MANU

'Iron Man 3': First Look at The Mandarin Is Unveiled as Second Teaser Arrives

2012-10-23T09:28:00.000+05:30

Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin

Ever notice Ben Kingsley is either trying to destroy the world or trying to save it?

Behold the man who helped do “absolute good” in Schindler’s List and Gandhi as he shifts into absolute bad mode for Iron Man 3 as the international terrorist known as The Mandarin.

Comic book readers are very familiar with Tony Stark’s multi-ringed nemesis, but those who know this corner of the Marvel universe only from the movies can now bow their heads in subjugation before a new acquaintance.

Check out the full image below, along with a new poster for the film.

Iron Man 3 trailer coming out tomorrow, playing over footage of The Mandarin’s black helicopters launching missiles into the seaside home that is Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man headquarters. As the structure detonates and collapses into the sea, all of his armor and equipment sinks with it.

Filmmaker Yash Chopra dead

2012-10-21T19:30:00.000+05:30

NEW DELHI: Legendary film director, screenwriter and film producer Yash Chopra is dead. Chopra, 80, had been admitted to Lilavati hospital in Bandra on October 13 after being diagnosed with dengue, according to TV reports.

Known for making some of the best love stories and action dramas, the veteran had been busy shooting for his last directorial project — Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

"He had been suffering from complications of dengue for a long time. He suffered from multi organ failure, because of which he died," a hospital source said.
According to reports Chopra had to even cancel a trip to the Swiss Alps for the filming of the last remaining song sequence in his upcoming film. The trip to had to be cancelled after he was admitted to Lilavati hospital.
Born in Lahore on September 27, 1932, Chopra began his career as an assistant director to I.S. Johar and his elder brother, B.R. Chopra.
In his over five decade old career, Chopra has made several hits like 'Deewar', 'Trishul', 'Chandni', 'Silsila', 'Veer Zaara' and others.
Mr Chopra is survived by his wife Pamela and two sons Aditya and Uday.

I'm Alone- Published in Prjavani "Metro"

2012-10-18T08:47:00.000+05:30

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Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines - Official Trailer (2012)

2012-10-13T08:57:00.001+05:30

Wrong Turn 5 Blu-ray Box Cover

The cutting-edge terror continues when a small mining town hosts the legendary Mountain Man Festival on Halloween, where crowds of costumed partygoers gather for a wild night of music and mischief. But a killer celebration soon gives way to a blood-soaked feeding frenzy when an inbred family of hillbilly cannibals trick and treat themselves to a group of visiting college students who are just dying for a good time..."

Releasing on 23.10.2012

Kajal Agarwal in Thuppakki Audio release Function

2012-10-11T08:56:00.000+05:30

Priya Anand Cute Stills

2012-10-03T14:56:00.003+05:30

Dhoom 3 gets Australian actress on board

2012-10-02T17:39:00.000+05:30

Dhoom 3 has a new cast member. The Australian actor Tabrett Bethell is the new attraction.

On Thursday night, Uday Chopra, tweeted, “Please welcome the lovely Tabrett Bethell who joins the cast of Dhoom 3 today.”

She will join the cast of Amir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif and Uday Chopra in the action thriller flick. The foreign recruits in the cast include, Paul D. Morgan, Arthur-Angelo Sarinas, Kim DeJesus, Rocky Rector and Keira McCarthy.

The looks of the movie and the star cast is giving it a complete international feel. The technicians, stunt men are all foreigners. The film is being shot at Chicago, USA. The buzz is around the film is growing with each passing day. It’s going to be released next year on Diwali.

Speaking about Tabrett Bethell, she is a leading actress in Australia. She has worked in the television series Legend of the Seeker, essaying the character of Cara. Tabrett started her career as a model at the age of 16. In 2010 she was part of James Rabbitts's 2010 Australian thriller The Clinic. The Clinic was based on real life stories. In August 2010 she won Best Actress at the Manhattan Film Festival for her role in Anyone You Wan. In addition to that she was also the cheerleader for the Australian Rugby team. She was also associated with the Chadwick Model Agency.

