Unravelling the Mendis mystery.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was talking about the way out to battle Mendis on the field. After his match winning batting performance which helped India score a formidable total, Dhoni was all confident personified on how to take on the Sri Lankan mystery spinner, to him most of the Indian batsmen fell time and again, sometimes against playing him out and sometimes defending him, so one would definitely like to know How to play him ?


Here's what Dhoni suggested with his shrewd cricketing sense, for which he is so admired in this Cricket crazy country. Dhoni, didn't present any magical strategy to take on the spinner, but pointed towards some simple mindset when batting out against specialist spinners. He asked the batsmen to punish the loose deliveries from the spinner so that there's always pressure to bowl a tight length, that definitely works when you know it is a trap or really a loosener. And that's where a good batsman like Dhoni leads his team to some memorable performances.

And it was no surprise why Dhoni's absence was so missed in the recently concluded Test series and he could have really made a difference both by keeping the wickets and knocking out Medis. How good Indian batsmen will tackle Mendis from here on in this series will definitely be an indication how good he is going to shape in the future.

It is no doubt that he is a class bowler but One day international Cricket is a different ball game altogether, where a bowler needs to be consistent through out, and how good your support bowlers are bowling in those phases of a match also makes an impression on your bowling strategy.

It will be interesting to see How Mendis and Indian batsmen play out each other. One thing is for sure, Dhoni will surely like to win this series, to avenge the Asia cup series, when the cup slipped through India's hands.

ICC Champions Trophy Postponed

ICC Champions Trophy has been postponed to October 2009 as according to the latest news reports, David Morgan, the ICC President announced this decision during a teleconference with all the members of the Board.


Citing the inability to conduct the Cricket tournament at a short notice and with the criterion of conducting it in best terms looking unfulfilled the ICC chief Haroon Lorgat said the postponement of the tournament is inevitable until further notice.

Earlier at least five of the Board members of the eight member countries tournament opted out citing security reasons, indicating the players concerns related to the overall security situation in the host nation of Pakistan. India totally favoured in the decision of conducting the Tournament in Pakistan, and did not see any reason why the Tournament cannot be conducted there.

The board members will meet again in Dubai in september to decide the final dates of the tournament.

Sri Lanka takes the lead in the series by winning the Opener !

India loses its first one day cricket match to Sri Lanka by eight wickets, Sri Lanka has continued its winning form where it left in Asia cup. Sri Lankan pace bowlers kept a tight length removing Indian top three with 36 runs on board. Sri Lanka was off to a great start. Nearly half of the job done now it was the turn of Sri Lankan Spinning juggernaut to take the stage. And the job was clinically done. Ajantha mendis removed inform Yuvraj singh who in a practice match scored a big hundred and the Indian bandwagon was complete when Skipper Dhoni was forced to edge a leg break into the slips by Mendis. While Muralitharan kept himself busy with the job of removing the Indian tail, which he was more happier to finish with in no time. And all of the batsmen never made any threatening stance and never did they were allowed to score by the Sri Lankan bowlers.

It is not that Indian batsmen are new to spin, I think the recent 20-20 or you can say 120 ball format has taken over the mindset of cricketers all over the globe, Cricket is a different ball game, where you need to stay at the wicket if you are a batsmen until you have your share of runs, I think the batsmen are losing on the patience front, which is the main element in any successful cricketers repertoire, the best players of spin carve their innings and never get tied down by the spinners.

Inzamam ul Haq comes to mind as one of a few batsmen who never let the situation dominate him, being a middle order batsmen, Inzamam scored many of his international runs playing the spinners who dominate the middle overs in a typical one day innings, instead of the batsmen getting frustrated it was spinners who loved to see his back, if the mindset is to score huge sixes and hard hit fours then you will have to digest these type of annihilation by the opposition, unless you don't learn to be patient you are never going to wear down the spinners.

Even after the advent of One Day International Cricket, Cricketers did not migrate from the basic techniques of the game in quite contrast to what we can see these days, a new format of game, new format of many diverse strokes played by the batsmen these days and new format of strategies will definitely play a havoc on any team with these type of results.It comes down to, on your day you are the king, where Cricket as a game will be the big sufferer.

It is more of a psychological test of a batsmen, where one needs to remember, that he belongs to all the three formats of the game and he can do that only by playing Cricket in a true sense and not just by wagging his bat around.
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Sri Lanka is the Winner of 2008 Crcket Test Series between Sri Lanka and India !

