Selection woes for Indian Team

the indian selectors will be under a lot of dilema after some very good performances in the IPL.
Some success stories are:

Abishek Nayar--Bombay
Venugopal Rao--Deccan
Amit Mishra--Delhi
Ashok Dinda--Kolkata
Saha--Kolkata
Shikar Dhiwan--Delhi
Badrinath--Chennai
Yusuf Pathan--Rajastan
Munaf patel--Rajastan

There have been some failures too:

Robin Uthappa
Yuvraj Singh
Ishant sharma
Zaheer khan

Strauss does it for England

AN exceptional bowling spell by Panesar and a well composed 12th Test hundred from Andrew Strauss guided England to a comfortable six-wicket win over New Zealand on the fourth day at Old Trafford, chasing down 294 - the highest fourth-innings run-chase at the ground - to take a 1-0 lead in the series. It marked a remarkable turnaround for England, overturning a 179-run first-innings deficit, which was the fifth highest by any team, while New Zealand have much to ponder, most notably their dismal collapse of 114 all out yesterday.

In truth, New Zealand didn't help themselves. Catches were spilled, overthrows gifted and the fielding was not nearly as alert as it should have been for a side who, at the start of the day, were marginal favourites. Remarkably, Daniel Vettori, who was such a threat yesterday when he ripped through England, went wicketless today on a pitch which lacked any of yesterday's demons. New Zealand did pick up three wickets - and should have had more, had Iain O'Brien not shelled two dollies - but England were always on course.

Strauss was the key. Solid and composed yesterday evening, he was compact and similarly collected today. Neat nudges square of the wicket were combined with a solid defence - though he did edge O'Brien down to third man after New Zealand had changed the ball after 31.2 overs. Vettori was disappointingly ineffective, not helped by his fielders. A tuck off his hip by Strauss should only have allowed one, had Kyle Mills been aware, and Vettori hinted that the pressure was beginning to take its toll on him too when, the next ball, he overstepped and Michael Vaughan clattered him through extra cover.

Vettori himself let through another Strauss drive at mid-off, audibly venting his disgust, before Brendon McCullum attempted to throw down the stumps in the next over to hand England an extra five. New Zealand were beginning to flap and Strauss brought up a fine fifty from 105 balls, his third in succession, and England's target crept below 150.

Vaughan, meanwhile, was less assured than Strauss and struggled against Jacob Oram, who recovered sufficiently from his sore shoulder - though he barely reached 70mph for much of the morning. Nevertheless, his medium-pace wobblers held up on the pitch to Vaughan who drove just short of Jamie How at cover, following it up with a crunching cover drive before a lifter was again squirted short of the cover fielder. Nothing was going New Zealand's way, until Martin was introduced half-an-hour before lunch.

Bowling at good pace and a much tighter line than O'Brien had earlier, Martin repeatedly found the outside edge of Vaughan's bat - one of which flew infuriatingly down to third man for four - but, on 48, Vaughan drove at a good-length ball to hand New Zealand their much-needed breakthrough. Enter England's crumbly middle-order, and Kevin Pietersen somehow survived a fizzing delivery from Vettori which brushed his pad and span over the stumps. It was that sort of morning for New Zealand, but England had made their own luck with the aggressive style of batting that they have so failed to demonstrate thus far in the series.

On several occasions Vettori has made Pietersen look hapless in this series, and his natural aggressive instincts again nearly cost him his wicket. Just after lunch, he skipped down the pitch to flick one through midwicket, the ball bobbling to short-leg who then shied at the stumps - only narrowly missing. However, a superbly timed off-drive in the next over got his feet moving before he thumped Vettori over the top for England's first six of the series.

Strauss marched on, approaching somewhere near his best with a free-flowing drive off Martin through the covers and a beautiful pick-up off Vettori as England's target sneaked to under 100. Befitting of such a calm, steadying innings, Strauss brought up his 12th Test hundred with a tuck off his hip for an easy single as New Zealand desperately sought inspiration. And they found it, at last, when Strauss edged O'Brien to Ross Taylor who grasped a superb catch low to his left at second slip.

Pietersen broke free briefly, flicking O'Brien through midwicket for four, but an ambitious call for two underestimated O'Brien's rocket throw from fine-leg. New Zealand had the faintest of sniffs, England still needing 46 with their two out-of-form batsmen, Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell, at the crease. Both should have been caught by O'Brien off his own bowling - especially Bell, who misread an excellent slower ball - and the fumbles summed up New Zealand's day rather aptly.

Nevertheless, the pair saw England home and Collingwood - who was completely at sea against Vettori - battled his way out of form with a couple of late fours to wrap things up just before tea. New Zealand resembled a side still in shock over yesterday's batting capitulation, and they have only a week to plot their revenge for Trent Bridge.

