Opening Match World Cup 2011

 The action has already begun with India taking on the Bangladesh in the first match. Captain Dhoni lost the toss. Bangladesh caption has elected to field first.
India has got  off a  to a flier.So far India has scored 60 runs with out any loss of wicket  in 10 overs 
Team Composition is as follows:
India:
Sachin Tendulkar,Virender Sehwag,Gautam Gambhir,Virat Kohli, YuvrajSingh,MS Dhoni†*, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan,Munaf Patel,Sreesanth

Bangladesh:

Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Mushfiqur Rahim†, Shakib Al Hasan*, Raqibul Hasan, Naeem Islam, Mahmudullah, Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain.

The excitement has just begun... Keep reading more. 

Roaring King Harbhajan!

Six of the second last ball reminded us of the 1986 match against Pakistan  Sharjah. It was Javed Miandad then who hit six of the last ball of Chetan Sharma and winning the match and ruining Sharma's career . Harbhajan Singh was super charged when the ball crossed the ropes and with that India registered victory against Pakistan. It was a very exhilarating match like all India Pakistan match. Bhajji has always shown his potential with the bat and is a true match winner. He was roaring like a Lion King and one could not miss the tussle between him and Shoaib Akthar

Pakistan could well have made runs in excess of 280 but credit goes to Indian bowlers who restricted to 267 runs. It came down till the last over where Harbhajan Singh came to the party and hit a six when 3 runs were required of last 2 balls.India has now qualified for the Semis  along with SrilLanka. 

Clash Between The Asians!

In the midst of the Football World Cup, lets revisit the other super game thats Cricket.
The Asia Cup has started featuring Bangladesh, India, Pakistan & Srilanka. India will take on Bangladesh in Dambula today i. e, 15th June 2010. Tamim Iqbal from Bangladesh has shown some super form in Test Match against England in England. A century at Lords has already made him special. Talking about India's form, the series in Zimbabe was a series to forget. The seniors are back in the team, so lets hope for a explosive start. It will be good opportunity for Saurabh Tiwari to show his exploits with the bat for team India. He has already impressed everyone with his performance for Mumbai Indians.
The match to watch out is on Saturday- 19th June 10  as India take on their arch rival Pakistan.

So while everyone is glued to Football World Cup, lets stay tuned to Cricket as well.

शतकवीर

हैरान होने की आवशकता नहीं है!ये ShamsnWags  का ब्लॉग ही है! हमें बहुत से पाठकों ने लिखा की एक लेख हिंदी में भी होना चाहिए! तो प्रस्तुत है ये लेख जो भारत की १०० वि  टेस्ट मैच विजय के उपलक्ष में है! कानपूर के ग्रीन पार्क  स्तादियम में खेले जा रहे है श्रेंखला के दुसरे टेस्ट मैच के४ दिन भारत ने श्रीलंका पे शानदार विजय प्राप्त करते हुए पारी और १४४ रन से जीत दर्ज की! ये जीत भारत की टेस्ट मत्चेस में सौवीं जीत है! सही मायनों में पूरी टीम ने इस जीत में योगदान किया परन्तु पहली पारी में  सलामी जोड़ी की\ शानदार पारी थी जिसके फल्स्वरोप भारत ने विशाल\ स्कोर किया और बाद में गेंदबाजों ने श्रीलंका की दोनों\ पारियों को ध्वस्त किया! भारत ने टस जीत कर पहली  बल्लेबाजी का निर्णय लिया जो की पिट्च को देख कर स्वाभाविक था! सहवाग और गंभीर ने भारत को ठोस शुरुवात दी तथा मध्य क्रम  ने ज़बरदस्त जुझारूपन दिखाते हुए पहली पारी में ६४२ का स्कोर खड़ा किया! श्रीलंका की पहली पारी की शुरुवात ख़राब रही जिसके फलस्वरूप पूरी टीम २२९ पे अल आउट हुई और उन्हें फोल्लोओंन खेलना पड़ा! दूसरी\ पारी का हाल भी यही था और पूरी श्रीलंका टीम २६९ भी बिखर गयी! मैच के मुख्या आकर्षण प्रज्ञान ओझा का टेस्ट मत्चेस में पर्दार्पण (debut) तथा स्रीशंत की शानदार वापसी थी! तीसरा और अंतिम टेस्ट मुंबई में २-६ दिसम्बर’०९ को खेला जायेगा! पूरी भारतीय टीम को ShamsnWags की तरफ से बधाई! जय हो!!

