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RE: World of Cricket News

Bell anchors England to solid first day against NZ XI
February 27, 2013 12:12 IST

Ian Bell [ Images ] stroked an unbeaten century as England [ Images ] amassed an impressive 357 for seven at the end of the first day of their match against a New Zealand [ Images ] XI in Queenstown on Wednesday.

Bell (127 not out) anchored the innings after England lost three wickets before lunch, with Kevin Pietersen [ Images ] dismissed for 14, as the visitors were reduced to 81 for three. All three wickets fell to Otago allrounder Jimmy Neesham.

Bell joined captain Alastair Cook [ Images ], who fell shortly after for 60, before the Warwickshire right-hander combined with Joe Root (49) and with test wicketkeeper Matt Prior [ Images ] (41) to solidify the innings.

The four-day match is the only warm-up England's test team will receive before their three-match series against New Zealand begins at Dunedin's University Oval on March 6.

England pace bowlers James Anderson [ Images ] and Steve Finn were both rested for the match at Queenstown Events Centre, while opening batsman Nick Compton and pace bowler Graham Onions [ Images ] were included to give them match practice ahead of the test series.

Neesham finished the day with figures of four for 65 in 17 overs.

 

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RE: World of Cricket News

The trio who made it possible for India
Last updated on: February 27, 2013 13:21 IST

For once the Indian win was not crafted by just a couple of players.

Barring a couple of failures, virtually the entire team contributed to the Chennai triumph.

Bikash Mohapatra identifies the three heroes who led the Indian charge to victory.

Several players contributed to India's victory in the Chennai Test.

Sachin Tendulkar scored a tough 81 and hung in there with Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Johli.

Ravindra Jadeja and debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar revealed promise and held out the hope that if they continue in this dogged spirit, they could be guys India can rely on in the months to come.

But three men lead the Indian charge to triumph and it is time to salute them.

Captain Glorious

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's flamboyant 224 took the game away from Australia.

When Dhoni came out to bat -- remember the skipper had not hit a hundred since November 2011! -- India was chasing the Australian total (380).

When he was dismissed, his team had nearly clinched victory, having taken a 192-run lead on a deteriorating wicket.

Dhoni surpass both Sachin Tendulkar (217) and Sunil Gavaskar (205) to record the highest score by an Indian captain.

He is also only the second Indian, after Virender Sehwag, to score a double hundred in one day.

The 224 posted Dhoni on the list of highest scores by a wicket-keeper; he is third there, behind Zimbabwe's Andy Flower (232) and New Zealand's Brendon McCullum (225), both knocks having come against India.

Dhoni took the game away from the Aussies. Until then, both sides has some parity. The skipper made all the difference.

 

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RE: World of Cricket News

Ganguly vs Dhoni: Who is the better captain?
Last updated on: February 27, 2013 14:51 IST

Mahendra Singh Dhoni [ Images ] on Tuesday equalled Sourav Ganguly's [ Images ] Indian record of winning most Tests as captain following the team's eight-wicket victory over Australia [ Images ] in the first Test, in Chennai.

Dhoni now has 21 victories from 44 matches, while Ganguly has the same number of wins in 49.

The striking difference between the two records is that Ganguly boasts of a better away from home showing.

Under him, India [ Images ] won 11 matches away while Dhoni has just five away Test wins so far.

Take a look at a detailed comparison of India's two most successful captains by Rajneesh Gupta, and also have your say on it:

Ganguly's Test wins as captain:

# Opponents Venue Season Result
1 Bangladesh Dhaka 2000-01 9 wickets
2 Zimbabwe Delhi [ Images ] 2000-01 7 wickets
3 Australia Kolkata [ Images ] 2000-01 171 runs
4 Australia Chennai 2000-01 2 wickets
5 Zimbabwe Bulawayo QSC 2001 8 wickets
6 Sri Lanka [ Images ] Kandy 2001-02 7 wickets
7 England [ Images ] Mohali 2001-02 10 wickets
8 Zimbabwe Nagpur 2001-02 Inns & 101 runs
9 Zimbabwe Delhi 2001-02 4 wickets
10 West Indies [ Images ] Port-of-Spain 2001-02 37 runs
11 England Headingley 2002 Inns & 46 runs
12 West Indies Mumbai [ Images ] WS 2002-03 Inns & 112 runs
13 West Indies Chennai 2002-03 8 wickets
14 Australia Adelaide 2003-04 4 wickets
15 Pakistan Rawalpindi 2003-04 Inns & 131 runs
16 South Africa [ Images ] Kolkata 2004-05 8 wickets
17 Bangladesh Dhaka 2004-05 Inns & 140 runs
18 Bangladesh Chittagong 2004-05 Inns & 83 runs
19 Pakistan Kolkata 2004-05 195 runs
20 Zimbabwe Bulawayo QSC 2005-06 Inns & 90 runs
21 Zimbabwe Harare 2005-06 10 wickets