Brilliant Clark does a McGrath for Aussies

Stuart Clark produced arguably his best day of bowling in an already first-rate Test career to give Australia a 95-run victory, which was a flattering result after they spent most of the match locked in a tight battle with West Indies. Clark was almost unplayable on the final day and finished with a career-best 5 for 32 that masked some concerns for Australia, who were shaky in the field and struggled to find decent back-up for Clark and Brett Lee.Clark reminded of McGrath at his peak who dismissed batsmen with his pin point precision.

Fortunately for Ricky Ponting's men, West Indies, who are ranked No. 8 among Test nations, slipped back into their familiar ways as they threw away wickets and the chance to really push the No. 1 team. Only a 67-run seventh-wicket partnership from Denesh Ramdin and Darren Sammy sparked any real concern in the Australian camp, and after that stand was broken the tail fizzled away with little resistance.

The end came with a pair of wickets to Stuart MacGill - two of his best balls from a disappointing match - which was just as well as Lee and Clark were both tiring after a day of carrying the full weight of Australia's expectations. Clark was still required to end the stay of Sammy, who was lbw to a ball that seamed in, for 35, before the last few wickets fell.

Both teams had a genuine shot at victory when the morning began. West Indies needed another 241 runs and Australia required nine wickets to avoid losing the opening Test of a series for the first time since they visited Sri Lanka in 1999. Within an hour Clark and Lee had restored their team's confidence and by lunch West Indies were six down and the match appeared all but over.

It was inspiring stuff from Clark and Lee, who started the day sharing the ball and bowled unchanged for 110 minutes on a hot Kingtson morning, sending down ten straight overs each before Ponting finally gave them some assistance. Clark in particular was outstanding, stifling the batsmen with a remarkably consistent line while swinging and seaming the ball in both directions.

He removed West Indies' top three for the second time in the match and proved once again that raw speed is no longer the only useful weapon on Caribbean pitches. He was helped by a disappointing approach from the West Indies batsmen, who had all day to reach their goal and needed to be patient. Clark's nagging accuracy frustrated some of the batsmen - notably the captain and vice-captain - into poor shots that brought their dismissals.

Ramnaresh Sarwan was being beaten by leg cutters and couldn't find his rhythm, and he tried to force runs through the leg side when he got a straight half-volley. The ball spooned up off his leading edge and Andrew Symonds at cover jumped and knocked the ball down with his right hand - most men would not have reached it - and completed the chance on the second grab.

Dwayne Bravo also succumbed to a glaringly obvious plan as he was tied down for 11 balls without scoring before he too got a straighter one that he felt he could drive through the leg side. But Australia had stationed a man at a very short mid-on, next to the pitch, for several overs and Bravo struck it straight into the fielder Mitchell Johnson's hands.

In between those breakthroughs, Clark removed Devon Smith with a peach of an inswinger that pitched in line, straightened and struck Smith on the back pad when he inexplicably offered no shot. It was an awful piece of judgment and Smith, restored to the opening position due to injuries to Chris Gayle and Sewnarine Chattergoon, will be hoping he can settle back down at No. 6 for the second Test.

At the other end Lee was quick, straight, and completed his most consistent spell of the match. He picked up Runako Morton, who was lbw to a ball that angled in and struck him in line with off stump, and the first-innings hero Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who strangely prodded a nothing shot back to Lee to be caught and bowled for 11.

But it wasn't all plain sailing for Australia. Both Simon Katich at slip and the debutant wicketkeeper Brad Haddin put down regulation chances on the final day. More of a problem was that when Clark and Lee were having a well-earned lengthy break, Johnson and MacGill posed little threat and allowed Sammy and Ramdin to build a partnership. At least Johnson sometimes beat the bat and produced a couple of venomous balls that bounced sharply.

MacGill, on the other hand, was a long way below his best. Full tosses and long hops abounded and he looked worryingly like he did during the series against Sri Lanka in November, before he had wrist surgery to deal with his carpal-tunnel syndrome. Nobody would have been more relieved than MacGill when he ended the Ramdin-Sammy resistance by collecting the ball at mid-on and with a surprisingly quick flick struck the stumps at the bowler's end to have Ramdin short.

While there were enough positives to cover Australia's weaknesses, West Indies would be deeply disappointed to have come so close to challenging the world's best team only to fall back into their old habits. Despite passages of brilliance through the Test - notably Fidel Edwards' bowling and Chanderpaul's 118 - they were unable to maintain the intensity for five days.

