Cricket

Indian cricket stars Irfan Pathan

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:46:00 -0700

Irfan Pathan

Irfan Khan Pathan is considered by many, with reason, as the most talented swing and seam bowler to emerge from India since Kapil Dev. When he made his Test debut in Australia in 2003-04, it was with the energy of a 19-year-old, but a composed nous that was striking even for one who had been specifically readied for the purpose via the A-team and age-group channels. His instinct is not merely what to bowl to who and when, but also to keep learning new tricks. Already he possesses perhaps the most potent left-armer's outswinger in the world, is adept at reversing the ball, and enjoys the long spell. Thus equipped, he played a big part in India's one-day and the Test series wins on their revival tour of Pakistan. His batting reserves are expected to yield significant lower-order, perhaps even lower-middle-order, runs in the future.
ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2004

Full name: Irfan Khan Pathan
Born: October 27, 1984, Baroda, Gujarat
Major teams: India, Baroda, Middlesex
Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Left-arm medium-fast

Career statistics

Test debut: Australia v India at Adelaide - Dec 12-16, 2003
ODI debut: Australia v India at Melbourne - Jan 9, 2004
First-class span: 2000/01 - 2005/06
List A span: 2001/02 - 2005/06

Indian cricket stars Mohinder Amarnath

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:36:00 -0700

Mohinder Amarnath

Grit, guts and gumption personified Amarnath's roller-coaster career, which began in 1969 and spanned two eventful decades. He was cricket's Frank Sinatra - the master of the comeback. He started his career as suspect against short-pitched fast bowling, and finished it as one of the finest and bravest players of pace. His defining season was 1982-83: coming back to the side after three years, he stood tall to knock off 1182 runs - including five hundreds - in 11 away Tests against West Indies and Pakistan. He crowned the season with back-to-back Man of the Match awards at the climax of India's World Cup-winning campaign in 1983. But his world came crashing down again the following home season, when he managed only one run in six innings against that same West Indian team. "Mr Amarnought" got the axe. But it wasn't the end: he bounced back with renewed force and vigour and was soon hooking fast bowlers off his eyebrows again. He didn't go in for cheap runs - nine of his 11 Test centuries were scored overseas -- and he collected his share of bruises. He will be remembered as a batsman who didn't flinch in the face of fire.

Full name: Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj
Born: September 24, 1950, Patiala, Punjab
Major teams: India, Baroda, Delhi, Durham, Punjab, Wiltshire
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

Career statistics

Test debut: India v Australia at Chennai - Dec 24-28, 1969
Last Test: India v West Indies at Chennai - Jan 11-15, 1988
ODI debut: England v India at Lord's - Jun 7, 1975
Last ODI: India v West Indies at Mumbai - Oct 30, 1989
First-class span: 1966/67 - 1988/89
List A span: 1975 - 1989/90

Indian cricket stars Ravi Shastri

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:23:00 -0700

Ravi Shastri

For over a decade, Ravi Shastri rendered yeoman service to Indian cricket in many ways. As an obdurate opening or middle-order batsman; as a left-arm spinner who was an integral part of the attack; and as long-time deputy to a couple of captains. In his time he was very much the glamour boy of Indian cricket, tall and good-looking and with an image to match. He had his detractors who charged that he batted too slowly, that he was selfish in his approach, that he continued to be in the team only because Gavaskar was captain. But the phlegmatic Shastri took all this in his stride, letting his performances on the field speak for themselves. In reality, as Shastri himself admitted, he was not particularly talented but had come up only through hard work.
Shastri might not have cut a dashing figure on the field as he pushed and prodded and grafted his way for runs and his bowling was little more than defensive as he pegged away on a good length without much variation. Of batsman who have played ten Test innings against Australia, only Eddie Paynter averages more than Shastri’s 77.75. He was like Navjot Sidhu in reverse: he started off as a lower-order hitter, but ended up as the original stonewaller at the top of the order.
But no one could deny his immense value to the side, his commitment to the team's cause and his consistency had to be admired. He very rarely let the country down and was an excellent utility cricketer in the one-day game, good enough to win the coveted Champions of Champions title - and the Audi car that went with it - in the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985. Despite his image as a cricketer with a defensive outlook, Shastri could really have a go at the bowling - as he did while equalling Gary Sobers' world record of six sixes in an over in a Ranji Trophy game in January 1985. A deep thinker and a shrewd strategist, he led India to victory in the one Test he captained - against West Indies at Madras in 1987-88.

Full name: Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri
Born: 27 May 1962, Bombay , Maharashtra
Major teams: Mumbai, Glamorgan, India.
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Slow Left Arm Orthodox

Career statistics

Test debut: New Zealand v India at Auckland - Jan 24-28, 1976
Last Test: Australia v India at Perth - Feb 1-5, 1992
ODI debut: New Zealand v India at Christchurch - Feb 21, 1976
Last ODI: India v South Africa at New Delhi - Nov 14, 1991
First-class span: 1975/76 - 1991/92
List A span: 1975/76 - 1991/92

Indian cricket stars Roger Binny

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:09:00 -0700

Roger Binny

A versatile allrounder, Roger Binny proved his value to the Indian team in both Test cricket and the one-day game. He was capable of rescuing India, like he did while scoring 83 not out and sharing a record 155 run seventh-wicket partnership with Madan Lal against Pakistan at Bangalore in 1983. He was capable of bowling India to victory, as he did in taking seven wickets in the match at Headingley in 1986. Or when with a spell of 4 for 9 in 30 balls towards his best Test figures of 6 for 56, he pushed Pakistan to the wall at Calcutta in 1987. But there is no doubt that Binny's most outstanding feats were associated with limited overs cricket - and more specifically the 1983 World Cup. He played a leading role in India's victorious campaign taking 18 wickets, then the record in the competition.
Tall and athletically built, Binny was an aggressive batsman who could either open the innings or go in the middle order, was a medium-pace bowler who could swing the ball both ways - and was particularly effective in English conditions - and an excellent field. He first made his mark when putting on a record unbroken partnership of 451 runs for the first wicket with Sanjay Desai in the Ranji Trophy game against Kerala in 1977-78, his share being 211. He was generally in and out of the Indian team but whenever he was persevered with, he proved his value. With the ball, he was capable of destructive spells like when he dismissed Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas and Miandad at Bombay in 1979 to put Pakistan on the backfoot or when he dismissed Greenidge, Haynes and Richards to rock the West Indies at Ahmedabad in 1983. A Karnataka stalwart for several years, Binny later made his mark as a coach and was given a lot of credit for the victory of the Under-19 team in the World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2000.

