Yet another series win for Dhoni n company.

Number of trophies in Dhoni’s kitty keeps a steady straight line graph with every series, but what else we expect from our world champions!

 After a hard fought test and one day series, in the Caribbean, India came out victorious in both forms. While it was Ishant Sharma in the tests,  the one-days saw a mixed all round performance from everyone,though they would like to forget the last two games.

The home side gave their all, but that was just not enough for the world camps. The weather played a crucial role in the figures over all, other wise it might have been different from the present  1-0.

In the first test there was mini collapse in the batting performance, but the partnership between Raina and Harbhajan ensured they weren’t too behind, and then in the 2^nd innings it was the experienced Dravid's ton, that gave India a thumping chance to grab the test. Ultimately India registered a 63-run victory inside four days in Jamaica.

The 2^nd test started with the heroics of Ishant Sharma, grabbing a 10 wicket haul in the match.

In the batting department V.V.S Laxman raised to the occasion, with two well past half-centuries which took India on to the driving seat. The game was heavily tilted towards the visitors side,till the rains came down. And the match ended in a boring draw ,at Barbados.

The Third test started with yet another poor batting display from the home side, credit to I. Sharma’s 6 wicket haul India took a decent lead,with contributions from Raina,Dhoni, Laxman and Mithun. Considering the batting strength of West Indies,team India was eyeing another win. But the 2^nd innings saw team India spend a long time in the field than expected.

The most caped player for West Indies, Chanderpaul chipped in with a healthy 116 and with slight bit of help from other peers they gave India a target of 180 in 37 overs.

In reply India suffered some early blows and later settled in for a draw.

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This series victory made the present Indian team the only side to register wins in both formats, in 2007 under the captaincy of Dravid India had lost the One-days.

This test also witnessed Harbhajan Singh entering into the elite club of 400 wicket takers. I. Sharma was chosen man of the series for his 23 wickets.

From the home side Kirk Edwards registered his maiden century in his very 1^st test.

With oodles of confidence in their tummy, team India will leave for England in few days, where they will be joined by their rest team members, for yet another test series. But this time it’s the seaming conditions, from the “home of cricket”.

  

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Aussies turn to ashes.

I still remember the days which were dominated by Australians, be it any form of cricket.
But the present  case tells us a different story.
Not only their supreme authority was challenged and snatched away by the Indians, England added more woes to their injuries.
The prestigious Ashes trophy was lost to England in the recently held series.

This defeat came after a series win against Sri-Lanka,which was followed by the series defeat by the Indians in the Boarder-Gavaskar trophy.

Ricky pointing would be having plenty of wounds to lick as he suffered 3rd ashes loss of his career,as  captain.What could be more demoralizing that the defeat on their own soil, which was 1st of its kind, since 1986.And England retained the ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years; ouch all these must have hurted a lot.

The blunt of these was seen prior to the end of the 4th test, when Ricky Ponting was involved in a unfriendly behaviour with the on field umpire, which was heavely criticed by the press, Down Under.Costing him 40% of the match fees.

Many believe the down fall of Australians was inspired by the India's struggle against them but it was ultimately England who proved that now, the Aussies just don't have the upper edge. And they have slipped down from number 1 in the world last year, to number 5.
When they were reduced to a mere 98 in the first innings, the fate of the match was almost decided and neither did any one came to the rescue work for the team. The total of 98 was the lowest since the 2nd world  war, for the Aussies.

The same downfall was observed in the West Indies camp in 1980s, when they lost their supremacy over the world cricket, after dominating for about 2 decades.

The England camp is certainly delighted with their efforts as they prepare themselves for the 5th and last test match.
Certainly England's "box had the punch" ,as quoted by the Star team.
 Even the P.M of  Britain, David Cameroon hailed them for regaining the Ashes.

"At the biggest ground, on the biggest stage, and when it mattered most, England broke Australia. If you're an England cricketer nothing beats the feeling of travelling halfway around the world just to point out to the Aussies that they are not quite up to scratch. " said  Ian Botham, the veteran old english bowler.

It would be wonderful to see what the new year has in store for the Australians,as the World Cup awaits us all in February.
Lets hope we Indians would get to place our hands on the world cup (for the 2nd time).   :)

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End of an era.

It seems Australians are about to loose their dominance over the world cricket, and with the cards wide open it's we "The Indians ", who are favorites for the spot.

Having already grabbed the top slot in the Tests, The Indians are gearing up to snatch the crown from the mighty Australians.

In the recent held Test series, also known as "Border Gavaskar  Trophy " ,the Australians bowlers failed to knock down 20 Indian wickets in each of the 2 test.This proves itself the quality of their attack in the absence of greats such as G.Mcgrath , S.warne . And losing both the matches despite making 400 plus score in the 1st innings of each test.
In the absence of legends such as Adam Gilcrist, Shane Warne, Glenn Mcranth, Mathew Haden (who could turn the game at their will) ,Australians are finding it hard to match the attacks of the best in the world, having failed to fill in the places left by the greats only adds to their agony.

Ricky Pointing, the current captain of their team has failed in grabbing a single victory on the Indian soil. And it seems he is diverting from the footprints of the earlier great Australian skippers.
As a matter of fact, Australia lost all the test of a series after 22 years ( they lost 0-3 to Pakistan in 1988 series.) in the recently test series in India.

With the world cup just around the corner, it would be interesting to see who hits the card this time around.
Australians would be favorites no doubt , but other teams are not far behind either.
India , England, S.Africa are equally hunger-struck for the prestigious trophy.

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