It will be even harder in Antigua, where they will take on a stronger Australia side that will welcome back Michael Clarke and potentially Matthew Hayden. The second Test is only four days away and West Indies must shake off their inconsistent ways to pose a genuine threat to Ponting's men.

Sachin Cricket Ground -SCG???

I saw one of these placards displaying ” SCG - Sachin’s Cricket Ground “. That might be true, but there was some history that the Indians, especially the Master Blaster, was keen to re-write. Probably something started to bloom inside him after he recieved Sir Don’s bat from the SCG Museum on Saturday which he admitted was special to follow it up with a century.

Though SCG has been named as above, the Indian’s ODI record has been very pathetic there. Of the 13 ODI’s that India has played there before this one, they’ve lost all the matches. So they needed the Master to show his class and stamp his authority.

Chasin 240, Indians never looked in trouble for the major part. After Yuvraj Singh’s departure, the young Rohit Sharma joined hands with the Master Blaster, his role model, and moulded the innings beautifully. Sachin played some exuberant strokes in due course. He drew on all his experience to upset the bowlers, especially when they tried something different. Mitchell Johnson came round the wicket and pitched it short into his body but Tendulkar simply arched back to shoulder the ball over the empty slip region - just enough to beat third man.

Rohit Sharma was very quick between the wickets and made sure that he gave most of the strike to Sachin Tendulkar. Due to Sachin’s influence, Rohit Sharma benefitted a lot and Sachin felt comfortable with the lad from his hometown. They complemented each other beautifully.

Sachin's accomplishments

Records Held by Sachin Tendulkar

1. Highest Run scorer in the ODI

2. Most number of hundreds in the ODI 45

3. Most number of nineties in the ODI

4. Most number of man of the matches(56) in the ODI's

5. Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI's

6. Best average for man of the matches in ODI's

7. First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI

8. First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI

9. He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)

10. Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup

11. Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16

12. Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup

13. He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

14. Most number of Fifties in ODI's 87

15. Appeared in Most Number of ODI's 407

16. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.

17. Most number of 100's in test's 38

18. He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so

19. He is thus far the only cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honor

20. In 2003, Wisden rated Tendulkar as d No. 1 and Richards at No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI player

21. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman.

22. he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli,

23. Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts

24. In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire

25. Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma Shri by Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them.

26. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI's 7 times

27. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI's most by any batsman

28. He is the highest earning cricketer in the world

29. He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a match. Out of his 56 man of the match awards only 5 times India has lost.

30. Tendulkar most number man of match awards(10) against Australia

31. In August of 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the "Greatest Sportsman" of the country in the sport personalities category in the Best of India poll conducted by Zee News.

32. In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.

33. In December 2006, he was named "Sports person of the Year

34. The current India Poised campaign run by The Times of India has nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others.

35. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket

36. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket:79 centuries

37. Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+Twenty20s), as of 30 June 2007 he had accumulated almost 26,000 runs overall.

38. Is second on the most number of runs in test cricket just after Brian Lara

39. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,271 runs in 128 matches

40. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record

41. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hold the world record for the highest partnership in ODI matches when they scored 331 runs against New Zealand in 1999

42. Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches - a record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid

43. Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998

44. Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (41 Centuries and 87 Fifties)(as of 18th Nov, 2007)

45. the only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 and 15,000 run marks IN ODI.

46. Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999).

47. The score of 186* is listed the fifth highest score recorded in ODI matches

48. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.

49. Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs

50. Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds

51. Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185

52. On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world

53. When Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to score a century

54. Tendulkar's record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record

55. Tendulkar holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side

56. Tendulkar has scored centuries against all test playing nations.[7] He was the third batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten

57. Tendulkar has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs - 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).[6] Gavaskar is the only other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs

58. He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.

59. On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara's (5736) world record of runs scored in Tests away from home

60. Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. Both of them achieved this in 195 innings

61. Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches

62. Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.

63. Tendulkar is fourth on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168 Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests), Shane Warne (145 Tests) have appeared in more games than Tendulkar

64. Tendulkar has played the most number of Test Matches(144) for India (Kapil Dev is second with 131 Test appearances).

65. First to 25,000 international runs

66. Tendulkar's 25,016 runs in international cricket include 14,537 runs in ODI's, 10,469 Tests runs and 10 runs in the lone Twenty20 that India has played.

67. On December 10, 2005, Tendulkar made his 35th century in Tests at Delhi against Sri Lanka. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 centuries to become the man with the most number of hundreds in Test cricket.

68. Tendulkar is the only player who has 150 wkts and more than 15000 runs in ODI

69. Tendulkar is the only player who has 40 wkts and more than 11000 runs in Tests

70. Only batsman to have 100 hundreds in the first class cricket

WHO WILL WIN THE INAGURAL IPL?