Full name: Roger Michael Humphrey Binny
Born: July 19, 1955, Bangalore, Karnataka
Major teams: India, Goa, Karnataka
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

Career statistics

Test debut: India v Pakistan at Bangalore - Nov 21-26, 1979
Last Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore - Mar 13-17, 1987
ODI debut: Australia v India at Melbourne - Dec 6, 1980
Last ODI: India v Australia at Chennai - Oct 9, 1987
First-class span: 1975/76 - 1991/92
List A span: 1975/76 - 1986

Indian cricket stars Sunil Gavaskar

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 07:57:00 -0700

Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar was one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time, and certainly the most successful. His game was built around a near perfect technique and enormous powers of concentration. It is hard to visualise a more beautiful defence: virtually unbreachable, it made his wicket among the hardest to earn. He played with equal felicity off both front and back foot, had an excellent judgement of length and line and was beautifully balanced. He had virtually every stroke in the book but traded flair for the solidity his side needed more. He still holds the record for the highest number of Test hundreds, but statistics alone don't reveal Gavaskar's true value to India. He earned respect for Indian cricket and he taught his team-mates the virtue of professionalism. The self-actualisation of Indian cricket began under him.

Full name: Sunil Manohar Gavaskar
Born: July 10, 1949, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Major teams: India, Mumbai, Somerset
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

Career statistics

Test debut: West Indies v India at Port of Spain - Mar 6-10, 1971
Last Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore - Mar 13-17, 1987
ODI debut: England v India at Leeds - Jul 13, 1974
Last ODI: India v England at Mumbai - Nov 5, 1987
First-class span: 1966/67 - 1987
List A span: 1973/74 - 1987/88

Indian cricket stars Dilip Vengsarkar

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 07:36:00 -0700

Dilip Vengsarkar

He burst upon the scene as a talented teenager when he scored a breezy 110 for Bombay against the Rest of India in the Irani Trophy match at Nagpur in 1975, in the process taking a heavy toll of Bedi and Prasanna, then at their peak. On his immense potential, he was straightaway inducted into the Indian team but success was rather slow in coming. It was not until the tour of Australia in 1977-78 that Dilip Vengsarkar established himself in the side and for the next 15 years he was one of the batting bulwarks. Tall and slimly built, Vengsarkar was basically an elegant strokeplayer but on his day - which was often - he could be a tormentor of even the strongest attacks. He was India's No 3 for many years and from that pivotal position guided the fortunes of the country's batting for more than a decade.
From the late 70s to the late 80s, Vengsarkar was among the best batsmen in the country and, during a purple patch in the 80s, he was very nearly the leading player in the world. From 1986 to 1988, in 16 Tests, he scored eight hundreds. Vengsarkar's best known feat of course is being the first to score three hundreds against England at Lord's. A superb player of the drive, Vengsarkar could also pull effortlessly and hook fearlessly. With Sunil Gavaskar he holds the Indian record for the second wicket in Tests - 344 unbroken against West Indies at Calcutta in 1978-79. He led the country in ten Tests, but lost the captaincy in 1989 following a controversial tour to the USA to play some festival matches. He lost his place in the side temporarily and though brought back for a few games in the early 90s he was never really the same commanding player. At the time of his retirement in 1992, he was second only to Gavaskar in runs and centuries scored in Tests. He now runs the Elf cricket academy in Mumbai.

Full name: Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar
Born: April 6, 1956, Rajapur, Maharashtra
Major teams: India, Mumbai, Staffordshire
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

Career statistics

Indian cricket stars Kapil Dev Nikhanj

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 06:46:00 -0700

Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev was the greatest pace bowler India has produced, and their greatest fast-bowling allrounder. If he had played at any other time - not when Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee were contemporaries - he would surely have been recognised as the best allrounder in the world. In any case he did enough to be voted India's Cricketer of the Century during 2002. His greatest feats were to lead India almost jauntily, and by his allround example, to the 1983 World Cup, and to take the world-record aggregate of Test wickets from Hadlee. It was the stamina of the marathon runner that took him finally to 431 wickets and only a yard beyond. He might not have been quite the bowling equal of Imran, Hadlee or Botham at his best, and his strike rate was less than four wickets per Test. But he was still outstanding in his accuracy and ability to swing the ball, usually away from right-handers. And he could hit a ball even more brilliantly than he bowled it, with uncomplicated flair.
Kapil's most memorable knock was an unbeaten 175 in the 1983 World Cup against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells in England, where he rescued India from 17 for five to 266 in 60 overs.
Kapil has claimed 434 Test and 253 One-day wickets in 15 years. He surpassed Richard Hadlee of New Zealand to become the world's highest wicket taker. Walsh of West Indies recently beat him to the world record.Ever since he broke on the cricketing scene in 1978 as a young fast bowler, Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj has become a household name in Indian cricket. Kapil Dev was the first genuine fast bowler on Indian soil and toiled hard under conditions not very conducive for his type of bowling to become the highest wicket taker in the world.
West Indian war horse Courtney Walsh recently surpassed Kapil's great effort of 434 Test wickets. Though Kapil reached the pinnacle of glory in Test cricket, his high water mark was winning the World Cup in 1983. He was named as the Wisden "Cricketer of the Year" in 1983.
Kapil began his career at Pakistan under the captaincy of Bishen Singh Bedi in 1978. He never looked back, emerging as the strike bowler for India.
Kapil made his Test and Limited Overs International (LOI) debuts in Pakistan during India's tours of 1978-79. Both his debuts were not very impressive in terms of wickets taken.
The tall and well-built Haryana 'Jat' showed that he had the potential to develop into a world-beater. The innings against Zimbabwe during the 1983 World Cup stands out for his ability to win matches single-handedly.With India tottering at 17 for five, the country's chances of making further progress in the championship looked very bleak. But Kapil scored a marvelous unbeaten 175 (a record which stood for a long time) to take India through to World Cup triumph.

Indian cricket stars Munaf Patel

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:16:00 -0700

Munaf Patel Profile

Bowler

Born July 12, 1983, Ikhar, Gujarat

Munaf Musa Patel

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm medium-fast

Test debut: India v England at Chandigarh (Punjab C.A.) - Mar 9-13, 2006

ODI debut: India v England at Margao - Apr 3, 2006

Indian cricket stars S Sreesanth

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:52:00 -0700

S Sreesanth Profile
Bowler
Born February 6, 1983, Kothamangalam, Kerala
Gopu

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium
Test debut: India v England at Nagpur - Mar 1-5, 2006
ODI debut: India v Sri Lanka at Nagpur - Oct 25, 2005

He was a break dancer, becoming a national champion whilst in eighth grade

Complete Profile of S Sreesanth

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (born February 6, 1983), also known as Gopu, is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-arm medium-pace bowler. He was born in Kothamangalam in Kerala.
He is only the only Kerala bowler to have taken a Ranji Trophy hat-trick. He was selected for the Duleep Trophy in 2002/03 after taking 22 wickets in his first seven games of his first season.
He came back from a hamstring injury in 2004, with a good show in the Challenger Trophy, in 2005. That earned him a place in the one-day international team for the Sri Lankan series in the 2005-06 season, and he made his Test debut against England later in the same season.
His best ODI bowling figures are 4-58, which he gained in the 5th One Day International between India and Pakistan in the former's tour of Pakistan on February 19, 2006.

