format. Will they be fresh or tired? I am not sure. The results will show. I hope the match experience in South Africa would have prepared them well.

Below is the list of Indian players selected for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament:

1. Virender Sehwag (Vice captain)
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Suresh Raina
4. Yuvraj Singh
5. Rohit Sharma
6. Yusuf Pathan
7. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain & Wicket-keeper)
8. Irfan Pathan
9. Harbhajan Singh
10. Zaheer Khan
11. RP Singh
12. Ravindra Jadeja
13. Praveen Kumar
14. Pragyan Ojha
15. Ishant Sharma

Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be leading the team in the World Twenty20 for the second time, following his success in the first edition held in South Africa. Virender Sehwag will be his deputy.

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Chennai Team for Deccan Chargers Match

Chennai Super Kings will be playing Deccan Chargers, the current leaders of IPL 2009, in today's match. Chennai Super Kings is upbeat from their comprehensive win against last year champion Rajasthan Royals and a close win against Delhi Daredevils. Deccan Chargers has been put off track a little from their two losses after four consecutive wins. Interestingly, the same two teams that lost to Chennai Super Kings have beaten Deccan Chargers recently. Yes, Deccan Chargers had lost to Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals.

Positive Changes for Chennai Super Kings
Chennai has made few changes in the last two matches to the team and the batting order that helped to restore some balance in the team.

1. Parthiv Patel was dropped and Murali Vijay replaced him as opener. Since Dhoni is wicket keeping, Vijay is a better option as opener. Sunil Gavaskar, in his commentary, said that Vijay is a test player. But, its fine for me if he can score 20 runs from 20 balls and gets out. Most importantly, he should be able to rotate strike with Hayden and score at not less than a run a ball.

2. Manpreet Gony was dropped and Tyagi came in his place. Tyagi bowled very well in the last two matches. His two wickets off two balls was crucial in Chennai taking an upper hand early in the match against Delhi Daredevils. The highlight is the first ball dismissal of AB de Villiers, the batsman who scored an unbeaten century the last time these two teams met.

3. Joginder Sharma was dropped finally and in came spinner Shadab Jakati in his place. What a match he had? He picked four wickets and set the match Chennai's way. He bowled a beauty to dismiss Tillakaratne Dilshan. The combination of Jakati and Murali should work well for Chennai Super Kings.

4. Badrinath was promoted to No.4 and he played exceptionally well in the last two matches. Badrinath was clueless when he came late in the innings, but he played crucial partnerships with Suresh Raina when he was promoted.

Team for Today's Match
It might look like Chennai has found the right combination and balance for the rest of the tournament. But, I still see their bowling a weak link in spite of their victories. I would prefer one more change to this line-up, bringing in Makhaya Ntini at the expense of Jacob Oram or Albie Morkel. Both these all-rounders have failed with the bat, but Albie Morkel bowled well in the last two matches. So, I would prefer to leave Jacob Oram for Ntini.

Remember that Deccan Chargers is heavily dependent on Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs at the top. The way they went after Chennai bowlers has won the match for them in the first meeting between these two teams in IPL 2009. A bowler of the calibre of Ntini would be ideal to contain the explosive batsmen.

If the team management feels that bringing in Ntini will expose the tail too early, drop Albie Morkel and bring in hard hitting youngster George Bailey in his place. We just saw how Warner can take the match away from the opposition. Why not give George Bailey a chance? After all, Albie Morkel did not play well so far. George Bailey might provide the much needed support to the consistently failing middle order. Chennai should be able to handle the bowling well with Ntini and Tyagi opening, followed by Murali, Jakati, Raina and Balaji in the middle overs.

My team for today's match would be:

1. Matthew Hayden
2. Murali Vijay
3. Suresh Raina
4. Badrinath
5. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
6. Albie Morkel/ George Bailey
7. Shadab Jakati
8. L Balaji
9. Tyagi
10. Mutthiah Muralidaran
11. Makhaya Ntini

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Chennai Super Kings Team for Today's Match

Chennai Super Kings team lost their opening match against Mumbai Indians by 19 runs. Today, they will be facing the upbeat Bangalore Royal Challengers, who are leading the points table.