While the latest news from Dhoom 3 is that it’s shooting has begun again. Last week it got stalled, because the necessary permission was not there. There was a weekend water and air show, due to which the film was not allowed to be shot. However Amir stepped in. Using his huge star power he convinced the mayor of Chicago, Mr. Rahm Emanuel. The team readily got the permission after that.

Meanwhile it is also being said that Dhoom 3 will be released in the superior IMAX format. Speaking on that Yash Chopra said, “IMAX has always symbolized high quality film entertainment and experience and this vision of the company works very well with the ethos of YRF, which has been synonymous with Indian film entertainment over the last four decade.”

First list of contestants for 'Bigg Boss 6'

2012-09-29T14:07:00.001+05:30

videshi tadka- Kim Kardashian

Salman Khan as Host

The first list of contestants of the newest edition of the notorious TV reality show BIGG BOSS was revealed a few hours ago.Going by the names that have been shortlisted for the show, it is a far cry from being a family show even this season, and by what has been assured by the show’s host Salman Khan in one of his interviews a few weeks ago.

So, one can expect to watch model-turned-actress Sayali Bhagat, match-fixing accused starlet Nupur Mehta, fake Godman Swami Nithyananda, Aamir Khan’s brother Faisal Khan, TV personality Navjot Singh Sidhu and anchor-cum-actor Jay Bhanushali donning the costumes of the contestants this time around.

Also, like its earlier seasons, the show will have a guest celebrity to add videshi tadka and this time that hot shot personality will be international reality TV star and popular celebrity Kim Kardashian.

The show will be aired at prime time, thus regaining its lost status as a family friendly programme.

Tamanna in Rebel Movie Latest Stills HD

2012-09-25T18:23:00.003+05:30

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First Look: Lindsay Lohan & Charlie Sheen Make The Ultimate Hook-Up In 'Scary Movie 5'

2012-09-23T09:41:00.000+05:30

Charlie Sheen & Lindsay Lohan- Scary Movie 5

Oh hey, check it out, a first look at the early contender for worst film of 2013. I mean... it's a first look photo ofperennial arrestee Lindsay Lohan and human punchline Charlie Sheen, the ultimate Hollywood hookup, in their "outrageous, sexy and hilarious opening scene" in the upcoming Dimension Film "Scary Movie 5."

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Ileana Exclusive Photos HD

2012-09-23T09:18:00.000+05:30

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Afghanistan v India, World T20 2012 Sep 2012

2012-09-19T23:30:00.000+05:30

Apple iPhone 5 Spec

2012-09-15T09:53:00.000+05:30

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - GSM A1428
		CDMA 800 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - CDMA A1429
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - GSM A1428
		CDMA2000 1xEV-DO - CDMA A1429
	4G Network	LTE 700 MHz Class 17 / 1700 / 2100 - GSM A1428 or LTE 850 / 1800 / 2100 - GSM A1429
		LTE 700 / 850 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 - CDMA A1429
	Announced	2012, September
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2012, September 21st

BODY	Dimensions	123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm
BODY	Weight	112 g

DISPLAY	Type	LED-backlit IPS TFT, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	640 x 1136 pixels, 4.0 inches (~326 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass, oleophobic coating

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration, propriety ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	No
MEMORY	Internal	16/32/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	DC-HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, LTE, 100 Mbps; Rev. A, up to 3.1 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Plus Cellular
	Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP
	USB	Yes, v2.0

CAMERA	Primary	8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
	Features	Simultaneous HD video and image recording, touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, panorama, HDR
	Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps, LED video light, video stabilization, geo-tagging
	Secondary	Yes, 1.2 MP, 720p@30fps, videocalling over Wi-Fi and 3G/4G

FEATURES	OS	iOS 6
	Chipset	Apple A6
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
	Messaging	iMessage, SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email
	Browser	HTML (Safari)
	Radio	No
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
	Java	No
	Colors	Black/Slate, White/Silver
		- nano-SIM card support only - Active noise cancellation with dedicated dual mics - Siri natural language commands and dictation - iCloud cloud service - Twitter and Facebook integration - TV-out - Maps - iBooks PDF reader - Audio/video player and editor - Image editor - Voice memo/command/dial