Full name: Shanthakumaran Sreesanth
Born: February 6, 1983, Kothamangalam, Kerala
Major teams: India, Kerala, Kerala Under-19s
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium

Career statistics

Test debut: India v England at Nagpur - Mar 1-5, 2006
ODI debut: India v Sri Lanka at Nagpur - Oct 25, 2005
First-class span: 2002/03 - 2005/06
List A span: 2002/03 - 2005/06

Indian cricket stars Ajit Agarkar

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:36:00 -0700

Ajit Agarkar Profile
Bowler
Born December 4, 1977, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium
Test debut: Zimbabwe v India at Harare - Oct 7-10, 1998
ODI debut: India v Australia at Kochi - Apr 1, 1998

Agarkar set a world record for the fastest 50 wickets in One-day International matches (ODIs).
Batting at number eight, he scored an unbeaten Test century at Lord's in 2002.
Agarkar holds world ODI record of the quickest in terms of least number of matches taken to take 200 wickets and complete 1000 runs.

Indian cricket stars Harbhajan Singh

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:45:00 -0700

Harbhajan Singh Profile
Bowler
Born July 3, 1980, Jullundur (now Jalandhar), Punjab
Bajji

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak
Test debut: India v Australia at Bangalore - Mar 25-28, 1998
ODI debut: India v New Zealand at Sharjah - Apr 17, 1998

He is the first Indian to take Test hat-trick and took 32 wickets in a three match-series

Indian cricket stars Anil Kumble

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:36:00 -0700

Anil Kumble Profile
Bowler
Born October 17, 1970, Bangalore, Karnataka

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Legbreak googly
Test debut: England v India at Manchester - Aug 9-14, 1990
ODI debut: India v Sri Lanka at Sharjah - Apr 25, 1990

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1996
Kumble is one of only two bowlers ever to have taken all 10 wickets in a Test innings.

Indian cricket stars Zaheer Khan

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:24:00 -0700

Zaheer Khan Profile
Bowler
Born October 7, 1978, Shrirampur, Maharashtra

Batting style: Right hand bat
Bowling style: Left arm fast medium
Test debut: Bangladesh v India at Dhaka - Nov 10-13, 2000
ODI debut: Kenya v India at Nairobi (Gym) - Oct 3, 2000

Zaheer holds the world record for the highest Test score by a number 11 when he scored 75 for India v Bangladesh in Dhaka, 2004.
In 2006 Zaheer signed for Worcestershire County Cricket Club as their second overseas player.
He became the first Worcestershire player to take 10 wickets in a match on debut for over 100 years against Somerset

Indian cricket stars Dinesh Karthik

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:13:00 -0700

Dinesh Karthik Profile
Batsman, Wicketkeeper
Born June 1, 1985, Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu
Dinesh

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Test debut: India v Australia at Mumbai - Nov 3-5, 2004
ODI debut: England v India at Lord's - Sep 5, 2004

Indian cricket stars Mahendra Singh Dhoni

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 03:04:00 -0700

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Profile
Batsman, Wicketkeeper
Born July 7, 1981, Ranchi, Bihar
Mahi

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
Test debut: India v Sri Lanka at Chennai - Dec 2-6, 2005
ODI debut: Bangladesh v India at Chittagong (MAA) - Dec 23, 2004

In his fifth one-dayer, against Pakistan at Vishakapatnam, he scored 148 Scored
183 not out at Jaipur against Sri Lanka in October 2005
Broke Adam Gilchrist's record for the highest score by a wicketkeeper in ODIs
He hit the most number of sixes by an Indian in an Innings, and the second highest in ODI cricket, which is a total of 10 sixes

Indian cricket stars Robin Uthappa

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 02:47:00 -0700

Robin Uthappa Profile
Batsman
Born November 11, 1985, Coorg, Karnataka

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
Test debut: Yet to make Debut
ODI debut: India v England at Indore - Apr 15, 2006

He had a successful ODI debut, making 86 as an opening batsman before being run out.
His 86 was the highest score for any Indian debutant in a limited overs match.

Indian cricket stars Saurav Ganguly

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 02:18:00 -0700

Saurav Ganguly Profile
Batsman, Former Captain
Born July 8, 1972, Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal
The 'Dada' - People's Captain

Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
Test debut: England v India at Lord's - Jun 20-24, 1996
ODI debut: India v West Indies at Brisbane - Jan 11, 1992

More Test wins to his credit than any other Indian captain.
The only Indian Captain to win both the One Day and Test Series on Pakistani soil.
Captain of Indian cricket team until Oct 2005 (test team from November 10, 2000 and ODI team from September 5, 1999).
The third cricketer ever to score a century on debut at Lord's after Harry Graham and John Hampshire.
Scored 183 against Sri Lanka at Taunton in the 1999 cricket World Cup, the highest by an Indian in World Cup cricket.
Awarded the Padma Shri in 2004.
He was controversially dropped from the team after Greg Chapel became the Indian coach.

Complete Profile of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Sat, 9 Aug 2008 02:58:00 -0700

Sachin Tendulkar

When he became the first batsman to score 50 hundreds in international cricket, Sachin Tendulkar established himself as the greatest of all Indian cricketers. Recognised by Sir Donald Bradman as his modern incarnation, Tendulkar has a skill - a genius - which only a handful have possessed. It was not a skill that he was simply born with, but one which was developed by his intelligence and an infinite capacity for taking pains. If there is a secret, it is that Tendulkar has the keenest of cricket minds. At times in a Test series he looks mortal. But he learns every lesson, picks up every cue, dominates the opposing attack sooner or later, and nearly always makes a hundred. His bravery was proved after he was hit on the head on his Test debut in Pakistan, when he was only 16; and his commitment to the Indian cause has never been in doubt. If captaincy - or rather the off-field management of men less skilled than himself - was beyond him at his first attempt, his reading of the game, and his manifold varieties of bowling, have shown the same acute intelligence. His cricket has been played in the right way too, always attacking, and because he knew that was the right way rather than because he was a child of the one-day age, as he himself modestly said. The awe of opponents was as great as that of crowds. But the finest compliment must be that bookmakers would not fix the odds - or a game - until Tendulkar was out.