Chennai Super Kings' Error in Judgement
In my opinion, Chennai Super Kings made the first major mistake by not playing spinner Mutthiah Muralidaran. Ashwin, selected as a spinner, did not get a single over to bowl. It is clearly evident that the spinners are playing vital roles in each team in IPL 2009. Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori and Pragyan Ojha have all played match-winning/ match-turning performances in this tournament. Shane Warne, though in the losing team, bowled an inspiring spell against Bangalore Royal Challengers. So, Murali has to come in to the team, most probably replacing Ashwin, immediately.

Exclusion of South Africans
For reasons outside the game, it seems Albie Morkel could not be included in the first match. Another South African Makhaya Ntini was also not included. It is time to include one of them into the Chennai Super Kings team. Their experience and local knowledge should be handy.

Batting Order
I was not happy with the batting order. Andrew Flintoff was sent in at No. four. With due respects to Freddie, he is not suited to the role. He should be coming at No. 6 or No. 7. Dhoni should promote himself up the order, either at No. 3 or at No. 4. Chennai Super Kings also made the mistake of sending Joginder Sharma ahead of Thilan Thushara in the first match. Thushara is a better batsman and has good international exposure compared to Joginder Sharma. Thushara played some good knocks against the Indians in one day matches.

Openers
While Mathew Hayden is the key opening batsman, Parthiv Patel is a make-shift opener and his skill will be tested. The mode of his dismissal in the first match has to be looked at closely. Since Dhoni is not going to don the gloves, Parthiv Patel is a certainty in the team. Should he open the batting? Why not include and try a much better player like Murali Vijay?

Probable Team
I prefer to have the following team and batting order against Bangalore Royal Challengers:

1. Mathew Hayden
2. Murali Vijay
3. Suresh Raina
4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
5. S. Badrinath
6. Andrew Flintoff
7. Albie Morkel
8. Parthiv Patel (Wicket-keeper)
9. Joginder Sharma
10. Manpreet Gony
11. Muthiah Muralidaran

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Chennai Super Kings: Leading Run Scorers

Chennai Super Kings finished runners up in the 2008 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL). Their success was mainly due to their batting strength, which initially revolved around the Australians Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey. Later on, Suresh Raina took over with notable contributions from players like Badrinath, Dhoni, Albie Morkel and Parthiv Patel.

The list of top five leading run scorers for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2008 is as follows:

1. Suresh Raina - 421 runs, 16 matches, Average: 38.27
2. Mahendra Singh Dhoni - 414 runs, 16 matches, Average: 41.40
3. Parthiv Patel - 302 runs, 13 matches, Average: 27.45
4. Albie Morkel - 241 runs, 13 matches, Average: 34.42
5. Stephen Fleming - 196 runs, 10 matches, Average: 21.77

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IPL Chennai Super Kings Team

Image via Wikipedia

Chennai Super Kings, the finalist of the first edition of Indian Premier League (IPL 2008), would like to better one place in IPL 2009. In their quest for the title, Chennai Super Kings have acquired England star all-rounder Andrew Flintoff into the squad for a hefty sum of US$ 1.55 million which is more than the price tag of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The retirement of Australian Mathew Hayden from international cricket also means that he will be available for the entire season of IPL 2009. Sri Lankan bowler Thilan Thushara also comes into the Chennai Super Kings squad for IPL 2009.