Indian curry in Caribbean

In the midst of the Swine flue where the chances of the tour being called off was a possibility, we head towards Sabina Park-Kingston for a wonderful ODI series between India and West Indies.
There is news about the sad demise of king of Pop Michael Jackson.Our sincere tribute to MJ.

India would be playing with out some of the star players yet Gayle has his apprehensions against the Indians as he strongly believes that on a given day, any player can change the course of the play for India. Hope that our player creates havoc for Gayle and Co.
It has been sorts of comeback for Aashish Nehra afer a long time courtesy injury to Zaheer.
While we have a look at one of the videos where Dhoni had dropped a sitter on Nehra’s bowling, there was a serious piece of thought being given by Nehra to Dhoni. MS was mere a wicketkeeper that time around. If one were to see that video again, Nehra getting picked in the Indian squad would be a far off possibility as Ms is now a captain.
Strangely, Nehra has never been dropped due to bad performance. His inability to stay fit through out the series has always worked against him, resulting into bring dropped.

Good time for Abhishek Nayar to show his skills as he had demonstrated while playing for Mumbai Indians. He is a classic left hander who can do both job attack and hold the fort when ever required.

Apart from the Calypso king Gayle, the player to be watched out is Dwayne Bravo.
If one bravo was not enough, there’s one more to join the party, yes Darren Bravo, Dwayne’s brother. We haven’t seen the exploits of the debutant Darren yet, so let’s see what he has got under his head.

So let’s enjoy in the series in Calypso style – Ho la la la la lu le yo!!

Aane De!!

After days of having a go at each others team, we are back united to support our ‘Men in Blue’ as we inch closer towards the second edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in England.

The irony of the fact is that none of the top senior player of Indian Team would feature in the T20 World Cup even though they played instrumental role in the season 2 of IPL.
This holds true in case of Australia as well as both Haydos and Gilly, the top run getters in the IPL have already retired.

It was mixed bag for us as far as practice matches goes with one win and one loss. Strange fact is that India hasn’t won any T20 game against New Zealand while against Pakistan hasn’t lost any world cup match (all formats).

It’s going to be a happy headache for the selectors to pick the team as the bench strength is very strong and all youngsters raring to go. Rohit, Gambhir, Jadeja has shown their shine with bat in practice matches while Ishant, RP and Ojha need to carry their form with ball from IPL to this tournament.

With India playing as defending champions..there’s nothing to defend. “Yeh Cup Kahin Nahin Jayega.”

So what are we waiting for, Aane de!!

Riding India's Back- Jesse Ryder!!

As India take on the kiwis in the Test Match at Hamilton, it didn't take a while to knock of the top order.The kiwis were reduced to a mere 60/6. But as they say, test match is the test of character, in came Jesse Ryder and captain Vettori and stabled the Kiwi innings.
Right from the start of the tour, Jesse Ryder has been playing some good cricket against India in all the formats. He played good innings in the T20's, attacked in the ODIs and when it came to the test matches, his form was no different. He was the last man to get out, but not before scoring a wonderful century. The very look of this big man gives a feeling that he might be a lazy chap, but boy when he strikes the ball, he really strikes it hard and attacks from the word go.
He is a classy left hander, reminds me of the former captain Stephen Flemings, to which most of you all will agree.

Daniel Vettori played an outstanding innings scoring a tests century. He is the key man for Kiwis as he is the only strike spinner in the team and on top, he scored a great innings saving century. Way to go Danny boy!!
At the end of the innings, NewZealand scored 279 for the loss of 10 wickets.
It was a good sight to see Dravid and Laxman in the side and of course in their favorite slip cordon area.
Believe me, its going to e a good test match and would be wonderful to see our Indian batsmen scoring some good runs as we resume after 29/0 in 7 overs.

Princely Buthcered!!

The Prince and the Sultan together butchered the Lankans in a deadly style, allowing the men in blue to register their eighth straight win.