BATTERY		Standard battery, Li-Po
	Stand-by	Up to 225 h (2G) / Up to 225 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 8 h (2G) / Up to 8 h (3G)
	Music play	Up to 40 h

Summer 2012 Winners/Losers

2012-09-09T07:15:00.000+05:30

A quiet Labor Day weekend capped a Summer season that started off strong but struggled to maintain momentum through the full four months. Total domestic box office came in at $4.29 billion, which is off 2.6 percent from last year's record $4.4 billion. Overall, it ranks as the third highest-grossing Summer behind 2011 and 2009. However, the estimated 534 million tickets sold during the period is tied with 2010 for lowest ticket sales in at least 15 years.

While this is a bit of a cliche, it truly was feast-or-famine at the domestic box office this Summer. The Top Five titles accounted for over 41 percent of total grosses for the season, which is the highest share in at least 20 years. In comparison, the Top Five only contributed 32 percent of last Summer's box office.

Using historical comparisons and pre-release expectations, I've compiled a list of the winners, losers, and everything in between for Summer 2012.

Winners

The Avengers: Everyone knew The Avengers would be big, but no one expected it to be this big. The long-anticipated superhero team-up obliterated the opening weekend record when it scored $207.4 million over the first weekend in May, and it held well throughout the rest of the Summer to wind up with an incredible total north of $620 million. That's nearly double the highest gross among its predecessors (Iron Man at $318.4 million) and is more than Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor and The Incredible Hulk combined. The movie was also a super-sized hit overseas as well, earning over $880 million for a worldwide total north of $1.5 billion (ranking third all-time). Reinforcing just how much money Disney/Marvel made on this, they currently have five follow-up movies on the calendar for the next three years, including a sequel scheduled to kick off Summer 2015.

The Dark Knight Rises: Expectations got out of hand for the conclusion to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy (I predicted it would earn over $1.3 billion worldwide—whoops), but that shouldn't take away from the movie's many achievements. The Dark Knight Rises set an opening weekend record for a 2D-only movie with $160.9 million, and it's on pace for a strong domestic tally around $450 million. More importantly, it saw solid growth overseas, and over Labor Day weekend became the 13th movie ever to earn over $1 billion worldwide.

Ted: In a Summer packed with all kinds of expensive special effects, the most memorable one may be that of a foul-mouthed teddy bear ripping a giant hit off a bong. By the end of Summer, Seth MacFarlane's raunchy R-rated comedy Ted ranked eighth all-time for an R-rated movie (and fourth all-time for a comedy) with $216.1 million, and it also was an overseas success with $168 million and counting. The movie serves to emphasize how valuable an original comedy idea can be: Ted will ultimately earn over $400 million worldwide, which will make it Universal's highest-grossing movie of 2012 ahead of mega-budget movies like Snow White and the Huntsman ($394 million) and Battleship ($303 million).

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted: It's amazing what a few circus afros can do for a movie's box office: while most franchises see declining domestic grosses for the third entry, Madagascar 3 became the top movie in the series with $214.8 million. It's also made $388 million overseas, and should at least come close to passingMadagascar: Escape 2 Africa's $423.9 million. Don't be surprised if DreamWorks puts in to productionMadagascar 4: Adventures in Asia in the near future.

Ice Age: Continental Drift: The fourth Ice Age movie was the lowest-grossing entry in the series domestically with $156 million. That really doesn't matter, though, considering it earned an incredible $672.4 million overseas. A fifth Ice Age movie should be on the way soon.

Magic Mike: Coming off The Vow and 21 Jump Street, Channing Tatum was already having a pretty great year the box office. He pulled off his most impressive feat yet, though, by turning micro-budget male stripper movieMagic Mike in to his third $100 million hit of 2012.

Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection: After a few mild box office disappointments, multi-hyphenate entertainer Tyler Perry returned to his most popular character in Madea's Witness Protection. It wound up being Perry's second highest-grossing movie ever with $65.3 million, and proved that his brand can work as solid counter-programming even in the middle of Summer.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Moonrise Kingdom: Most Summers have at least one crowd-pleasing limited release that crosses over in to mainstream success. Last year it was Midnight in Paris ($56.8 million), while this year it was both The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ($46 million) and Moonrise Kingdom ($44.3 million).