Full name: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born: April 24, 1973, Bombay, Maharashtra
Major teams: India, Mumbai, Yorkshire
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Legbreak googly

Career statistics

Test debut: Pakistan v India at Karachi - Nov 15-20, 1989
ODI debut: Pakistan v India at Gujranwala - Dec 18, 1989
First-class span: 1988/89 - 2004/05
List A span: 1989/90 - 2004/05

Indian cricket stars - Sachin Tendulkar

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Sat, 9 Aug 2008 02:23:00 -0700

Sachin Tendulkar Profile
Batsman
Born April 24, 1973, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
The Legend

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Legbreak googly
Test debut: Pakistan v India at Karachi - Nov 15-20, 1989
ODI debut: Pakistan v India at Gujranwala - Dec 18, 1989
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1997
Rated as the second best batsman of all time
Played more matches than any other cricketer

Fourth highest tally of runs in test cricket (10,134) at an outstanding average of 57.25 (highest among those who have scored over 8,500 test runs) as of March 2005
Most runs (over 13642) and centuries (38) in one-day internationals Only person to have scored over 11,000 ODI runs and over 25 ODI centuries as of April 28, 2005
Highest ODI batting average among Indian batsmen and among all batsmen who have scored over 7,500 ODI runs (as of April 3, 2005)
Most Number of Man of the Matches in one-day internationals
Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs in ODIs as of April 2005 Most Number of Runs in World Cup Cricket History
First cricketer to cross 10,000-run mark in ODIs
Has equalled Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 test centuries.
Among those who have played over 100 test matches, he is the only one with a batting average above 55.
Only second Indian to cross 10,000 runs in Test matches.
He has the most centuries in ODI cricket against Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
He is the fastest to score 10,000 runs in test cricket history. He holds this record along with Brian Lara. Both of them achieved this feat in 195 innings.
To go with this he has 34 hundreds in Test cricket at an average of 57. An average above 50 distinguishes a batsman as an all time great.
Highest individual score in ODIs among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999)

Indian Cricket Stars Rahul Dravid

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 10:10:00 -0700

Rahul Dravid Profile
Batsman, Captain
Born January 11, 1973, Indore, Madhya Pradesh
The 'Wall' and Captain

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak
Test debut: England v India at Lord's - Jun 20-24, 1996
ODI debut: India v Sri Lanka at Singapore - Apr 3, 1996
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2000
ICC Test Player of the Year 2004
ICC Player of the Year 2004

Best Test batting score of 270 was made against Pakistan, Rawalpindi, 2003-2004
Best Test bowling figures of 1 for 18 came against West Indies, St. John's, 2001-2002
Best ODI batting score of 153 was made against New Zealand, Hyderabad, 1999-2000
Best ODI bowling figures of 2 for 43 came against South Africa, Kochi, 1999-2000
Appointed Captain of the Indian national cricket team in November 2005. In 2004, Dravid was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
He has been nicknamed "The Wall".
After a whole total of eight wins under Dravid, the cricket team tied the previous record of most consecutive wins for an Indian team Under Dravids captaincy the Indian team has jumped from the 7th position in the ICC rankings to the 3rd position (as of 04/16/06).

Yuvraj Singh - Indian Cricket Player

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 05:16:00 -0700

Yuvraj Singh - Indian Cricketer

Birth Name: Yuvraj Singh
Date of Birth: December 12th, 1981
Nationality: Indian
Height: 5'11"
Sex: Male
Birth Place: Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa
Languages: English, Hindi, Panjabi
Education: Chandigarh, India
Father: B Yograj Singh(Former Indian cricketer)
Mother: Shabnam Singh(Actress)
Relationships: Kim Sharma(Bollywood actress)

Yuvraj Singh Biodata:
Yuvaraj Singh is one of the highly promising young cricketers of India. Yuvraj is primarily a left-handed batsman but can bowl part-time left-arm orthodox spin. He is regarded as being a better player of fast
bowling than spin bowling, and cites the Indian Oil Cup 2005 as a turning point in his career. He is one of the better fielders in the Indian team, fielding primarily at point, with a good aim at the stumps.He was previously often characterized as having attitude problems, but now often assumes leadership positions whilst either captain Rahul Dravid or vice-captain Sachin Tendulkar are absent.

Yuvraj Singh Career Highlights:
Generously gifted player, Yuvraj Singh is looked upon as a strong, fearless natural destined for great things. Two months short of his 19th birthday, he made an almost messianic entry into international cricket, toppling Australia in the Nairobi Mini-World Cup in 2000-01, with a blistering 84 and some scintillating fielding. In time he was to supplement these skills with clever, loopy left-arm spin. While Yuvraj's ability to hit the ball long and clean were instantly recognised, he was soon found to be troubled by quality spin and perceived to lack commitment, traits for which he temporarily lost his place in the one-day side. But on returning, for the last two one-dayers against Zimbabwe in early 2002, he swung the series India's way with a match winning innings in each game, and then went to England and played a key role in three Indian chases in their dream run in the NatWest tri-series.
It took 15 months more, and an injury to his captain, Sourav Ganguly, for Yuvraj to get a Test look-in. On the third such opportunity, against Pakistan on the first day on a greentop at Lahore, he stroked a stunning century off 110 balls. The 2005-06 season proved to be a watershed for Yuvraj, with 1161 runs at 58 in the one-dayers, as he transformed himself into one of the keystones in India's batting line-up. He was soon preferred over VVS Laxman in Tests when India went in with five batsmen, but a lean series in the West Indies meant that he was still struggling to match potential with performance.

Yuvraj Singh Professional Facts:
Major Teams: India
Represented: Asia 11,Punjab,Yorkshire
Batting Style: Left-hand bat
Bowling Style: Slow left arm orthodox
Test Cricket Debut: India v New Zealand at Mohali - Oct 16-20, 2003
ODI Cricket Debut: West Indies v India at Kingston - Jun 30-Jul 2, 2006

Yuvraj Singh Endorsements:

LG T.V.
PEPSI
WEST & SIDE T-SHIRT
HIMALAYA CHAWANPRASH
GO-GOA TRAVELS
HERO-HONDA(AMBITIONS)
NIPPO BATTERY
SAHARA
REBOOK SHOOGE
HARCULIES MTB(CYCLE)
EXTRA PRIMIUM(Hindustan Petrolium)
LG SEVEN100 (GSM-Mobile Color)
SURF EXCEL
PARASHUITE AFTER SHAVE GEL
ROYAL Stant
HDFC card
X BOX 360 Gam boy
PHILLIPS(along with his mother Shabanam)

BIO - DATA OF VIRENDER SEHWAG

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 03:50:00 -0700

I INTRO YOU ABOUT VIRENDER SEHWAG
Virender Sehwag again has come in the centre of discussion after playing some impressive innings in South Africa in twenty20 tournament. So, most of the Indian fans want to know more about him. That is why, I have made a bio-data of him.

