Team India - Champion of the Champions 2013

Champion of the Champions Team India
 

ICC Champions Trophy is such type of tournament where one mistake can take the team out of the tournament. India not only became the champions by winning the final match but they also did not lose any single match from the start till the end of the tournament. They defeated 6 different world class teams if we count the warm up matches also. They bowled, batted and fielded brilliantly.
Most players who were part of the 2011 World Cup winning team were not there. The team was full of youngsters & they didnot have any experience of playing in any major ICC tournament but they showed what it means to play for India where expectations of millions are attached. More often than not these youngsters were able to absorb the pressure and come out victorious. The way they celebrated after the victory showed that how much this victory meant to them.

Shikhar and Rohit were for the first time opening the batting together and they didn't dissapoint us. They complimented each other really well. They took the responsibility on their own shoulders and they made sure that our middle order batsmen don't have to do that much work. Virat Kohli also showed his class batting when it came to the most important matches that is the semi finals and the finals. Ravindra Jadeja not only bowled well but he showed that he is a batting all rounder. Whenever he got the opportunity with the bat he did well. He also executed the big strokes when it mattered the most which was not seen when Ravindra Jadeja played the 2009 t20 world cup in England.

Our fielding was absolutely magnificent this time. There are exceptions such as Ishant Sharma and R. Ashwin who run a bit slow on the field but their catching is good. Our fast bowlers Bhuvaneshwar & Umesh always got us the intial breakthroughs which is very important to apply pressure on the opposition. Ishant also bowled well in the middle overs but he was expensive sometimes but no one can forget the two back to back wickets he took in the finals. In the spinning department, Jadeja always bowled really well. His accuracy was immaculate.

India won the Champions Trophy convincingly. This victory became more sweeter because India won in foreign conditions. This team looks great for the 2015 World Cup in Australia which is two years away. All the players currently in the side may not play the 2015 World Cup but I think most of them will definitely play. It has to be said that these youngsters have showed tremendous passion and they did great hardwork which turned this inexperienced team into a champion team.

Shikhar Dhawan - The Stylish & Fearless Opening Batsman of India

Shikhar Dhawan

Team India has found a New Opener who is ready to give his best at the International Level and is infact performing really well for Team India and his name is Shikhar Dhawan. In 2012, India lost many matches in One Day Cricket & Test Cricket. In most of the matches that India lost our openers Sehwag & Gambhir didn't play well. Indian Fans have always seen some very good opening pairs open for Team India be it Sachin - Sourav or Sachin - Sehwag or Sehwag - Gambhir. The Regular Failures of Sehwag & Gambhir brought disappointment on the faces of Indian Cricket fans.

India vs Australia, 3rd Test Match on 16th March 2013, Shikhar made his debut in Test Cricket and What a power packed knock he played. He played shots without any fear and once he got settled he didn't stop. He played the cut shot very well, pulled the ball with ease & played the cover drive on the up. What was good to see that he didn't play any pre determined strokes. He played with a simple logic of see the ball and hit the ball. Specially the cover drive came naturally to him. He timed his strokes pretty well. He scored 187 from 174 balls ( 33 Fours & 2 Sixes ). He showed a glimpse of his magnificent talent and announced his arrival at the International Test Level and Indian fans were very happy to see an aggressive opener open for Team India in Test Cricket.

Champions Trophy is going on and Shikhar Dhawan is opening the batting for India in One Day Cricket also and he has scored 2 centuries so far in the tournament. He hit a brilliant century vs South Africa when India batted first and then scored another century in the next match vs West Indies when India were chasing a good Total. So, It shows that he absorbs the pressure really well in big matches and can play well in foreign conditions.

Shikhar Dhawan made his debut in One Day Cricket in 2010 vs Australia but he got to play only 1 match and he didn't do well in that match, After that he went on to the tour of West Indies in June 2011 as an Opener. He did score a 50 in the 1st ODI match of that series but he didn't get regular opportunities after that because Sehwag and Gambhir had their places fixed in the opening slot. Now going back to 2004, Shikhar played the U-19 World Cup and became the Man of the Tournament for scoring 505 runs from 7 innings which is still a record in the Under 19 World Cup. His many team mates from the Under 19 Team like Suresh Raina , Robin Uthappa , RP Singh & Dinesh Karthik got into the Indian team but Shikhar didn't get his chance. He was disappointed but he kept performing at the Domestic Level and in many Ranji Seasons he scored piles of Runs. In 2012-13, Ranji Season he again scored lots of runs and Selectors were forced to select him for the Test Series vs Australia and we were able to see him play for India again.

