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Written by Akshay
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Friday, 03 March 2006 |
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 Day 3 started with India relatively comfortable at 136/1, Dravid and Jaffer looking good. One man, Mathew Hoggard changed all that. He was getting the ball to swing and seam by putting in a huge effort. He first got Dravid lbw, though replays showed the ball was sliding down the leg side. Dravid did not add anything to his overnight score. Then Jaffer edged one to second slip, Flintoff taking a low catch, making it look simple. Jaffer missed out on the opportunity to score a hundred on his comeback, dismissed on 81. Laxman was caught right in front of the stumps by an inswinger from hoggard, the first ball he faced. Suddenly India were in trouble at 149/4. Things got worse as runs were hard to come by for Tendulkar and he went into a shell. Then, debutant Monty Panesar had a dream first wicket, that of Tendulkar. Umpire Alim Dar has not shied away from giving pad-bat lbw decisions and he was consistent in that regard as a straightish delivery from Panesar struck Tendulkar's pad on its way to middle of his bat. Panesar's celebrations showed just how much this wicket meant to him.
MS Dhoni and Pathan have been the architects of many Indian victories in the past few months and India needed them to pull off something special here. It was not to be. Dhoni went for an over-ambitious drive outside the off-stump, edging a Flintoff delivery to Jones. Hoggard, then picked up his fifth wicket as he got Pathan to drive outside the offstump only to edge it to second slip.The English bowlers had well and truly brought England back into the match.
Kumble then joined Kaif in the middle. Kumble is known to be one of the most fierce competitors in the game and he showed just why he is associated with that tag today. Along with Kaif, who was under tremendous pressure to keep his place in the side, he brought some control over proceedings. The runs came slowly and the proceedings were slow, but this partnership was crucial for India to stay in the match. Both Kaif and Kumble were dropped when they were on Insignificant scores. They were tough chances which if held onto would've spelt doom for India. At the same time they took advantage of those opportunites given to them and added key runs to the score. Kaif looked strong off his legs and fluent on the cover drive. Kumble did a brilliant job of defending outside his off-stump and puttting away the lose balls. Both got to their 50s, but did not lose focus. Together they put on 128 runs, similar to what the Eng lower order did for their team. Just 3-4 overs before the end of day's play Harmisson struck as he got Kumble to fianlly edge one to second slip. Kumble scored 58 off 168 balls with 10 boundaries. As it often happens after a big partnership, the other partner, Kaif also got out soon after Kumble. He played down the wrong line off a Panesar delivery that spun away after drifting in. These 2 wickets gave the advantage to England just as it looked that the match was even. The Indians ended the day at 322/9, not a very good performace but excellent considering they were 190/7 at one stage.
India v England, Day 3 Stumps - Nagpur
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Last Updated ( Friday, 03 March 2006 )
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Written by Akshay
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Thursday, 02 March 2006 |
Day 2 started with England in a precarious position at 246/7, with Collingwood as the last recognised batsman at the crease. But this depleted England side looked determined to fight as was evident from the performance their lower order put in. The partnership between overnight batsmen, Hoggard and Collingwood didn't score too many runs but occupied the crease for quite some time. S Sreesanth provided the breakthrough for India with the second new ball as he bowled an unplayable delivery to Hoggard, getting him caught behind.
Steve Harmisson, then joined Collingwood, who was looking more & more comfortable with the time spent at the crease. Harmisson proved to be an irritant for the Indian bowlers, as he got crucial boundaries for England. He put on 60 runs with Collingwood, gettin 39 of those himself in just 42 balls. He was finally out stumped off Harbhajan trying to go for a heave over the infield and deceived by the one turning away from him. Monty Panesar then gave Collingwood company in a 66 run 10th wicket stand, with Collingwood dominating proceedings getting to a 134, hitting 13 boundaries and 4 sixes. Sreesanth finally trapped Panesar in front of the wickets, ending the English resistance. Still England would be mighty happy with their efforts getting to 393, when overnight it looked they would be bundled out for below 300. The Indians on the other hand might have missed a trick or two, not attacking the tailenders with the 2 experienced spinners.