Name: Virender Sehwag
Father’s Name: Krishan Sehwag

Mother’s Name: Krishna Sehwag
Date of Birth: October 20, 1978
Also known as: Veeru
Birth Sign: Libra
Birth Place: Delhi, but he spent his childhood in bungalow with his cousins.
Religion: Hinduism.
Current age: 28 years 344 days
Educational qualification: University
Family members: His family consists with 6 members. Sehwag is the third son of his parents. He has two elder sisters and one younger brother.
Manju (sister)
Anju (sister)
Virender Sehwag (own)
Vinod (brother)
Hobby: Watching movies and cricket match of his favorite players.
Favorite players: Sachin Tendulkar
What he wanted to be: He wanted to be a cricketer from his childhood. When his father game him a toy bat then he saw a dream to play in Indian national team.
Profession: cricketer (Indian national team)
Position: opener.
Major Teams: India, ACC Asian XI, Delhi, ICC World XI, Leicestershire, Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak
ODI debut: Mohali, against Pakistan in April 1999.
Test debut: Bloemfontein, against South Africa in 2001
Records: *Virender Sehwag scored the second fastest century in ODI Cricket by an Indian[83] - 100 runs off 69 balls against New Zealand in 2001[84]
*Virender Sehwag has scored the second fastest 50 by an Indian[85] - a record, he shares with Rahul Dravid, Kapil Dev and Yuvraj Singh - when he took 22 balls against Kenya in 2001[86]
*Sehwag has three double centuries - all against Pakistan[87]. Greg Chappell is the only other player to have scored multiple double centuries against Pakistan (2)
Personal life: Sehwag married Arti Alhawat in April, 2004 under heavy security in a media publicized wedding which was hosted by Arun Jaitley, the union law minister of India at his residence. Sehwag is a lifelong vegetarian.

Nice Qestion Why they called cricket as tail-ender?

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 01:14:00 -0700

I tried to find out but no result .. so please help me?/

Well, whenever u move your head n body go first & then your tail.In cricket the bowlers who r not good batsmenendup batting at the lower end of order in sequence as they come to bat.Not too much run making is expected from them.They appear in the lower half or lower quarter of your batting score card n r compared to a tail n r called tail enders.Have a nice time.
Because it's the players that get sent in at the tail end (ie the bottom) of the batting order and aren't seen as specialist batsmen - therefore not expected to get many runs.
becoz the team who's gonna bat 2nd have to score more than the target.they have to chase n reach the end.tat's the tail so its called as tailender
In a cricket team there are players who are really good bowlers and others who have been chosen because they bat well, and are hard to get out and make a lot of runs. These good batsmen go in to bat first. When they get out the last players on the list who are good bowlers,but not as good at batting have their turn.They are at the bottom(or tail end) of the batting line-up, and so they are called the tail enders. Sometimes they get more runs than anyone was expecting and the commentators say that "the tail has wagged" - meaning these "poorer"batsmen have got more runs than expected. It's a great game - but a little confusing at times!!
years of watching!
The phrase "tail -ender" simply refers to the fact that batsmen coming in at 9, 10 and 11 are the "tail" of the batting order, in other words the end of the line.

INDIAN CRICKET TEAMS BIO -DATA

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:24:00 -0700

Indian Cricket teams Biodata

The Indian cricket team is an international cricket team representing India. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the cricket governing body in India. The Indian Cricket Team is currently the highest paid sports team in the world (in terms of sponsorship).[1]
Debuting as Test cricket team at Lord's, England on 25 June 1932, the Indian cricket team became the sixth Test playing team. For nearly fifty years, India was weaker than most of the other Test cricket teams, such as Australia and England, winning only 35 of the 196 matches it played during this period.[2] The team gained strength near the end of the 50-year period with the emergence of players such as Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev and the Indian spin quartet. The Indian team has continued to be highly ranked since then in both Test cricket and One-day Internationals. The team won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 and was runners-up in 2003. The current team contains many of the world's leading players, including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, who hold numerous cricketing world records.[1][3] As of November 2006, the team is ranked fourth in the ICC Test Championship[4] and in sixth place in the ICC ODI Championship[5] In December 2006, it played and won its first ever Twenty20 international in South Africa, becoming the most recent Test team to play 20-20 cricket.
History
Main article: History of the Indian cricket team
Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji was an Indian who played for the English cricket teamThe British brought cricket to India in the early 1700s, with the first cricket match being played in 1721.[6] In 1848, the Parsi community in Mumbai formed the Oriental Cricket Club, the first cricket club to be established by Indians. After slow beginnings, the Parsis were eventually invited by the Europeans to play a match in 1877.[7] By 1912, the Parsis, Hindus, and Muslims of Bombay played a quadrangular tournament with the Europeans every year.[7] In the early 1900s, some Indians went on to play for the English cricket team. Some of these, such as Ranjitsinhji and KS Duleepsinhji were greatly appreciated by the British and their names went on to be used for the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy-two of the major domestic tournaments in India. In 1911, an Indian team went on their first official tour of England, but only played English county teams and not the English cricket team.[8] India was invited into the Imperial Cricket Council in 1926 and made its debut as a Test-cricket-playing-nation in England in 1932 led by CK Nayudu.[9] The match was given Test status despite being only 3 days in length. The team was not strong in its batting at this point and went on to lose by 158 runs.[10] Indian team continued to improve throughout the 1930s and '40s but did not achieve an international victory during this period. The team's first series as an independent country was in 1948 against Sir Donald Bradman's Invincibles (a name given to the Australian cricket team of that time). Australia won the five-match series, 4-0.[11]
India recorded their first Test victory against England at Madras in 1952[12] and later in the year won their first Test series (against Pakistan). They continued their improvement throughout the early 1950s with a series win against New Zealand in 1956, however they did not win again in the remainder of the 1950s and lost badly to strong Australian and English sides. The next decade developed India's reputation as a team that is considered very strong at home. Although they only won two series (both against New Zealand), they managed to draw home series against Pakistan, England and Australia.
Kapil Dev receiving the Cricket World Cup in 1983The key to India's bowling in the 1970s were the Indian spin quartet. This period also saw the emergence of two of India's best ever batsmen, Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath. Indian pitches have had tendency to support spin and this was exploited by the spin quartet to create collapses in opposing batting lineups. These players were responsible for the back-to-back series wins in 1971 in the West Indies and in England, under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar.
The advent of One-Day International cricket in 1971 created a new dimension in the cricket world. However, India was not considerably strong in ODIs at this point and batsmen like captain Gavaskar were known for their defence-based approaches to batting. India began as a weak team in ODIs and did not manage to qualify for the second round in the first two editions of the Cricket World Cup.
During the 1980s, India developed a more competent batting line-up. Batsmen like Mohammed Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar and all-rounder Ravi Shastri were prominent during this time. India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983, defeating the favourites West Indies in the final, owing to a strong bowling performance. In spite of this the team performed poorly in the Test arena, including 28 consecutive Test matches without a victory. In 1984, India won the Asia Cup and in 1985, won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia. However, India, remained a very weak team outside the Indian subcontinent. India's Test series victory in 1986 against England remained the last Test series win by India outside subcontinent for the next 19 years. The 1987 Cricket World Cup was held in India. The 1980s saw Gavaskar and Kapil Dev (India's best all rounder to this date) at the pinnacle of their careers. Gavaskar made a Test record 34 centuries as he became the first man to reach the 10,000 run mark and Kapil Dev who later became the highest wicket taker in Test cricket with 434 wickets. The period was also marked by an unstable leadership, with Gavaskar and Kapil exchanging the captaincy several times.
A graph showing India's Test match results against all Test match teams from 1932 to September 2006The addition of Sachin Tendulkar (aged 16 at the time) and Anil Kumble to the national side in 1989 and 1990 further improved the team. The following year, Javagal Srinath, India's fastest bowler since Amar and Nissar Singh made his debut. Despite this, during the 1990s, India did not win any of its 33 Tests outside the subcontinent while it won 17 out of its 30 Tests at home. After being eliminated by neighbours Sri Lanka on home soil at the 1996 Cricket World Cup, the team underwent a year of change as Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, later to be become captains of the team, made their debut in the same Test at Lord's. Azharuddin was replaced by Tendulkar as captain in late 1996, but after a personal and team form slump, Tendulkar relinquished the captaincy and Azharuddin was reinstalled at the beginning of 1998. With the captaincy burden removed, Tendulkar was the world's leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs, as India enjoyed a home Test series win over Australia, the best ranked team in the world. After failing to reach the semifinals at the 1999 Cricket World Cup, Tendulkar was again made captain, and had another poor run, losing 3-0 on a tour of Australia and then 2-0 at home to South Africa. Tendulkar resigned, vowing never to captain the team again, with Sourav Ganguly appointed the new captain. The team was further damaged in 2000 when former captain Azharuddin and fellow batsman Ajay Jadeja were implicated in a match-fixing scandal and given life bans.
India's performance in the remaining World Cups has been considerably consistent. In the 1987 Cricket World Cup, the team advanced to the semi-finals as favourites, they did the same in 1996; both times they suffered defeats in the semi-finals. India was weaker in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, and did not make it past the Super Six round. In the 2003 Cup, India lost only two games (both against reigning champions Australia) and advancing to the finals, where they were defeated by Australia.
The Indian cricket team in action in the Wankhede StadiumSince the year 2000, the Indian team underwent major improvements with the appointment of John Wright as India's first ever foreign coach. India maintained a very good record against Australia and, and had not been beaten by them in a test series in India since 1969. This was the reason for Australian captain Steve Waugh labelling India as the "Final Frontier". [13] India also won a historic test and ODI series against arch-rivals Pakistan.
Since 2004, India has suffered from lack of form and fitness from its older players. During 2005, India lost series' to Australia and Pakistan. Greg Chappell took over from John Wright as the new coach of the Indian cricket team following the series. However, India continued to be unconvincing. The tension resulted in a fallout between Chappell and Ganguly and Rahul Dravid was installed as the captain, triggering a revival in the team's fortunes and discovery of new young talent such as that of M.S. Dhoni and Irfan Pathan. The team also beat the Sri Lankans in the Test series 2-0 to displace England from its position in second place in the ICC Test rankings, but India slipped back by losing the high-profile[14] India achieved the world-record of winning 17 successive matches chasing the total. However, after a series loss against a weak West Indies, India once again was questioned abou it's capability to win the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the Carribean.[15] India since continued bad form, losing the DLF Cup, ICC Champions Trophy and being whitewashed in ODIs by South Africa
India's traditional strengths have always been its line-up of spin bowlers and batsmen. [16]Currently, it has a very strong batting lineup with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag all being selected to play for the ICC World XI in the 2005 "SuperTest" against Australia. In previous times, India was unique in that it was the only country to regularly field three spinners in one team, whereas one is the norm, and of the fifteen players to have taken more than 100 wickets, only four were pace bowlers from the last 20 years [17].However in recent years, Indian pace bowling has improved, with the emerging talents of Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel and Sreesanth and many more playing in the national team.
See also: India at the Cricket World Cup, List of Indian Test cricketers