Yuvi has once again shown the power of his willow which he had during ODI series with England. He has been in some terrific form.

For Sultan of Multan- Viru, the only way to play game is Attack.

Poor Ajanta Mendis was hit all over the park and he would have reached Ellora as a result..

Both of them were in immaculate touch and one record after the other. Yuvi became the first batsman to score a century in Srilanka after 10 years, some moments, Viru became the second one.

Every cricket fan in India should remember that fantastic moment when Yuvi punched his fist in air and signaled toward Sachin in Pavilion balcony indicating “This one is for you buddy who’ve been victim of wrong LBW decisions.”

It’s always said before start of match that on paper India’s batting is strongest in world, but with their running Juggernaut it seems justifying.

The present Indian side is properly balanced as we have some great playing guns in the side with the likes of explosive batsman in Viru, Yuvi, Gambhir, Dhoni, Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan and of course the Master Blaster. India’s bowling attack seems to be in great shape with Zak & Ishant in form of their life and well supported by leggie Ojha and medium pacer Praveen Kumar.

With the men in blue in supreme touch, and series win in their kitty, eying the top position in the ICC ranking is not far away. It’s a healthy competition amongst three teams India, South Africa and Australia.

Number Uno!!

Even if it's for a day or two, South Africa is now No.1 in ODI Ranking.There is a neck to neck fight for the spot as Australia will be playing their next game against arch rival NewZealand on Sunday and they can again retain their number 1 position provided they are in the mood for winning.
Beating Australia comprehensively by 4-1 in Commonwealth Bank series, The Proteas have shown their utter determination which they started at the beginning of test series.Oz’s could only managed to win second game of the series by 5 runs and undoubtedly been surpassed in all aspect of the game by them.
All round performances from Albie Morkel and new sensation of SA “Duminy” once again carried battle on their shoulders with greats like Kallis, Boucher and captain smith missing in the side. Standing captain Johan Botha made it very clear from the word go to keep up the good work that team had done in test series.
The other front runners are “Men in blue” yes Team India who currently are on their juggernaut with 6 consecutive ODI win. They still have 4 games to play against Sri-Lanka.
Shams & Wags will come with another update on India vs SriLanka series after second game to be played on 31st Jan’09 at Premadas Stadium(D/N). Stay tuned!!

Stepping down the wicket

Stepping down the track would be very much associated with Haydos, but stepping down and out from the wicket is his latest call. Matthew Lawrence Hayden, the 37 years old smashing Oz’s southpaw, who along with Justin Langer use to make a deadly opening pair has finally decided to call it quits. After a year long bad patch and struggling to collect runs, it was about time for him to make way for the others.
He was in a very pedestrian form against the Indians when they toured India. All eyes were set over him to see him play the magical innings that he had once played in 2001 to mark his classical come back. But that was not to be the case this time around in 2008.
Be it home or away, Hayden had a tremendous record .He had broken Lara’s record of 375 runs in Test by scoring 380 against Bangladesh.
Undoubtedly he will always be remembered as a player who could dominate in both form of game and could even charge down the wicket to the fast bowlers. Many cricket fans know the way he used to sit on wicket way before start of play (guess that’s one of his strategy to dominate wicket unlike bowlers). It was like yoga for him.
For our readers to know he was also a right arm medium pace bowler who bowled 9 over in test and an over in ODI (can any of our reader guess against which country he bowled an ODI over – no prizes) but with no success in terms of wickets.
He is a veteran of 103 & 161Test and ODI matches respectively. Amassing a total of 8625 test runs and 6133 ODI runs, with 59 tons( 30 in Test, 29 in ODI) and no one can forget his highest test score of 380 runs against Bangladesh.

While a few days back he was all over the news stating that so far he has not considered his retirement, suddenly his retirement plan has been a jolt for the Australian cricket (I won’t be surprised if they already wanted it to happen).
Other than his exploits with the bat , he will also be remembered over this strong words – Obnoxious Weed

Time to check your cricket knowledge

It becomes real exciting to solve the crossword. nd it becomes all the more exciting when it come to solve the cricketing crossword.
Here's an effort to refresh the memory and check out the cricketing knowledge on remembering the names.
Try solving this puzzle and do let us know your views in forms of posting comment.