Well, it is a marvelous win for the Sri Lanka team in the third Test to have beaten India Convincingly 2-1 in the three Test series. It was a grueling test of skills and all round good performance by Sri Lanka Team. India was let down in the batting department as it was never sure how to counter the spin strategy of Sri Lanka. Being a team from sub continent India should have played spin better. But all through the series batsmen failed to read the bowlers off the pitch, off the hand, off the sight.


Sehwag's double is his style of play and is not the orthodox style of play against the spin. And it should show that the batsmen lost the battle playing the spinners of Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan. They have spun Sri Lanka to a memorable win.

It was a too late rear guard action from Laxman and Dravid when all of the Indian batting lineup left for the dressing room in a hurry who tried hard to delay the inevitable.

Dhoni factor

The pundits of the game would have started the obituary of the series loss to Sri Lanka. I think the credit goes to Sri Lankan bowlers who bowled out the Indian fabulous batting line in all of the innings in the series without making much damage. It was only sehwags individual brilliance that saved the day for India, harbhajan and Ishant supporting the cause in the bowling department.

And if Dhoni's absence from the team is being held out as a factor, I suggest it is the excessive cricket that is being heaped on an individual than cursing his decision to take rest. He has the right to preserve his cricket from unacceptable loads of cricket that a cricketer's schedule comprises of these days.

India missed too many chances behind the wicket, were outclassed by Sri Lankan spinners in the batting department and the bowlers didn't had any runs on the board to work around. So, individual brilliance winning a Test is a miracle and only a batsmen of Sehwags calibre can perform such glorious innings. But an allround team performance is what counts to lay stakes to the title. And Sri Lanka stood out clearly in this department. Kumara Sangakkara was quite through out the series and played the innings of the series when mattered the most and that innings swept the match away from India's sight.

And England has salvaged some pride winning the last test at Oval after losing the series to South Africa earlier. It is a remarkable 2-1 series victory for South Africa under Graeme Smith who has led the team convincingly again. The series will be remembered for Vaughans relinquishing captaincy after losing the Series to England midway.

The Score Card

India in shambles at Colombo Test Match

As predicted Indian middle order is again on the verge of collapse in the second innings of the final test at Sri Lanka. Only a miracle can now save India, the same miracle Laxman and Dravid orchastrated way back at Eden Gardens to defeat Australia where Laxman scored a mammoth 281 to spell Australia's nightmare. But this pitch is not going to assist that stlye batsmanship as the conditions here demand skilled display of how to preserve wickets, the last Indian hope is this pair which has to its credit some match saving stints.

How well Laxman and Dravid can apply is to be seen in some gruelling conditons where the home team has consistently rocked the Indian boat. As predicted in the earlier column Kumara Sangakkara turned out to be big match player for Lankans.

Injuries in the Indian camp

On the second day's play Tendulkar, Laxman and Ishant had suffered strains while playing. And that did hapmered India's psychological edge as the were completely outplayed by Sri Lanka on the first session of the third days play, when Sangakkara consolidated his hundred with a close to 150 runs.

I think Sri Lanka is now in an advantageous position as Laxman has an ankle sprain and it will be very difficult to hold on the attacking Sri Lankan spinners for long. Only thing India can now do is to play the match with a positive mindset. If India can manage at least a 200 on the board to defend then we can have a match on hand, Otherwise it will be almost a second series win for Sri Lanka at home. Ajantha Mendis is clearly the man of this series edition between the two nations. With 25 wickets already in this series it is a record by a newcomer in a three test series. And he is ready to have a go at the Indian tail. Can Dravid and Laxman save India ???


Match Score board at Cricinfo

Match is evenly balanced: Cricket series India vs SriLanka 2008

India could not capitalize again on the start given by the openers and again the popular Indian middle order managed only about 76 runs to the overall modest Indian total of 249. Gautam Gambhir scored 72 for India. Credit goes to the new spin sensation from Sri Lanka Ajantha Mendis, taking another 5 for in this series and is the running contender for the man of the series title. If Mendis strikes again in the Indian second innings, then Sri Lanka will be at the doorstep of winning the series. As of now Sri Lanka is in a good position to take a slender lead in the first innings of the final decider Test of this series edition in 2008.


Sangakkara scores a Ton !
Kumara Sangakkara has finally scored a ton in this series at the vital stage of this Test. Giving Sri Lanka the life line as it is looking to consolidate the lead from here on. Earlier night watchman Chaminda Vaas scored 47 vital runs for Sri Lanka.