Tournament History

World Cup ICC Champions Trophy Commonwealth Games Asia Cup

1975: Round 1
1979: Round 1
1983: Champions
1987: Semi Finals
1992: Round 1
1996: Semi Finals
1999: Super 6 (6th Place)
2003: Runners Up
2007: Qualified
1998: Semi Finals
2000: Runners Up
2002: Joint Winner with Sri Lanka
2004: Round 1
2006: Group stage
1998: Round 1
1984: Champions
1986: Boycott
1988: Champions
1990/1991: Champions
1995: Champions
1997: Runners Up
2000: 3rd Place
2004: Runners Up
Team colours

India's current ODI cricket shirtWhen playing one-day cricket, the Indian cricket team has in recent years worn a sky blue shirt and pants. At present, the shirt also contains a diagonal tricolour design which reflects the Flag of India and the name of their main sponsor, Sahara. The one-day cap is also sky blue with the BCCI logo on the front, with a similar tricolour design on the brim of the cap.

With the advent of the World Series Cup in the 1970s, each team was to don a primary and secondary colour on their uniforms. The Indian team elected to wear light-blue as their primary colour and yellow as their secondary colour. Even during the 1999 Cricket World Cup the secondary colour on the Indian cricket team's clothing has been yellow. However this has since been removed and replaced with the tricolour. However, in the past the Indian ODI outfits were changed to different shades of blue, mostly darker than the current, and the team donned dark blue during 1992, the current sky blue colour is more similar to that worn in the World Series Cup.

When playing first-class cricket, in addition to their cricket whites, Indian fielders sometimes wear a sunhat, which is dark blue and has a wide brim, with the BCCI logo in the middle of the front of the hat. Helmets are coloured similarly. Some players sport the Indian flag on their helmet. The current kit sponsor for the Indian team is Nike, Inc.....

Test cricket grounds

BarabatiWankhedeBrabourne/Gymk...GardensFeroz_Shah_Kotla
GandhiG...ParkKDSB/UniversityLB
ShastriM_ChinnaswamyMACNehruPC...CA

Locations of all stadiums which have hosted a Test match within IndiaThere are a number of world-renowned cricket stadiums located in India. Most grounds are under the administration of various State Cricket Boards as opposed to being under the control of the BCCI. The Bombay Gymkhana was the first ground in India to host a full-scale cricket match featuring an Indian cricket team. This was between the Parsis and the Europeans in 1877. Suitably therefore, the first stadium to host a Test match in India was the Gymkhana Ground in Mumbai in 1933, the only Test it ever hosted. The second and third Tests in the 1933 series were hosted at Eden Gardens and Chepauk. The Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi was the first stadium to host a Test match after independence, being a draw against the West Indies in 1948, the first of a 5-Test series. Nineteen stadiums in India have hosted official Test matches. In recent times the building of world-class cricket grounds has increased in India, with multiple Test grounds occurring in the cities of Lucknow, Chandigarh, Chennai and Mumbai.