2016 Obama's America: Ahead of the 2004 presidential election, Michael Moore unleashed anti-Bush screedFahrenheit 9/11, which went on to become the highest-grossing political documentary ever with $119.2 million.2016 Obama's America is filling the anti-Obama slot this election season, and while it won't match Fahrenheit 9/11's gross, it is already the highest-grossing conservative documentary ever by a large margin with over $22 million.
Losers
Dark Shadows: Johnny Depp and Tim Burton's last collaboration, Alice in Wonderland, earned over $1 billion worldwide. While Dark Shadows was, as the title suggests, a bit darker, it's still inexcusable for these box office heavyweights to wind up with less than $240 million this time around.

Battleship: Turning a simple naval strategy board game in to a $200 million alien invasion movie a laTransformers never seemed like a good idea and, as expected, audiences completely rejected it at the U.S. box office. It earned a pathetic $65.2 million, which was even worse than star Taylor Kitsch's previous mega-budget sci-fi bomb John Carter ($73.1 million). Sure, it did fine business overseas ($237.6 million), but that wasn't enough to prevent a massive write-off for Universal.

Total Recall: Remaking Arnold Schwarzenegger movies is proving to be a really poor decision: Conan the Barbarian bombed last Summer with $21.3 million, andTotal Recall didn't do much better with just $57 million this year. It's saving some face overseas, where it's earned over $100 million, but that's still chump change for an expensive sci-fi flick.

Rock of Ages, That's My Boy and The Watch: Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler are two of the biggest box office draws of the past two decades, and Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn are no slouches either. The fact that their three Summer 2012 movies earned less combined than Magic Mike indicates that star power really doesn't go that far if your movie looks terrible.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: Genre mash-ups are a tricky business, and it was never clear whoAbraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was for. History buffs? Vampire lovers? Wanted fans? Turns out it wasn't for anyone, really, and it wound up grossing a terrible $37.5 million.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World: Steve Carell decided to leave The Office in 2011, but after Seeking a Friend for the End of the World was quickly disappeared from theaters with just $7.1 million, he might be reconsidering that move a bit.

Toss-Ups
The Amazing Spider-Man: Even with 3D ticket pricing, the Spider-Man reboot is the first in the franchise to wind up below $300 million at the domestic box office. Still, it's on pace to earn over $750 million worldwide, which is more than enough to justify the sequel that's currently scheduled for May 2014.

Brave: With over $232 million, Brave is Disney/Pixar's 10th movie to cross the $200 million mark. Unfortunately, it wasn't able to gain much traction overseas, and it will be the lowest-grossing Pixar movie there since 2006's Cars.

MIB 3: A decade of ticket price inflation and the addition of 3D still couldn't keep MIB 3 from being the lowest-grossing entry in the franchise at the domestic box office ($178.9 million). At the same time, it cleaned up overseas with $445 million, reaffirming what an international superstar Will Smith is.

Snow White and the Huntsman: The movie nearly cleared $400 million worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing original movies of the Summer. It was pricey, though, and the odd rumblings surrounding the sequel (or Huntsman-only spin-off) suggest it probably isn't an unqualified success.

Prometheus: Following a series of insanely cool trailers and viral clips, expectations for Prometheus got a bit out of hand; for a dark R-rated sci-fi movie, $126.4 million at the domestic box office and $225 million (and counting) overseas is a solid haul.

The Bourne Legacy: The jury is still out on the Bourne spin-off/reboot; it has yet to hit $100 million through four weeks in theaters, and it's going to have a tough time matching The Bourne Identity's $121.7 million total. Still, it has a long way to go overseas, and could wind up slightly profitable. The prospects of another Bourne movie withJeremy Renner will still be up in the air, though, if only because audience members mostly walked out going "What the hell?" instead of "Can't wait for the next one!"

The Expendables 2: Unlike its predecessor, The Expendables 2 is going to ultimately fall short of $100 million at the domestic box office. Toss in strong overseas numbers, though, and the movie will likely do well enough to get a pass.