On the bad note, Australian Michael Hussey has recently announced that he will not be playing in IPL 2009 for personal reasons. He offered to join the Chennai Super Kings team for the semi-finals and finals, if required. The position of New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram also seems to be in doubt. Jacob Oram was unable to play in the recently concluded India-New Zealand series due to his Achilles tendon injury.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian team captain, will lead the Chennai Super Kings squad. New Zealander Stephen Fleming will be the player cum coach. The Chennai Super Kings team did not have much changes to their team that played in IPL 2008. The following is the list of the players in Chennai Super Kings squad for IPL 2009:

1. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain)
2. Stephen Fleming, New Zealand (Player cum Coach)
3. Jacob Oram, New Zealand
4. Andrew Flintoff, England
5. Matthew Hayden, Australia
6. Michael Hussey, Australia
7. George Bailey, Australia
8. Albie Morkel, South Africa
9. Makhaya Ntini, South Africa
10. Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka
11. Thilan Thushara, Sri Lanka
12. Suresh Raina
13. Parthiv Patel (Wicket keeper)
14. L. Balaji
15. S. Badrinath
16. Joginder Sharma
17. M. Vijay
18. Manpreet Gony
19. P. Amarnath
20. Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan
21. Srikkanth Aniruddha
22. R. Ashwin
23. Napoleon Einstein
24. Shadab Jakati
25. Viraj Kadbe
26. Arun Karthik
27. Suresh Kumar
28. Abhinav Mukund
29. Sudeep Tyagi

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Sri Lanka Cricket Tour Begins

It is the start of Cricket action for Indians in the year 2009. With fairly successful 2008, they are now going into the New Year with a vision to move further up in the ladder. The Indians are currently ranked No. 3 in the ICC ODI rankings while Sri Lanka is placed much lower at No. 7. But, the difference in quality may not be much different with Sri Lanka holding home advantage.

Both India and Sri Lanka had been successful in their respective previous series against England and Pakistan. India beat England 5-0 before the ODI series was called off due to the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Sri Lanka lost their first match to Pakistan, but came back strongly to take the series 2-1. Kevin Pietersen lost his England team captaincy after the Indian tour, while Shoaib Malik lost his captaincy following the Sri Lankan visit.

The previous ODI series between India and Sri Lanka was a very close fight with India taking the series 3-2, thanks largely to Dhoni's luck with the coin. The other key factor was the ability of Dhoni and Raina to handle Mendis.

This series again will be a test for the Indians ability to play Murali and Mendis. The Indian team looks settled, with the following likely combination:

1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Gautam Gambhir
4. Suresh Raina
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
7. Yusuf Pathan
8. Pragyan Ojha
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Munaf Patel

The other players who could come into play later in the series include all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar and Rohit Sharma.

A good series is in the line. Recently, I don't like the ODI formats. They have been largely one-sided affairs, except a few good games here and there. Hope this series will provide tight finishes and keep the interest in the ODI games alive.

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni #1, Again

Mahendra Singh Dhoni retained his top spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship Batting Rankings. Yuvraj Singh is the only other Indian batsman to be featured in the top ten list.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni with rating points of 779 leads the pack of ODI batsman, followed by Australia's Michael Hussey. Hussey trails Dhoni by just 3 points. Australians have three players in the top ten, followed by two each from India and West Indies, and one player each from South Africa, England and Pakistan.

Top Ten ODI Batmen
The top ten list is as follows:

1. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India)
2. Michael Hussey (Australia)
3. Graeme Smith (South Africa)
4. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies)
5. Chris Gayle (West Indies)
6. Yuvraj Singh (India)
7. Ricky Ponting (Australia)
8. Kevin Pietersen (England)
9. Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan)
10. Andrew Symonds (Australia)

Other Indians in the Top 100 ODI Batsmen list
The other Indian players to be featured in the top-100 list is as follows:

12. Sachin Tendulkar
21. Virender Sehwag
23. Gautam Gambhir
39. Suresh Raina
40. Rahul Dravid
64. Robin Uthappa
73. Rohit Sharma
85. Irfan Pathan
98. Virat Kohli

For the complete list, please refer to Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings

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Indian top half is back in the pavilion

India vs Sri Lanka, India in Sri Lanka ODI Series (2008) - 1st ODI
Date: 18 Aug 2008

You cannot have a worst start to a series than this. The top half of the team is back in the pavilion even before the end of 21st over. India is certainly looking at one of the lowest scores in ODI if the bottom half and the skipper Dhoni does not contribute handsomely.

Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma were trying to steady the ship after the fall of Suresh Raina for just 17 runs. The pair came together at the score of 36/3 and helped only to double the score. The introduction of Ajantha Mendis in the last over of the powerplay, 20th over, immediately had rewards for Sri Lanka. Yuvraj Singh survived an lbw appeal in the second delivery of the over. Yuvraj responded with a huge six in the next delivery. As we had seen, Mendis does not wait too long to strike. In the next delivery, fourth delivery of his first over, he bowled Yuvraj Singh for 23. Thushara accounted for Rohit Sharma in the next over. Sharma contributed 19 runs to the total with a four and a six.

Now, it is upto Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan to salvage some pride for the Indians. At the half-way mark, the Indians were restricted to 87 for 5, with Dhoni on 6 and Pathan on 7.

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Kulasekara removes Kohli

India vs Sri Lanka, India in Sri Lanka ODI Series (2008) - 1st ODI
Date: 18 Aug 2008

The Indians are struggling against good pace bowling. They lost the debutant Virat Kohli for just 12 runs. At the end of 10 overs, Indians were precariously placed at 29 for the loss of both the openers. The scenario could have been worse if Jayawardane held the chance offered by Yuvraj Singh off the last delivery of the tenth over.

At the end of ten overs, Suresh Raina is unbeaten on 11 from 27 deliveries and Yuvraj Singh is playing with 5 runs off 9 balls. Much is expected from Yuvraj Singh in the lines of his explosive 172 in the tour game. Will he do it and bail India out?

All these happening even before Ajantha Mendis has bowled a single delivery! (Interesting!!!)

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Gambhir falls early, India in trouble

India vs Sri Lanka, India in Sri Lanka ODI Series (2008) - 1st ODI
Date: 18 Aug 2008

Gambhir was dimissed off the second delviery of the match bowled by Chaminda Vaas. Gambhir became Vaas' 399th victim and Chaminda is just one short of the prestigious 400-wickets club. The Indians had a blow early on when Sehwag was ruled out of the match. Much was expected from Gambhir in the absence of Sehwag, as the openers were the only batsmen who scored consistently in the recent test series.

Vaas and Kulasekara are bowling with good line and length and the Indians are struggling. The first three overs brought in just one run each. The next two overs contributed three runs each. At the end of five overs, the Indians are pathetically placed at 9/1. Virat Kohli is unbeaten on 6 from 11 deliveries, while Suresh Raina is playing with 2 runs from 17 deliveries.

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Virat Kohli makes ODI debut

India vs Sri Lanka, India in Sri Lanka ODI Series (2008) - 1st ODI
Date: 18 Aug 2008

The India-Sri Lanka ODI series kicks off in a few minutes from now with the first match at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. The Indians start as underdogs after their surrender to Ajantha Mendis in the Asia Cup final and the debacle in the recently concluded test series.

The Indians have further bad news as in-form Virender Sehwag will not be playing in the first match due to injury. But, that's good news for at least Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli, the successful under-19 captain, makes his ODI debut against Sri Lanka as an opener. Will he deliver? Let us wait and see.

India has won the toss and Dhoni opted to bat first. A good decision. Dambulla stadium has been known for its low scores. The highest score here of 282 is by the home team against India in 2004. Sangakkara and Jayawardene were fabulous in that match, posting a 100+ partnership in about 15 overs. In that match, India chased the match and made 270/8, thanks to good knocks from Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh.

The outcome will depend on how well the Indians play Murali and Mendis, popularly known as M&M now. The Indian team for the match is as follows:

1 Gautam Gambhir
2 Virat Kohli
3 Suresh Raina
4 Yuvraj Singh
5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni
6 Rohit Sharma
7 Irfan Pathan
8 Pragyan Ojha
9 Harbhajan Singh
10 Zaheer Khan
11 Munaf Patel

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Asia Cup 2008: Will the Indian team sparkle?