Eden Gardens in Kolkata has hosted the most Tests (34), and also has the largest capacity of any cricket stadium in the world, being capable of holding more than 100,000 spectators.[18] Founded in 1864, it is one of the most historical stadiums in India, having hosted numerous controversial and historical matches.[19] Other major stadiums in India include the Feroz Shah Kotla, which was established in 1883 and hosted memorable matches including Anil Kumble's ten wickets in an innings haul against Pakistan. For the last two years, the ground has undergoing renovation.[20]

The Wankhede Stadium is one of the newest world-class Indian cricket stadiums. Established in 1974 with a capacity of near 50,000. It has hosted 21 Test matches in its relatively short 32-year history. It was the unofficial successor of the Brabourne Stadium, which is also located in Mumbai. Mumbai is often considered the cricketing capital of India because of its fans and the talent it produces (see Mumbai cricket team) and thus the stadium regularly hosts major Test matches.[21] The M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk is also considered to be an important historical Indian cricket ground, established in the early 1900s it was the site of India's first Test victory. It was also the site of Saeed Anwar's record breaking 194.[22]

The remainder of the Test stadiums are considered lesser compared to these major stadiums. The Gymkhana and Brabourne Stadiums are not used any more and have been replaced by the Wankhede. Similarly, the Barabati Stadium, Gandhi Stadium, K. D. Singh Babu Stadium, Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Nehru Stadium, Sector 16 Stadium and University Ground have not hosted a Test match in the last 10 years.

Stadium City Test matches

Barabati Stadium Cuttack 3
Bombay Gymkhana Mumbai 1
Brabourne Stadium Mumbai 17
Eden Gardens Kolkata 34
Feroz Shah Kotla Delhi 28
Gandhi Stadium Jalandhar 1
Green Park (now Modi Stadium) Kanpur 19
K. D. Singh Babu Stadium Lucknow 1
Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium Hyderabad 3
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium Bangalore 16
M. A. Chidambaram Stadium Chepauk, Chennai 28
Nehru Stadium Chennai 9
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium Mohali, Chandigarh 7
Sardar Patel Stadium (Gujarat) Motera, Ahmedabad 8
Sawai Mansingh Stadium Jaipur 1
Sector 16 Stadium Chandigarh 1
University Ground Lucknow 1
Vidarbha C.A. Ground Nagpur 9
Wankhede Stadium Mumbai 21

Fan following

Main article: Cricket in India

Cricket is the de facto national sport of India and has a very wide following among the population of India.[23] As a result, stadiums are generally filled to capacity at matches on home soil. Due to large Indian diaspora in nations like Australia and England, a large Indian fan turnout is expected whenever India plays in each of these nations.

There have been a number of official fan groups that have been formed over the years, including the Swami Army or Bharat Army, the Indian equivalent of the Barmy Army, that were very active in their support when India toured Australia in 2003/2004. They are known to attribute a number of popular Indian songs to the cricket team.[24]

Fan rivalry and cross-border tension has created a strong rivalry between the Indian cricket team and the Pakistani cricket team. This has made matches between these two nations the subcontinental equivalent of the Ashes. In tours between these two nations, cricket visas are often employed to accommodate for the tens of thousands of fans wishing to cross the border to watch cricket. This intense fan dedication is one of the major causes of the Indian Cricket Board's (BCCI) financial success.[25]

However, there are downsides to having such a cricket-loving population. Many Indians hold cricket very close to their hearts and losses are not received well by the Indian population. In some cases, particularly after losses to Pakistan or after a long string of weak performances, there have been reports of player effigies being burnt in the streets and vandalism of player homes[26]. In many cases, players have come under intense attention from the media for negative reasons, this has been considered as one of the reasons for Sourav Ganguly being left out of the Indian team. At times, when a match is surrounded by controversy, it has resulted in a debacle. For example, when India slid to defeat against Australia at Brabourne Stadium in 1969, fans began throwing stones and bottles onto the field as well as setting fire to the stands.[27] A similar event occurred during the Cricket World Cup in 1996, where India were losing the semi-final to Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens. In this case, the fan behaviour was directed at the Indian team in disappointment at their lacklustre performance. An armed guard had to be placed at the home of captain Mohammad Azharuddin to ensure his safety.[27] Indian fans have also been passionate in their following of Sachin Tendulkar, who has been commonly thought of as one of the best batsmen in the world. Glorified for the bulk of his career, a riot occurred in early 1999 in a Test against Pakistan at Eden Gardens after a collision with Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar saw him run out, forcing police to eject spectators and the game to be played in an empty stadium. In more recent times, a string of low scores has resulted in continued impatience amongst fans. In front of his home crowd, against South Africa, Tendulkar was booed by the crowd when he got out.[28]

Often, fans quickly come to the defense of players who have been accused of wrongdoings or dropped from the team. In 2005, when Sourav Ganguly was dropped due to lack of form, Ganguly's home state of West Bengal erupted in protests.[29] India later played a match against South Africa in Kolkata, West Bengal. The Indian team was booed by the crowd who supported South Africa instead of India in response to Ganguly's dropping. Similar regional divisions in India regarding selection have also caused protests against the team, with political activists from the regional Kalinga Kamgar Sena party in Orissa disrupting the arrival of the team in Cuttack for an ODI over the lack of an Orissan player in the team, with one player manhandling coach Greg Chappell.[30] Similar treatment was handed to India's Marathi captain Sunil Gavaskar in the 1980s by Bengali crowds, with consecutive Tests in Calcutta requiring police intervention due to crowd rioting.[31][28]

However, it should be noted that a successful string of results, victories against arch-rivals Pakistan or victory in major tournaments such as the World Cup are greeted with particular ecstasy from the Indian fans.[32]

Indian women's cricket team
Main article: Indian women's cricket team

The Indian women's cricket team has a much lower profile that the men's team. For all national women's cricket teams, the female players are paid much less their male counterparts, and the women's teams do not receive as much popular support or recognition as the men's team. The women's teams also have a less packed schedule compared to men's teams and play fewer matches. The Indian women's cricket team played its first Test match in 1976/7, when they drew with the West Indies in a six-match series.

The Women's Cricket World Cup was held in India in 1978 and featured 4 teams. Despite this, India failed to win either of their two matches. Their next appearance in the Test and ODI circuit was against Australia in 1984, in which the Test series was tied but the ODI series was lost in a humiliating whitewash.

The Indian women's cricket team has since picked up some form, reaching the finals in the last World Cup, but then losing to Australia. The Women's Asia Cup of 2005-06 was won by India, who beat Sri Lanka in the final. They also beat the West Indies in the 2004-05 season, winning the 5 ODI series 5-0. This year the Indian women's team lost to English women's team 4-0 in a ODI Series but beat them in the Twenty20 International and 1-0 in the Test series.

National records
Main article: Indian cricket team records

Sachin Tendulkar is easily the batsman with the most national achievements. He holds the record of most appearances in both Tests and ODIs, most runs in both Tests and ODIs and most centuries in Tests and ODIs. The highest score by an Indian is the 309 scored by Virender Sehwag in Multan. It is the only triple century in Test cricket by an Indian. The team's highest ever score was a 7/705 against Australia in Sydney, 2004, while its lowest was 42 against England in 1974. In ODIs, the team's highest was 376 against New Zealand in 1999.

India also has very strong bowling figures, with spin bowler Anil Kumble being a member of the elite group of 5 bowlers who have taken 500 wickets. In 1999, Anil Kumble emulated Jim Laker to become the second bowler to take all ten wickets in a Test match innings when he took 10 wickets for 74 runs against Pakistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. India's strength has traditionally been with its spin bowlers, which explains the records achieved by Anil Kumble and Bishen Singh Bedi.