Ganguly's captaincy against each country:

Opponents Mts Won Lost Drawn Win%
Australia 9 3 3 3 33.33
England 7 2 1 4 28.57
South Africa 4 1 1 2 25.00
West Indies 8 3 2 3 37.50
New Zealand [ Images ] 3 0 2 1 0.00
Pakistan 4 2 1 1 50.00
Sri Lanka 3 1 2 0 33.33
Zimbabwe 8 6 1 1 75.00
Bangladesh 3 3 0 0 100.00
TOTAL 49 21 13 15 42.86
Home 21 10 3 8 47.62
Away 28 11 10 7 39.29


Break-up of big wins by India under Ganguly:

By inns margin 7
By 100 runs or more 2
By 8 wickets or more 6


Dhoni's Test wins as captain:

# Opponents Venue Season Result
1 South Africa Kanpur 2007-08 8 wickets
2 Australia Mohali 2008-09 320 runs
3 Australia Nagpur 2008-09 172 runs
4 England Chennai 2008-09 6 wickets
5 New Zealand Hamilton 2008-09 10 wickets
6 Sri Lanka Kanpur 2009-10 Inns & 144 runs
7 Sri Lanka Mumbai BS 2009-10 Inns & 24 runs
8 Bangladesh Mirpur 2009-10 10 wickets
9 South Africa Kolkata 2009-10 Inns & 57 runs
10 Sri Lanka Colombo PSS 2010 5 wickets
11 Australia Mohali 2010-11 1 wicket
12 Australia Bangalore 2010-11 7 wickets
13 New Zealand Nagpur 2010-11 Inns & 198 runs
14 South Africa Durban 2010-11 87 runs
15 West Indies Kingston [ Images ] 2011 63 runs
16 West Indies Delhi 2011-12 5 wickets
17 West Indies Kolkata 2011-12 Inns & 15 runs
18 New Zealand Hyderabad 2012 Inns & 115 runs
19 New Zealand Bangalore 2012 5 wickets
20 England Ahmedabad [ Images ] 2012-13 9 wickets
21 Australia Chennai 2012-13 8 wickets


Dhoni's captaincy against each country:

Opponents Mts Won Lost Drawn
Australia 8 5 3 0
England 10 6 2 2
South Africa 6 3 2 1
West Indies 6 3 0 3
New Zealand 7 4 0 3
Pakistan -
Sri Lanka 6 3 1 2
Zimbabwe -
Bangladesh 1 1 0 0
TOTAL 44 25 8 11
Home 25 16 3 6
Away 19 5 9 5


Break-up of big wins by India under Dhoni:

By inns margin 6
By 100 runs or more 2
By 8 wickets or more 5

 

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RE: World of Cricket News

India rise to No 4; Ashwin on career-best 11
February 27, 2013 16:55 IST

India [ Images ] moved up a rung to fourth in the ICC [ Images ] Test rankings for teams, displacing Pakistan, while veteran Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ] rose three places to 17th in the batsmen's chart.

Among the bowlers, off-spinner R Ashwin was rewarded for his match haul of 12 for 198 in the first Test against Australia [ Images ] with a career-best No 11 ranking.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [ Images ] charged up 15 places to 21st, courtesy his maiden double hundred at Chennai.

Virat Kohli [ Images ], the other centurion in the Chennai Test, gained 10 places and is now on a career-best 25.

South Africa [ Images ] consolidated their position atop the Test rankings after a thumping victory over Pakistan in the third and the final Test at Centurion.