All now depends on the Indian Second innings as how India is going to win this test. India has to finish off the Sri Lankan tail as soon as possible when the match resumes for the third day morning session. Match now clearly is heading for a result. And it is evenly balanced. Sri Lankan edge at the moment will be negated as it has to bat last in this test and the pitch will start to show up cracks on the fourth and fifth days. So, Sri Lanka will be looking to carry as many runs from this innings to it second innings total so that it has a small target to score to win this test. Sri Lankan batting order will be on test in the final innings of this series against the accomplished and experienced Indian bowling lineup. Harbhajan singh displayed a match winning performance supported by young Indian rookie Ishant sharma helping India level the series.

The Test is heading for a good battle among the two teams where the skills of each team is going to be thoroughly tested. And if India loses the series then I personally feel that MS Dhoni's personal decision to skip the series will cast a shadow on the result. Lets hope it does not. A splendid hundred in the first test by Kevin Pietersen as the captain of England has given England a good platform. Beijing Olympics finally has started with the spectacular opening ceremony so its all round hectic sporting entertainment for the sports lovers. So Enjoy and thanks for reading. Technorati Profile

South Africa slumps in first innings of final test at Oval 2008

South Africa have been bowled out under 65 overs with none of the players reaching 50 run mark. It was a day for the English bowlers, Steve Harmison did the damage for England by removing South Africa captain Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla with some good deliveries. Both the batsman got a start and but had to return to pavilion with in a space of two deliveries. With rest of the South Africa batsmen bowled out cheaply.

Anderson bowled out the South African middle order taking the wickets of Kallis, in form Ashwell Prince and Wicket keeper Boucher scorind just 9 runs among them. It will be very tough for South Africa to come back in this Test. It would have been a pleasant start for England skipper Kevin Pietersen to have got a such a good start for his captaincy. It will be interesting to see him bat after becoming the England Skipper. There is nice bounce and carry in the pitch so England have to preserve wickets as the runs will definitely come if you stay at the crease on this sort of pitch. Stauss and Cook are at the crease for England at the moment. So interesting match on the cards. And all round sporting extravaganza this week with Olympics 2008 are ready for inaugural ceremony.

Its a fifty-fifty for Srilanka and India in the last Test at Colombo 2008

Sri Lanka and India are gearing up for the final Test at Colombo. Both the teams are looking formidable, and have some concerns in the batting department. Both the teams will have a go at the decider of this series. Sri Lanka will try harder to not to let go the chance of defeating the Indians as they were drubbed in the last series in India by a margin of 2-0.

The pitch at Colombo is considered a fastest pitch in the country which is going to assist the pace bowlers. How good Ishant sharma will bowl in this pitch is to be seen. Last test match had couple of heroes in each days play with their decisive contributions, Sehwag single handedly scored the runs, Harbhajan then gave India a slender lead with his six wicket haul in the first innings, then Ishant followed up when nobody expected how a fourth day pitch will respond to pacers. Sri Lanka didn't had a chance and were completely subdued by individual brilliance of some players in the opposition.

Sangakkara will be the man to look out as the pitch will suit his style of play with Jayawardene to be the main stay in the Sri Lanka team in the battting department. Sachin and Dravid will be looking for some long stay at the crease. Toss will be vital and given the nature of the pitch team winning the toss should bat first given the hard nature of the pitch and score good runs to put opposition under pressure as the match progress. The final days will be for the spinners when cracks open up, the Sri Lankan duo of Murali and Mendis could prove decisive. Ideally if Sri Lanka wins the toss it will be an interesting battle between Indian pacers and the Sri Lanka batsmen.

Its hectic week in the field of sports with all the cricket and biggest spectacle in sports Beijing Olympics are ready for the show. Have a nice sports weekend of the year !

Cricket at Olympics.

Cricket at Olympics is the new buzz among the cricket lovers. The idea first endorsed by Adam Gilchrist is slowly catching up with other players too voicing their support. Notably Steve Waugh has voiced his support for the idea for Cricket becoming part of Olympic glory. Being a part of commonwealth silver winning team of Australia in 1998 Waugh clearly knows the glory it attaches to Cricket being part of the biggest spectacle on earth. Other notable players supporting the idea are Ganguly, Laxman and Yuvraj from India, Sangakkara from Sri Lanka and New Zealand's former skipper Stephen Fleming. Cricket of late is evolving into a more globalized game thanks to the 3 hour format of twenty twenty which lasts less than most number of tennis matches as observed by Laxman. After, all the application processes then Cricket can be a part of 2020 Olympics, but as of now it is facing competition from other sports such as baseball, golf and Karate.

Khel Ratna for MS Dhoni

Dhoni has been conferred with Rajiv Gandhi Khel ratna award and he is the only cricketer next to Sachin to presented with this award. After leading India to Twenty Twenty world cup victory and backing up with a splendid series victory down under Dhoni has truly proved to be a winner.