Many of the Indian cricket team's records are also world records, for example Sachin Tendulkar's century tally and run tally. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 183 not out against Sri Lanka in 2005 is the World Record score by a wicketkeeper in ODIs. Roy and Mankad's first wicket partnership of 413 is a world record for the first wicket, although it was close to being broken by Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid in 2006.[33] The Indian cricket team also holds the record of 17 successful run-chases in ODIs,[34] which ended against the West Indies in May 2006.

Current squad

Name Batting Style Bowling Style Domestic team Zone Contract grade
Captain
Rahul Dravid RHB OB Karnataka South A
Wicket-keeper
Mahendra Singh Dhoni RHB - Jharkhand East B
Dinesh Karthik RHB - Tamil Nadu South
Opening batsmen
Sachin Tendulkar RHB LB, LBG, OB Mumbai West A
Virender Sehwag RHB OB Delhi North A
Wasim Jaffer RHB OB Mumbai West
Gautam Gambhir LHB OB Delhi North
Robin Uthappa RHB RM Karnataka South
Specialist middle-order batsmen
Sourav Ganguly LHB RM Bengal East A
V. V. S. Laxman RHB OB Hyderabad South A
Yuvraj Singh LHB SLA Punjab North B
Mohammed Kaif RHB OB Uttar Pradesh Central B
Suresh Raina LHB OB Uttar Pradesh Central C
All-rounder
Irfan Pathan LHB LMF Baroda West A
Dinesh Mongia LHB SLA Punjab North
Joginder Sharma RHB RMF Rajasthan North
Seamers
Vikram Singh RHB RFM Punjab North
Ajit Agarkar RHB RFM Mumbai West B
Rudra Pratap Singh RHB LMF Uttar Pradesh Central
Shanthakumaran Sreesanth RHB RFM Kerala South C
Munaf Patel RHB RMF Gujarat West
Zaheer Khan RHB LMF Baroda West C
Spin Bowlers
Anil Kumble RHB LBG Karnataka South A
Harbhajan Singh RHB OB Punjab North A
Ramesh Powar RHB OB Mumbai West

The current coach of the Indian cricket team is Australian Gery Chriestern who succeeded John Wright in 2004. India has recently developed a strategy of using foreign expertise in order to build the team. In the recent series against the West Indies, the touring squad included Ian Frazer as bio-mechanical expert, John Gloster as team physiotherapist and the manager of the team Ranjib Biswal.

Captains
Main article: Indian national cricket captains

Twenty-eight men have captained the Indian cricket team in at least 1 Test match, although only 6 men have led the team in more than 25 or more matches, and 5 men have captained the team in ODIs but not Tests. India's first captain was CK Nayudu, who led the team in four matches against England, one in England in 1932 and a series of 3 matches at home in 1933/4. Lala Amarnath, India's fourth captain, led the team in its first Test match after Indian independence. He also captained the side to its first Test victory and first series win, both in a 3-match series at home against Pakistan in 1952/3.

The Nawab of Pataudi was captain for 36 matches from 1961/2 to 1969/70, returning for a final 4 matches against West Indies in 1974/5. India played its first ODI in 1974, under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar. India won its first ODI under the captaincy of Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan in the 1975 Cricket World Cup, against East Africa.

Sunil Gavaskar took over as Test and ODI captain in the late 1979s and early 1980s, leading India in 47 Test matches and 38 ODIs, winning 9 Tests and 14 ODIs. He was succeeded by Kapil Dev in the 1980s, who continued for 34 Test matches, including 4 victories. Kapil Dev led India to victory in 40 of his 74 ODIs in charge, including the 1983 Cricket World Cup.

India has had only four regular Test captains since Mohammad Azharuddin took charge in 1989. Azharuddin led the team in 47 Test matches from 1989/90 to 1998/9, winning 14, and in 173 ODIs, winning 89. He was followed by Sachin Tendulkar, who captained India in 25 Test matches and 73 ODIs in the late 1990s; Tendulkar was relatively unsuccessful as a captain, winning only 4 Test matches and 23 ODIs. He was replaced as ODI captain by Ajay Jadeja and then Sourav Ganguly; Ganguly became the regular captain in both forms of cricket in 2000. Ganguly remained captain for the first 5 years of the 2000s and was much more successful, winning 21 of his 49 Test matches in charge and 73 of his 141 ODIs. The current captain, Rahul Dravid, took over as Test captain in 2005. In his fourth full series in charge, he led India to victory in the West Indies, the first instance of India winning in the Carribean in over 30 years.

Governing body
Main article: Board of Control for Cricket in India

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the governing body over the Indian cricket team. The Board has been operating since 1929 and represents India with the International Cricket Council. It is amongst the richest sporting organizations in the world, it sold media rights to for India's matches in the next 4 years for 612 billion US dollars.[35] It negotiates India's sponsorships, its future tours and the selection of its players. Selection for the Indian cricket team occurs through the BCCI's zonal selection policy, where the selection commitee is comprised of a selector from each zone in India.[36] This has sometimes led to controversy as to whether these selectors are biased towards their zones.[36]

The International Cricket Council determines India's upcoming matches through its future tours program. However, the BCCI, with its influential financial position in the cricketing world, has often challenged the ICC's program and called for more tours between India, Australia, Pakistan and England which are more likely to earn more revenue as opposed to tours with Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.[37] In the past, the BCCI has also come into conflict with the ICC in relation to sponsorships[38] and the legitimacy of the ICC Champions Trophy

well it played it's first match in the year1965 against england.then originated the board of control for cricket in india(bcci).

Field Bettel Location MIND IT

noreply@blogger.com (Aakash Patel) — Thu, 7 Aug 2008 09:34:00 -0700

FIELDING POSITION

The diagram below shows the names of some of the most common fielding positions on a cricket field. The position of the batsman who is facing the bowler is marked with an "X" (the second batsman stands at the opposite end). The circles represent the two sets of stumps, and the arrow shows the direction in which the ball is bowled.

The onside is the half of the field which is on the left-hand side of a right-handed batsman (or on the right-hand side of a left-handed batsman). The other half of the field is called the offside. The areas close to the boundary are the outfield, while closer to the batsman is the midfield. The area directly between the two wickets is the pitch.

The words long or deep are used for most of the positions in the outfield (the exception being third man). The word leg is used for the positions which are in line with or behind the batman's legs (not his bat). Silly describes positions which are just in front of the batsman. Mid is used for positions in the midfield. Mid on and mid off are close to the second wicket (onside and offside respectively). Fielders in the square positions stand in line with the batsman, while those in the fine positions cover balls which are hit behind the wicket. In the offside the positions in front of the batsman are known as gully, point and cover, and the slips are just behind the batsman (there may be more than one person standing here, in positions known as first slip, second slip, third slip and fourth slip). The wicketkeeper stands directly behind the batsman.

Right-handed Batsman Fielding position names