Lenslyf

2012-08-24T17:10:00.000+05:30

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The word Fµ*K

2012-05-04T14:32:00.000+05:30

Paramaathma - Tanmayalaadenu - Shreya Goshal - HD

2012-05-04T14:28:00.001+05:30

How to Attract Girls...........:):):)

2012-04-18T18:32:00.002+05:30

Looking for Fresh face

2012-04-15T08:32:00.002+05:30

Why This Kolaveri Di Full Song Promo Video in HD

2011-11-24T20:32:00.000+05:30

Gambhir to lead, Badrinath in for WI limited-overs leg

2011-05-15T13:14:00.000+05:30

Gautam Gambhir will lead a depleted Indian side to the limited-overs leg of the West Indies tour, with five first-choice players including Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni either rested or injured. As expected, the national selectors haven't given much weightage to performances in the IPL, instead rewarding results in the more traditional domestic competitions. S Badrinath, Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel muscled their way in helped by the weight of runs in both formats of the Ranji Trophy.

A strong domestic season, capped by a fine showing
in the IPL means Tamil Nadu's S Badrinath makes
a comebackinto the Indian limited-overs squad

R Vinay Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra made their way back, replacing Ashish Nehra (injured), Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla (both dropped). Praveen Kumar duly took his place back, having recovered from the elbow injury that had kept him out of the World Cup. He replaces Zaheer Khan, who has been rested.

With five vacancies created - Virender Sehwag being the other - there had been some hype created around the IPL performers in the week leading to the selection meeting. The selectors seem to have learned from the debuts handed to Manpreet Gony and Ashok Dinda based on the first IPL, and also from RP Singh's comeback based on the second IPL. As it turned out, the likes of Ambati Rayudu and Rahul Sharma missed out this time. Badrinath and Rohit were the two top run-getters in the Ranji Trophy first-class competition while Parthiv was the second-highest in the Ranji one-dayers. The exclusion of M Vijay - who has a highest of 33 in 11 ODI innings - makes Parthiv the likeliest candidate to open the innings with the captain, Gambhir.

"I am confident that we will do well and win the series in the West Indies. The team is well balanced," said Kris Srikkanth, India's chairman of selectors. "Everything is on merit. It's a great opportunity for a lot of players.

"On tours, we always take two wicketkeepers. It's a 16-member team and in case of a wicketkeeper getting injured, you have to understand the logistics [of getting a replacement to] in the West Indies [are complicated]."

This is not Gambhir's first shot at leading India - he was the captain when India beat New Zealand 5-0 in ODIs last year. The selectors are believed to be impressed with his leadership skills, and are likely to make him full-time vice-captain ahead of the slightly reluctant Sehwag, although they haven't yet made any formal announcement to that effect.

There was a minor surprise thrown up in the bowling department with Mishra getting in ahead of Pragyan Ojha as the third spinner. In his 16 ODIs - all but three of them against Sri Lanka, who are good players of spin - Ojha has given away runs at only 4.31 an over. However, he was injured before the World Cup and missed the first-class season as well. In the domestic one-dayers, Mishra, with 18 wickets from six games, outperformed Ojha, who managed five in five.

Vinay and Ishant, who have been there or thereabouts, are the only ones to have benefited from good showings in the IPL. It can be argued, though, that they are not unknown commodities and their performances in the IPL have been more of reassurance than first notice. India also picked wicketkeeping cover for Parthiv, making Wriddhiman Saha the 16th member of the squad.

India play one Twenty20 and five ODIs against the hosts beginning with the Twenty20 game on June 4.

Squad: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, S Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha (wk).

We Are The World Champions Of 2011

2011-04-04T08:22:00.000+05:30

India scrap their way into World Cup final

2011-03-31T09:14:00.000+05:30

India Celebrating The Victory

India 260 for 9 (Tendulkar 85, Riaz 5-46) beat Pakistan 231 (Misbah 56) by 29 runs

India's dream of a World Cup triumph at home is one step closer after their bowlers suffocated Pakistan's batsmen to set up a 29-run victory in the semi-final in Mohali. Saturday's decider will now be a battle of the hosts, and while Sri Lanka might have been surprised by the strength of India's bowling effort, they would also have taken note of a slightly lacklustre batting performance.