At a time when the world is seeing a metaphor in other fields like Personality development, sports, family, entertainment, Cricket as a game has competed with Tennis events like Grand Slams like US Open, if do a Quick analysis of other fields like say Sports, family , entertainment, News Analysis we will come to know that, Cricket has gained immense Popularity thanks to players like Doni, Sachin, Ponting, Yuvraj Singh, Shahid Afridi, Flintoff. Sports has been the key element in developing the Personality Development and Relationships, Family Entertainment used to revolve around Television and Cinema but now since Sports such as like Cricket, Tennis, Football and Olympics have taken a new image in the eyes of the public, so the audience has got a new media of Family Entertainment, Personality Development, Relationships. Family Entertaiment, Personality Development and Relatioships are very most important these days. If we take a look at the football season ahead all the teams have geared up in English Premier League, Champions League with all the players like Ronaldinho, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo representing their team in games recently and now ready for the Football season. Movies and Films has always been important for building Personality development and Relationships, but what with now Sports, like Football, Cricket and Tennis thanks to player like Roger Federer the spanish Rafael Nadal have made the Tennis popular.

At a time when the world is seeing a metaphor in other fields like Personality development, sports, family, entertainment, Cricket as a game has competed with Tennis events like Grand Slams like US Open, if do a Quick analysis of other fields like say Sports, family , entertainment, News Analysis we will come to know that, Cricket has gained immense Popularity thanks to players likeMahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Yuvraj Singh, Shahid Afridi, Andrew Flintoff. Sports has been the key element in developing the Personality Development and Relationships, Family Entertainment used to revolve around Television and Cinema but now since Sports such as like Cricket, Tennis, Football and Olympics have taken a new image in the eyes of the public, so the audience has got a new media of Family Entertainment, Personality Development, Relationships. Family Entertaiment, Personality Development and Relatioships are very most important these days. If we take a look at the football season ahead all the teams have geared up in English Premier League, Champions League with all the players like Ronaldinho, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo representing their team in games recently and now ready for the Football season. Movies and Films has always been important for building Personality development and Relationships, but what with now Sports, like Football, Cricket and Tennis thanks to player like Roger Federer the spanish Rafael Nadal have made the Tennis popular.

All sports like Tennis, Cricket, Football, have now become the part of News and Relationships and Personality Development with its wide appeal among the audience and society. News Reports have been dominated by sports like never before, all the major News reports, News Magazines, News Bulletins, News Discussion Rooms , Breaking news have a special place for Sports News, Some News channels also display scores live on their Screens to help audience with the respective Scores of Football Tennis, so the Personality Development and Relationships and Family Entertainment have take a new meaning.

All sports like Tennis, Cricket, Football, have now become the part of News and Relationships and Personality Development with its wide appeal among the audience and society. News Reports have been dominated by sports like never before, all the major News reports, News Magazines, News Bulletins, News Discussion Rooms , Breaking news have a special place for Sports News, Some News channels also display scores live on their Screens to help audience with the respective Scores of Football Tennis, so the Personality Development and Relationships and Family Entertainment have take a new meaning.


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Kevin Pietersen is the new England Cricket captain.

As predicted by the analysts Kevin Pietersen is the new captain of the England Cricket team taking over the reins from Michael Vaughan, and also Pietersen will lead the English side in all the formats of the game including the twenty twenty format. This has been a remarkable moment in Pietersen's career and time will tell how this new position will have an effect on his career. At the outset Pietersen's batting looks aggressive with a little bit of unpredictability, well for that case Cricket is always unpredictable when facing formidable opponents.

The immediate task at hand for Pietersen will be to lead the side in the fourth Test at the Oval. It will be a contratsting position for Pietersen to lead his team against a country which is his birth place. Now the performance in the second innings of the third test in which he scored a splendid 94 is anything to go by, then he should be as focussed on his new role as he was while batting. And Ravi Bopara is to play in Vaughans place at the Oval for the fourth and final test of this rubber.

Michael Vaughan steps down

Vaughan did the right thing by stepping down from the captaincy of the England team in my opinion. The frustration is more when you are not performing and when your team needs you the most in needy situations. The last five innings from Vaughans blade produced only 40 runs and that is the telling difference between the series loss to South Africa who could have been stopped from the winning the series in the Second Test.

cricinfo.com.

Vaughan Resigns.