We can clearly see the maturity and the patience in the way he plans his innings. He is now aged 27 and has already seen lots of up's and down's in his career. Whenever he comes in to bat he wants to play a big innings even when it is an ODI match. He is an Opener and if he gives the team a good start he makes the work of the middle order batsmen quite easier.

Shikhar Dhawan also has a style statement. He keeps a moustache and twirls it after he finishes a good innings. His style statement equally matches with his game play. In hindi, it can be said that he plays like a DABANG. The confidence on his face is always there which gives a lot of assurance to the Indian Cricket fans that he will do well with the bat.

All the Best to Shikhar Dhawan for the upcoming matches. He should now be given enough opportunities to prove himself even if he doesn't perform well in some matches. He is a fascinating talent and has shown that he can play well in any condition. He played his strokes in the same manner in England as he played it in India. He doesn't have any problem with the short ball or with the pace which is very good to see. In the coming years, hopefully we will see many more brilliant knocks from Shikhar Dhawan in One Day Cricket and in Test Cricket.

India vs Australia Test Series 2013 - PREVIEW

The much awaited Test Series of 2013 for Indian Cricket Fans is about to start. It cannot get any bigger and better than India playing against Australia in India. Whenever these 2 teams have clashed we have seen some fascinating Test Matches. Matches have been very closely fought and Players from both sides have been very eager to win.

If we go in the Past we saw some great innings from VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid in the Test Matches they played vs Australia on Indian Pitches and Australian Pitches But now we have a New Team India which is trying to play well in Test Cricket without them. As we recently saw in Test Matches vs England the Indian Team struggled with their batting department and batsmen were not able to build up big partnerships.

Team India has already been selected for the Australian Series and Gautam Gambhir has been dropped as he was not able to convert his starts into big innings in the Test Series vs England.So,In the 1st Test match starting from February 22 we will see a new opening combination. Who are the openers going to be - Sehwag & Dhawan or Sehwag & Vijay or Vijay & Dhawan ? If i had to select i would be selecting Sehwag and Dhawan to open the Innings for India. Middle Order looks good with Pujara coming at No.3 and after that Kohli , Sachin and Dhoni.Sachin has also done well in the Irani Trophy which will give him a lot of confidence. I think Jadeja would be in the team as an allrounder .

Spinners didnot do well in the Test Series vs England. Ashwin and Ojha looked under pressure when the England batsmen started building up partnerships. Harbhajan Singh has been picked in the Team for the 1st two test matches vs Australia and i think he should play in both the test matches because of his past performances vs Australia and as he is making a come back he will be trying to give his best to the team. Harbhajan has also got experience which he will use to get a Batsmen Out who is settle on the crease and playing well.

In the Pace attack , Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been picked which is a very good decision by the selectors. He swings the ball well and can bowl long spells as we saw in the ODI series vs England.Ishant Sharma should try to be more consistent with his line and length throughout the test match. He sometimes gets wayward which becomes a worry for the Indian Team. Dinda has also been picked but i think 1st choice will be to play Bhuvneshwar and Ishant.

Not to forget that during every India vs Australia Series there has been some sledging. I think this time also we may get to see something like that because both teams are raring to go. Indian Team has recently not won that many Test Matches and they also lost 4-0 vs Australia in Australia. So, Indian Team will be looking to win each and every match.On the other hand, Australia also has not done well in Test matches they have played in India after 2004. They don't have Ponting and Hussey in the team but they have been doing well in the Test matches they have played recently.

So, Action is about to start in few days and i think each and every day of every Test Match is going to be very competitive and intresting. I hope Team India does well and we win the Series.

Why did India lose a test series at home after 8 years?

The test series between India vs England started on 15th November and ended on 17th December. So, after a very intense battle between two teams for 1 month & 2days , England won the 4 match Test Series 2-1. Indian fans were very dissapointed after seeing the outcome of this series as it was said to be the 'Revenge Series' because India lost 4-0 to England in 2011.



Things got very intense in the Nagpur Test

Many Questions have been raised about the Indian Team , Captain and Coach. Some people have also been saying that BCCI and Selectors are not taking right steps and are not looking forward to make India a good Test Team.I will try to answer some questions which are being raised after India have a lost a Test Series at home after 8 years.

Q 1. Did the Captain's decision making cost India the Test Series?