The Indian reply didn't begin too well with Sehwag playing one in the air off a Hoggard slower ball and spooning a catch to Flintoff at cover. England did well to keep things tight by bowling straight at Sehwag and tempting him into hauling out. Dravid then joined Jaffer, who looked very relaxed for a man making a comeback. Jaffer was very elegant in his strokeplay off his legs, at the same time patient in waiting for the bad balls. Dravid was a model of concentration and patience and he didn't seem in any sort of hurry to score runs. Both Jaffer and Dravid just waited and waited for the lose deliveries and left alot of balls outside the offstump. Jaffer compiled a nice 73 not out and Dravid ended the day on 40 not out. The England bowlers did not cause much trouble except the occassional good spell. The debutant left arm spinner Monty Panesar had a good start to his career as he seemed to have good control, though not much variation. This partnership has put India in a comfortable position at 136/1 after receiving an early blow. Day 3 as it so often does will decide which way this match swings.
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Written by Akshay
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Wednesday, 01 March 2006 |
 The day began well for the new English Captain Andrew Flintoff in Nagpur, as he won a crucial toss in his first test as captain. Predictably he chose to bat first on what looked like a placid surface which would take turn from day 3. His openers gave England the perfect start with a quick 50 partnership and it looked as if England could put up a good total on the board. They were helped by some ordianry bowling by the Indian new ball bowlers who, in their defence got no assistance from the pitch. The debutant opener Cook looked specially impressive with an uncomplicated technique and positive attitude. It took another debutant, S Sreesanth to break the opening partnership as he induced an edge from Andrew Strauss who went for an expansive drive on the offside, VVS Laxman hanging on to a stunner.
The spinners were called into action pretty early by Dravid since he was playing just the 2 pacers and 2 spinners. Harbhajan caused quite a few problems to the no.3 batsman Ian Bell, eventually getting him caught at slip off the doosra, another brilliant catch, by Dravid this time. England went into lunch at 89/2, not what they wouldve wanted after winning such a good toss.
After lunch, Dravid opened with Sreesanth and Kumble. Sreesnath bowled a brilliant spell as he started to reverse swing the ball both ways. He had Kevin Pieterson in all sorts of trouble in one over as he edged one but was dropped by Laxman at second slip. The drop didn't cost India much as Pieterson chopped one onto his stumps after just a couple of balls.England at 110/3. Collingwood then joined Cook, who at the other end was going about his job well with a 50 on debut. Pathan then brought back into the attack got one to swing into the left hander, too hot to handle for Cook as it went through his defences to bowl him out for 60. England were in trouble now at 136/4 and Flintoff walked in. He seemed unperturbed and along with Collingwood he consolidated the innings to take the english score till 200.
Kumble then brought about a crucial dismissal as he trapped Flintoff lbw with a googly. Replays showed that the ball could be sliding down the legside. The Indian bowlers and fielders then tightened the screws as runs were hard to come by. Collingwood was joined by G Jones who semed uncomfortable and not in the best of nick. Pathan trapped him infront of the wickets, a brilliant decision by Umpire Alim Dar, the bowl hitting pad first then bat. Ian Blackwell was the next man in and just as commentator, former English captain was building him up as a very useful batsman, he chopped one from Pathan onto his stumps. Hoggard and Collingwood negotiated the rest of the day, Collingwood completing his 50 and also showing a bit of aggression against Kumble hitting him for a six over long on. The score at the end of the day was 246-7, clearly a disappointing effort by England. They wouldve hoped to put up a big total on a pitch devoid of any evils on day 1. The Indians on the other hand would be very pleased with their efforts, specailly Sreesanth, who impressed everybody on a helpless pitch.Batting will get tougher on day 3 & 4 as the pitch begins to take turn and one fears the English team will have to battle really hard from now on in this test.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 01 March 2006 )
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Written by Rasesh
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Friday, 24 February 2006 |
| Date | Match | Venue | | Feb 18-20 | 3-day warm-up match | Mumbai | | Feb 23-25 | 3-day match vs Board president XI
| Baroda | | Mar 01-05 | Ind v Eng, 1st Test | Nagpur | | Mar 09-13 | Ind v Eng, 2nd Test | Mohali | | Mar 18-22 | Ind v Eng, 3rd Test | Mumbai | | Mar 25 | One-day practice match
| Jaipur | | Mar 28 | Ind v Eng, 1st ODI | Delhi | | Mar 31 | Ind v Eng, 2nd ODI | Faridabad | | Apr 03 | Ind v Eng, 3rd ODI | Goa | | Apr 06 | Ind v Eng, 4th ODI | Cochin | | Apr 09 | Ind v Eng, 5th ODI | Guwahati | | Apr 12 | Ind v Eng, 6th ODI | Jamshedpur | | Apr 15 | Ind v Eng, 7th ODI | Indore |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 04 March 2006 )
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Written by Rasesh
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Sunday, 19 February 2006 |
 A masterful knock from Yuvraj Singh and a cameo from MS Dhoni got India through a though ask. Even after the Runs per over had climbed up above 8 with more than 90 runs to get it looked like an uphill task. Dhoni and Yuvraj however made it look like a breeze with reaching the score having more than three overs to spare.