This has been an on and off thing for Vaughan in his career, where he came back from the knee injury to take back a job which he left. Now that he has quit the job, he will be in less pressure situations and that should give him badly needed concentration to put back his game on track and prolong his career a bit. May be Vaughan has decided that he is not going to lead England into the Ashes series against Australia with his nagging form. And this is the time when he had to take this decision, as Australia is without the experienced Warne and Mcgrath, England has a chance to win back the Ashes if it is under less pressure. So overall Vaughan made a sensible decision to give England a fresh leader who is not under pressure to perform and lead the side afresh and with some time left to prepare the side for Ashes. And Kevin Pietersen is tipped take over from him in all the formats of the game as Paul Collingwood has also stepped down from the one day format as the captain.

India Levels Series at SSC 2008

India did most of the things right in this test match, and it is a good comeback one down in this Test series. As skipper kumble has summed it up " we have done this in the past " . Some of the players slowly put up their hands, firstly the double hundred from sehwag saved India from another low score, his double hundred assured that there are some runs to be defended for the bowlers, Harbhajan then came up with a good performance considering the last match where none of Indian bowlers made any mark. Thus restricting the Sri Lankans in first innings and managed a slender lead.

That is always going to play up on the batsmens mind, it is more of a psychological edge than the numbers. In the second innings Gambhir played a good innings and again Sehwag put up with a consistent effort. The middle order still hasn't clicked in a way they are used to. They are still in need to show their fire power, India will hope they fire in the decider so that India clinch the series coming back from one down.

Sri Lanka fumbled at the run chase, 307 was always going to be formidable total to achieve playing on a fourth day pitch considering the way the pitch played all the days of this test. Ishant sharma with his 3 for 20 did the Job for India removing inform Sri Lankan batsmen and then Harbhajan and Kumble bowled out the Sri Lankan lower order.

Its a good comeback from India considering the middle order flop show continued and the big guns have still yet not fired except Laxman's fifty in the first test. If India wants to play in comfort zone then the middle order needs to fire, that's the key as the decider will be a pressure match, and Sri Lankans are big game makers and they don't give up so easily as they have in this Test, India needs to put up a more consistent all round performance to show that its the real winner in this series.

More info at www.cricinfo.com

Match is Interestingly poised

Sehwag's double hundred has given India a good platform to salvage from this test. It was a very needy double hundred as far as the Indians are concerned. Sehwag's PYOG strategy ( play your own game ) regardless of whatever the match conditions are, however the pitch behaves , whoever the opponent is seems to defy almost all the pressure situations you are in and this is not the first time I think he has played this type of cameo, am sure many more are still to come from this ' go after the bowlers ' man from Najafgarh.

Sehwag's contribution of 201 runs to India's overall 329 in the first Innings has given the bowler's something to fight for in this test and Indian offie Harbhajan coming back after an acrimonious slapping ban seems to have ' slapped ' the Sri Lanka team in Galle with his performance and he cannot be banned for this performance for sure.

Now the onus is on Sri Lanka to salvage this test, with the last recognised pair at the crease, the match is interestingly poised. Though Sri Lanka will have time to study the target that India will set in the second innings and it will again depend up on Indian batsmen cope up with the Sri Lanka's newcomer Mendis with his guily spin. Overall it is turning out to be one of the scintiallating matches in the recent past.

If curator is to be believed at this juncture of the match I think we are heading for a 4 day finish. Never mind given the assault on Test Cricket from the shortest format of the game called Twenty Twenty, the admirers of this format will be savouring the moments in this match. Watch out Test Match is on at Galle in Sri Lanka.

SSC Test India vs Sri Lanka

India lost the Initiative after the splendid start it got from both the openers. Sehwag went on to hit a ton and Gambhir made a useful fifty. I personally think that it was a very poor decision from skipper Kumble to send in the regular batsmen at the end of the days play and in the melee India lost the initiative by losing quick wickets.
If a night watchman substituted the regular batsmen to preserve wickets, it would have definitely helped the Indian side.

If we look at the Eng vs SA test at Edgbaston yesterday, Skipper Smith sent Paul Harris as the night watchman. It was a sensible decision. Even if England has made quite a come back in the Test thanks to some good stuff from Flintoff, England still had to work for the wickets than serving wickets on platter to your opponent.

One down and periliously the last recognised batting pair at the crease India needs to apply itself now, otherwise it will be hard to come back in the second innings, as it seems the new comer in the Sri Lanka team will give a run for the money to the Indians. Dravid nicknamed ' The Wall ' has been breached quite a few times and it doesn't happen to simple deliveries. There is good amount of talent in those wicket taking deliveries and its now or never for the Indians in this series.