Yet another cricket tournament! Yes, the ninth edition of the Asia Cup is about to commence today with two day-night matches. Pakistan will take on Hong Kong in a Group B match while Bangladesh meets United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Group A.

Sri Lanka is featured in the Group A along with Bangladesh and UAE. India is the third team in Group B along with Pakistan and Hong Kong. The three teams will meet each other once in group matches and the top two teams from each group will progress to the next stage. The four teams will again meet each other once, with the top two teams qualifying for the finals to be played on 6th July 2008.

The Indians had so far won the Asia cup four times; Sri Lanka lifted it thrice and Pakistan once. India’s last triumph was 13 years back in the year 1995. The tournament has a history that dates back to 1984 when the first tournament was launched in UAE.

India plays Hong Kong tomorrow in a day-night encounter. Interesting news is that Dhoni will bat up the order. I would prefer Dhoni to come in at No. 5, with Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh occupying the No.3 and No. 4 slots. Gambhir and Sehwag would open the batting. Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Piyush Chawla are certain to be in the bowling line-up. That leaves a slot for a batsman, an all-rounder and a bowler. I would love to have Yusuf Pathan as an all-rounder and Manpreet Gony to fill the bowler slot. The last batsman slot should go either to Robin Uthappa or Suresh Raina. I am happy with the approach of both these batsmen. The only problem is that both these batsmen get good starts, but do not go on to make a big score.

A good performance from Dhoni’s men could light up the tournament, which otherwise looks to be a dull encounter.

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Inconsistent Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings were consistently inconsistent throughout this tournament. They started off as the favourites to win this tournament when Mathew Hayden, Michael Hussey and Jacob Oram helped them to post 4 consecutive victories. Since the departure of these three, Chennai has just managed 3 wins out of 8 games.

Disappointing Royal Challengers
Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to bat first, a decision that raised eyebrows. The Chennai Super Kings’ opening bowlers, Makhaya Ntini and Gony, bowled excellent line and length to trouble the Royal Challengers. Dravid’s team was immediately in trouble and they were reduced to a meagre score of 41 for 4 at the end of 10 overs. Responsible and intelligent batting by Rahul Dravid, Mark Boucher and Praveen Kumar helped them to reach a paltry score of 126 for 8 in the allotted 20 overs.

Sleepy Chennai Super Kings
The match seemed to have been sealed even before the Chennai team went out to bat. The score was so low and not even thought to be competitive. The opening pair proved everyone right. They raced to 40 runs in the first four overs. Chennai were already celebrating their victory and this is where they lost the game. The scoring was slowed down by clever bowling from Anil Kumble. At the end of 11 overs, Chennai were 65 for 2. Only 25 runs were added in 7 overs, from over number 5 to 11. A casual shot from Dhoni ended in the hands of Kumble. The slide started in the 14th over when Fleming was dismissed. Raina stayed until the end but cannot do anything. The last over, bowled by Praveen Kumar, fetched just one run.

Where do we go from here?
Finally, Bangalore Royal Challengers won a match and they had all reasons to smile and celebrate. They have earned their victory here. Well done Dravid and Kumble! Kumble was declared the man of the match, for his three wickets spell. Chennai made its path to semi-finals much tougher. They have a game against the leaders Rajasthan Royals and a game against the bottom of the table Deccan Chargers. If they could win at least one of them, they should be able to go through to the next stage. Can they do it?

Their record of the 12 games shows Win-Win-Win-Win-Loss-Loss-Loss-Win-Win-Loss-Win-Loss. You can see how inconsistent they were. Even the three wins were secured out of tight finishes. They beat Delhi Daredevils off the last delivery of the innings. A good partnership between Badrinath and Dhoni helped them to win against Kings XI Punjab. They were marginally ahead on the Duckworth-Lewis chart against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

In the next article, we will the result of the game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils.

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