Pakistan's opening batsmen failed again 3rd time in a row to make a big score even though they started well. Sreesath bowled extremely well again and this time was luckier than his previous matches having picking up a few wickets. The Indian bowling didn't start off too well though with Zaheer and Agarkar failing to make their presence felt. They were quickly replaced by the young Sreesanth and RP Singh. Sreesanth got the first wicket at the score of 62 and soon struck again with a good bouncer to get Kamran Akmal with the score on 71. Shoaib Malik who has played magnificent in the series and also the top scorer failed this time and managed to just get into double figures with Sreesanth's outswinger. Raina took a wonderfull catch low down at gully. Then Inzamam and Yousuf looked like they would put up a partnership. Ramesh Powar was playing this match and was brought into the attack in the 22nd over. Inzamam hit him immediately for a huge six only to get out lbw on the next ball. A good ball which straightened similar to the 'Doosra'. Then was Pakistan's best period with Yousuf and Younis Khan together at the crease. At that time with PAK at 210 in about 41 overs it looked all good. The unlikely bowler to give a breakthrough, Agarkar was introduced and got the wicket of Mohammad Yousuf. Soon Razzaq fell to a good delivery from RP Singh. The Pakistan innings finished at 286 for 8.
Indians didn't have two openers to start with Sachin being given a rest. Rahul Dravid opened the innings with Gautam Gambhir. They started off well scoring at a decent pace. Gambhir although did not look very impressive buy managed to score 38 and played a rash shot outside the off-stump. Yuvraj Singh promoted up the order to number 3 joined Dravid. Yuvraj looked promising as usual, but Dravid then became very slow in his run scoring with his strike lying in the low 60s. The Pakistan attack did not look lethal enough to trouble the Indians but they bowled with a good line and length not giving away too many runs. Dravid was cramping up and looked very tired as he scored his fifty. He was soon dismissed by Sami with the score on 141/2. Arriving then was the destroyer of the Pak attack in the previous matches, Mahendre Singh Dhoni. He was extremely composed in the middle with Yuvraj singh playing a steady innings. The situation looked serious when Yuvraj was cramping up and looked as if he would go back as Retired Hurt but decided against it and continued with a runner. Singh looked uncomfortable and was not moving his feet at all, but the bowling was so off-line that he still mananged to knock the ball around to make his 6th ODI century. As soon as his century was over Dhoni looked like he had had enough and started smashing the ball to all parts of the ground. He bludgeoned the attack scoring 77 not out in less than run-a-ball.
It was a repeat of the third ODI with Dhoni and Yuvi finishing off the opponents. Yuvraj Singh deservedly got the Man of the Match and Series award.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 19 February 2006 )
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Written by Rasesh
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Saturday, 18 February 2006 |
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 The mood in the Indian camp is upbeat, after just 3 weeks of facing their biggest margin defeat in tests the team has bounced back to win the series. With one match to go it is a certainty that they will experiment with the team.
It's time for the youngsters to come in the team the bench strength will be tested now. There are lot of things going around, Irfan Pathan might be rested along with Sachin Tendulkar. It looks certain for the likes of Ramesh Powar and Murali Karthik to take some part in the last ODI. This match will also be a very important one for Mohammad Kaif and Gautam Gambhir. After a few failures its time they get the runs in their kitty to show their worth in the team. Suresh Raina played really well in the end to score the winning runs and it seems that Rahul Dravid has very high hopes from this youngster. "Raina played superbly in the last game and showed what a phenomenal player he can be." Said the Indian Captain.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 18 February 2006 )
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