There is no other change in the top 10 of the bowlers' table, which is headed by South Africa's Dale Steyn [ Images ], followed by his teammate Vernon Philander.

Hashim Amla [ Images ] continues to head the Test batting chart, with Australia skipper Michael Clarke [ Images ] in second place.

 

[Karthik]

India will rise to no.2 if they beat aussies 4-0

 

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India will rise to no.2 if they beat aussies 4-0

Absolutely my dear wait & watch!

 

[M.J.Sadiq]

India Cricket Features: Whose problem is Praveen Kumar? | ESPN Cricinfo

Good info adarsh buddy :luv

 

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RE: World of Cricket News

'A tiger resides in 'slight man' Tendulkar'
Last updated on: February 27, 2013 17:44 IST

A tiger resides inside the "little" frame of Sachin Tendulkar, feels former Australia batsman Matthew Hayden.

"I probably first heard Sachin's name in the early '90s. The one thing that always stuck in my mind about Sachin was that his size never ever matched his status," writes Hayden in the book Sachin - Cricketer of the Century by Vimal Kumar, which will hit the stands in the first week of March.

"He was an incredibly slight man for someone who was such a huge brand within the game. It wasn't until I really played against him that I understood that there was a tiger that lay within him: he was a very competitive little man," he adds.

 

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RE: World of Cricket News

Rajasthan Royals extend association with Valvoline
February 27, 2013 15:27 IST

Rajasthan Royals [ Images ] have extended its association with Lubricant giant Valvoline Cummins Limited for the 2013 season of the Indian Premier League [ Images ].

The extension will see Valvoline continuing as an associate sponsor of the franchise for the second consecutive year. The team’s logo will be sported on the non-leading arm of the players.

Announcing the development, Rajasthan Royals CEO Raghu Iyer said, "Since last year's association, Valvoline has been a very valuable partner of Rajasthan Royals. We are delighted to be extending our association with the brand and looking forward to helping them create ever-growing value and achieve the best possible exposure through the partnership."

Valvoline Cummins CEO Sandeep Kalia added: "Valvoline takes great pride in partnering with excellent sporting teams across the globe. Our relationship with the brand during the last season has been very rewarding. We are excited to extend our partnership with such a strong and dedicated team as Rajasthan Royals."

 

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RE: World of Cricket News

MCC call for T20 at 2024 Olympics
February 27, 2013 19:57 IST

The MCC World Cricket committee has called for the inclusion of Twenty20 [ Images ] cricket at the 2024 Olympics [ Images ]. It believes it could lead to “a potential boost” in the sport’s profile.

The committee, which acts as a complementary body to the International Cricket Council [ Images ], met in Auckland over the past two days and, although it admitted it would cost the game financially, it felt the positives of being an Olympic sport will make up for such losses.

Cricket would have to apply to be on the programme for future Olympics, but has got through the first stage of selection having received full Olympic recognition in 2010. The earliest the International Cricket Council can apply to be part of the Olympics is for the 2024 Games.

A statement from the MCC read: “The MCC World Cricket committee appreciates that a great deal of effort may be needed to lobby for the inclusion of cricket in the Olympic Games [ Images ] of 2024.

“The committee accepts that, were cricket to be played in the Olympics, there would be a short-term loss in income for the ICC [ Images ], and therefore for dispersion to its members, but is impressed with the potential boost for the game worldwide if cricket were to be included.

“Furthermore, the committee advocates Twenty20 cricket as the format to be played at the Olympics, thereby providing the 'pinnacle' of that form of the sport.”

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has in the past encouraged the sport to put forward a case for its inclusion, saying, in 2011, “We would welcome an application. It's an important, popular sport and very powerful on television. It's a sport with a great tradition where mostly you have a respect of the ethics.”

Only once before has cricket appeared in the Games - in 1900, when Britain were beaten by France [ Images ], and there was also a cricket tournament at the 1998 Commonwealth Games [ Images ].

Meanwhile, former New Zealand [ Images ] captain Martin Crowe is to stand down from the MCC World Cricket committee, which he has been part of since its inception in 2006.

Image: Harbhajan Singh [ Images ], Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ] and Yuvraj Singh [ Images ] with the 50 overs-a-side World Cup trophy India [ Images ] won in 2011.