Ans: MS Dhoni asked for spinning tracks even after winning the 1st match at Ahmedabad because he had the confidence that English batsmen will struggle against the spin and Indian batsmen will play spin well but Indian batsmen failed twice in a row at Mumbai and Kolkata. In the last Test Match at Nagpur Captain himself  had to take the burden of taking India to a safe postion and Kohli also helped him by staying at the crease & scoring a brilliant century. So, If we only blame the captain for the loss , it would be very harsh on him. MS Dhoni also played 3 spinners on two occasions which was also criticised by many. 1st occasion was the Mumbai Test where the ball was spinning but our spinners failed to take wickets. No doubt , Cook and Pietersen played well but what happened to our spinners. Ojha and Ashwin donot have that much experience of playing Test Matches at International Level but Harbhajan Singh also didnot take wickets of top order batsmen of England Team when it was needed the most. So, it can be said that Captain Dhoni had made plans but it could not be executed well.

Q 2. Why did the Indian Openers didnot bat well and rest of the batting line up also failed under pressure?

Ans: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have been opening the batting at test level for a very long time for India but it has to be said that India losing test series abroad and at home has been largely due to their failure of not making a good opening partnership. It is high time that selectors should look for another good opening pair for India and i think Rahane will be the best Option to try with Sehwag. Gautam Gambhir in this series scored some scores of 40 and 60 but never went on to make a big score which was really very dissapointing and i think after getting settled on the crease he sometimes looked a bit over confident and a bit impatient also. Sehwag's inconsistency with the bat is a major worry for the Indian Team.

If we see the performance of the batting in the middle order which was also not good. Sachin Tendulkar scored a good knock of 76 Runs in the 3rd Test Match but in all the other innings he failed. People have again started raising questions about his retirement but i am sure that sachin will analyse his own perfomance in this series and will take appropriate decision on whether he wants to continue playing or not.

Pujara scored a double hundred in the 1st test match but didnot play well in the next 3 Test Matches. Kohli didnot score well in the 1st 3 Test Matches but he played an unbelieveable knock in the Nagpur Test as he played sensibly on a slow pitch and took his time to score runs which helped him to get to his 2nd Test Century. Pujara and Kohli are very good young talent and they should be given more opportunities because they will improve with experience.

Yuvraj Singh was not able to play spin well under pressure and i think it is because his defence is not that good . So, when good quality spinners are bowling and Yuvraj wants to stay on the crease , he is not successful as he is not able to defend for a long time.

MS Dhoni played a great knock of 99 Runs in the 4th Test and showed us his other side of the game where he didnot go for the big strokes and played for consolidating at the crease. He didnot do that well with the bat in the 1st 3 Test Matches.

So if we summarise the batting of the middle order in this series. The main worry is that they didnot perform well together in an innings. If 1 batsman played well , the others failed which clearly showed us that why Indians were not able to make big partnership which is very important to win a test match.

Q 3. What is Coach Duncan Fletcher doing?

Ans- Indian Team Coach has also come under criticism because after he has been given the post of the coach , India's performance has declined and the main worry is Indian Team is losing many test matches. I think Coach is not doing his job in a good manner . He should be making some alternate game plans when team is not doing well and when we see the body language of Team India we see the aggression missing which we saw in the 2011 world cup and before that and it was due to coach gary kirsten as he motivated the team well. So , Time has come to change the coach. He is clearly not doing his work for which he has been assigned by the BCCI.

 There are also many other questions that people are asking but i have just tried to answer some main topics. After losing this test series , i am sure the BCCI , Selectors and the players will take test matches seriously. Players will know that it is not that easy to win a test match against a good quality side even if you are playing at Home.

So, I am very Sure that MS Dhoni and his team will bounce back in the test series vs Australia in February. They are also playing T20's and ODI's vs England and Pakistan in the coming days. We know that performance of Team India is very good when it comes to ODI's and T20's .If India wins the majority of those matches then i am sure they will take that confidence in the test series vs Australia.

 

It's time for Revenge.....

Schedule

This time Diwali is going to be special as India vs England Test Series is going to start from 15th November. Every Indian still remembers the defeat of the Indian Team last year in England. After winning the ODI world cup, Team India was looking to be No.1 in Tests also but England defeated India 4-0 in the 4 match test series. But that defeat was on English soil with Team India not being able to handle the English pacers very well.

Now England have come to India to play a 4 match Test Series. English Team are well known for not playing the Spinners well. In India were most pitches are spin friendly and with quality spinners in the Indian team it's not going to be easy for England team to emerge victorious on Indian Soil. Meanwhile, a controversy is also going on that BCCI and Selection Committee have not picked any Spinner for practice matches that England play before the all important test series. I completely agree to the fact to not allow any spin practice to the England Team because whenever Team India tour's abroad we see only fast bowler's and bouncy pitches for Practice games. So, It's all fair to not allow them any spin practice.