Ending the year on a high!!

The Proteas ended the year on a very high note by defeating the Kangaroos in their home ground. It took 16 years of unbeaten run in the home series and that too at the end of the year, spoiling the Boxing Day test match ending up into a loss and to add to it, a series loss.
It has been an outstanding performance by the South Africans winning the first two matches at Perth and Sydney. All praises for the debutant Duminy .The way he played in the first match was commendable. Even in the first innings of the second match, he scored an amazing 166 runs. T he way he has displayed the talent; it’s an announcement of the great player in the making.
They have also a world class captain in Smith. He plays the captains knock when the team needs the most.

Perth has always been the ground where the Australians are known to win under any circumstance. It was India, and now South Africa who broke the shackles at Perth and defeated Australia in Perth.

No doubt the Australians have been the rulers over the decade at the number one positions, but they have been given quality competition by word class team like India and South Africa, and they run neck in neck for the number 2 position and with this kind of form the Aussies are into, the Kangaroos losing the top spot is most certain.

Punter seems to have regained the form but the entire team has to contribute in the event the team wants to keep winning.
With Brett Lee not up to his mark, Shane Watson out coz of the back stress fracture and no one as good as Warney in the Bowling department, the Australian bowling attack has already depleted. They are sorely missing the likes of the Gillispies and the McGraths.

The batting department looks very pedestrian as again Hayden not playing havoc at the top, trying to find his form in what one could call the concluding matches of his career, its only Hussey who is performing consistently. The Aussies have lost the charm. It’s about time that some of the other teams’ would take over the number one slot.

All credit to Smith & Co and here’s Shams & Wags wishing the very best to the Proteas for the third match and may the series end up in a White Wash.

Identify These Umpires

People always tend to forget the efforts of the umpires who are on the field for the entire day. They have to be on the toes for the entire day. Unlike bowlers and batsmen, theres no change of umpire. They really do a commendable job.

So here's a small quiz on the umpires. Hope you would like it.

Fizzing Strauss

With Strauss adding the fizz on the top in both the innings, playing a peach of an innings,only Paul Collingwood played a support role for England.
After the loss of three quick wickets in the second innings, Strauss and Collingwood steadied the England ship. At the loss of 9 wickets, England declared for decent total of 316.
In came the deadly opening pair of Sehwag and Gambhir. With the task of scoring 387 runs to win, they came heavily on the bowlers. Hitting over an average of 5 at the top of the innings is what one can expect from this opening pair and they obliged yet another time.
Sehwag was all guns blazing and smashed he ball all over the park. With him attacking and Gambhir playing a support role, India ended on the score of 131 for the loss of Sehwag wicket. The task ahead of Indians is to score 256 runs in a day and lets wait and watch how the Indian achieve the target.

Identify These Englishmen- Contest!!

Watchful Englishmen!!

It was a well cooked partnership at the top of the innings between Alistair cook and Andrew Strauss.
A good half century by cook indicated that he is going to go for the bigger one until he tried to over do and got out to Bhajji.
The England players were very watchful and were paying due respect to the Indian bowlers. Strauss looked in a good knick and he played a superb innings scoring a century, and his consecutive second one in India.
Zaheer Khan was bowling in top of his form so much so that he was moving the ball in both the direction and now he gives the feeling that he can give coaching on how to bowl a reverse swing as he has mastered on the reverse swing.
Even Strauss acknowledged the fact that in the middle of the innings he was signaling to some one in the dressing room that Zaheer is moving the ball in both the directions and that it was difficult for him to pick it up.

Yuvraj has become a thorn to the Englishmen as he is continuing to trouble them, but with the bowling this time. The Englishmen were being extra watchful. The main thing to watch would be his batting. He has to cash in given the fact that Dada has retired. Yuvi’s agenda should be to prove that his selection has to be by default and not by chance.
Kevin Pietersen got out to a reckless shot and balooned in the air which was gleefully taken by ZAK.

Freddie getting out to Amit Mishra and England 6 wickets down, its just the matter of time for England.
Enjoy day 2 as we sign off .
Cheers !!