New Selection Committee has also picked the test team and it's very nice to see Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh back in the Squad. Ishant Sharma is also back and he should prove his talent in this series after coming back from an injury. So let's see what happens when the action starts. England team will have to rely on Kevin Pietersen as he plays spin really well. Indian Team have got good spinners and most importantly the support of the Home Crowd.

Yuvraj Singh - The CHAMPION is BACK

Yuvraj Singh has finally returned to International Cricket. The last 1 and 1/2 years have been very eventful for Yuvraj.Now going back to the 2011 world cup, All eyes were on India as they were playing a world cup at home. Indian team was under a lot of pressure and the man who took the challenge to make India win the world cup was Yuvraj Singh. He batted in an awesome manner, bowled magnificently and fielded like a tiger.

The whole country celebrated with the Indian Team. At that time no one knew what the future is going to show. Few months later, a news came that Yuvraj Singh is diagnosed with a Rare Germ Cell Cancer in Lungs. This was a shocking news and Yuvraj had to leave for USA for his treatment.

Every Indian Cricket fan prayed for his good health. Yuvraj himself showed a lot of courage and was very brave throughout his treatment. Chemotherapy takes a lot of toll on the body both mentally and physically. He didnot loose hope and kept his fans updated through twitter. All these years we knew Yuvraj as a player who played for India and won matches with his wonderful batting. Now we knew a new Yuvraj who can fight any situation with his strong determination. Chemotherapy went on and slowly Yuvraj started recovering.

Yuvraj Singh then returned to India after his treatment. But the battle was still half won. He was very eager and raring to go to play for India. He started doing his training in a very steady and planned way. The Champion Player was trying hard and he also played some practice matches.

The t20 world cup and 2 t20's vs NewZealand was coming and selectors selected him in the final squad. That was the happiest news for every YUVI fan. But it didnot go well with many former players as they criticised the selection panel for being emotional in selecting Yuvraj and he should not make a comeback soon But the fact was Yuvraj was selected as he was declared fully fit.

The 1st comeback match for Yuvraj was vs Newzealand and he came into the field with the Indian Jersey after almost a year. It was a dream come true for him. Yuvraj said that he felt as if he was making his debut again. He had tears in his eyes when he came to field. He also batted well in that match and almost made India win.

T20 world cup came and he performed very well with the ball. He batted well in the last game vs South Africa. We saw some shots of the past where Yuvraj was hitting the ball out of the boundary with his elegance and brilliant timing. He also got the Man of The Match Award which he dedicated to his mother and all the cancer patients.

So, guys get ready to see some more match winning innings from Yuvraj as he will get better with time. After playing no International match for a year, he showed he can still play like a champion.
ALL THE BEST YUVRAJ FOR FUTURE..... KEEP IT GOING........

 

India's Chances in World T20 2012

Indian team during 2007 T20 World Cup

Indian Team have started their campaign in the 2012 T20 World Cup. T20 which is a format in which you can expect the unexpected. So when we look back at the previous t20 world cups and india's performance, nothing bright can be said about it leaving the inaugral t20 world cup in 2007 which India won. So what to expect from India in this t20 world cup?

If we see India's batting order first, In the top order sehwag and gambhir will open the innings. Openers have to play a major role if india needs to reach the semifinals. Seeing the experience they both have they should be able to play their role but at the same time the wayward approach they have shown in the 1st match is highly irresponsible and they both need to plan their game according to situation. Now going to the middle order, 1st name which comes is Kohli and he can play quality innings against any opponent and under any situation. Yuvraj is also back and he can change the game from any situation + he is also very useful with ball. MS Dhoni and Raina can finish the game very well. Rohit Sharma is also back in the form but the worry is will he be able to score runs in pressure situation, only time will tell.

Coming now to the bowling. So much talk is going on about playing 5 bowlers in the playing 11. I would say that it would be better to leave this to the captain and let him decide if he is comfortable in playing a 7-4 combination or a 6-5 combination. Zaheer Khan is the main bowler but is he the right choice for the t20 format? Stats don't show great numbers for Zaheer in the t20 format. Irfan pathan is looking in great rhythm and has got different varieties. Balaji and dinda are also equally good. Ashwin is spinning the ball well and he reads the batsman's mind before and bowls accordingly. Harbhajan is a very experienced bowler but his form in the recent past is a worry and he has also not played enough international matches in recent past.

At the end i would like to say that we should just sit and watch to see what happens in the coming matches. Whatever team we have got is not a worry but if every Individual gives his 100% , I assure you that no one can stop India from becoming World T20 Champions again.