In the end, India's 260 for 9 was enough as their bowlers did a fine job, but had Pakistan helped themselves, the target could have been so much more gettable. Sachin Tendulkar was dropped four times in his 85, MS Dhoni was put down once and while Wahab Riaz was extremely impressive in collecting five wickets, Umar Gul had one of his most forgettable days, wilting under the pressure of a World Cup semi-final.

By contrast, India's display in the field was much more professional, and that was the difference in a match that lived up to the extreme pre-match hype. The decision to leave R Ashwin out to make room for Ashish Nehra was an odd choice on a pitch offering plenty of spin, but Nehra and his bowling colleagues built the pressure and gave Pakistan's batsmen little to attack after they made a promising start and reached 70 for 1.

The Indians didn't give away an extra until the 37th over of the innings, and the way they put together strings of dot balls and tight overs was key to their success. Munaf Patel picked up two victims and Yuvraj Singh made up for his golden duck with a pair of wickets, but the most important breakthrough came when Harbhajan Singh bowled Umar Akmal for 29.

Akmal had struck a pair of sixes off Yuvraj, driving him over the sight screen and pulling him over midwicket, and anything was possible while he was at the crease. But Dhoni called on Harbhajan to replace Yuvraj, and with the first ball of his spell he came around the wicket and pushed one across Akmal, taking the off stump when the batsman played for the spin.

Shahid Afridi also fell to Harbhajan when he skied a catch off a full toss, and the obdurate Misbah-ul-Haq was left to steer the chase. He found it difficult to lift his tempo and was the last man out, caught on the boundary for 56 in the final over, but he ate up 76 deliveries and had he shown some more intent earlier, Pakistan might have had a chance.

It was a disappointing end for Pakistan after their top order gave them hope. Mohammad Hafeez made an encouraging 43 before a string of eight dot balls from Munaf brought a brain-fade as Hafeez tried a premeditated paddle sweep from outside off stump and edged behind to Dhoni.

Soon after, the loss of Asad Shafiq brought the Mohali crowd to life, when he tried to cut a Yuvraj delivery that was much too full and straight, and the middle stump was knocked back. Shafiq had made 30 and had displayed a cool temperament until that point, but the required run-rate started to balloon, and Pakistan never recovered.

But while India have booked a place in the final, they must hope they haven't used all their good fortune too soon. Tendulkar might be the finest batsman of his generation, but today he was the luckiest, dropped on 27, 45, 70 and 81. It seemed as though he was going to bring up his 100th international century with one of his least convincing innings.

Misbah at midwicket was the first to put him down, before Younis Khan spilled a regulation chance at cover, both off the bowling of Afridi. The third opportunity came when Kamran Akmal didn't move his hands quickly enough to a thick edge, again off Afridi, and while that was a tough opportunity, a pull to Umar at mid-on from the offspin of Hafeez should have been taken.

Before he had any of those lives, Tendulkar had survived two very tight calls on 23: an lbw decision that was given out by Ian Gould but on review proved to be spinning down leg, and a near-stumping the next delivery when he just got his back foot down in time after losing his balance reaching outside off. When Tendulkar was finally taken at cover by Afridi off the bowling of Ajmal, Pakistan's relief was evident.

Soon after, a scratchy Dhoni, who was also dropped by Kamran, made the mistake of challenging Simon Taufel on an lbw decision. Dhoni had 25 when he missed a Riaz delivery that pitched just in line and was hitting the stumps. It was the second outstanding call by Taufel, who had given Virender Sehwag lbw in a similar fashion earlier, even though the left-armer's angle meant pitching outside leg was a possibility.

Riaz was the man who Afridi had to thank for keeping Pakistan in the contest after India made a strong start and reached 114 for 1 off their first 18 overs. After Gautam Gambhir was stumped wandering down the pitch against Hafeez, Riaz grabbed two wickets in two balls - Virat Kohli caught at backward point and Yuvraj bowled by a low full toss for a golden duck.

Nobody looked as fluent as the crease as Sehwag, who took 21 off Gul (0 for 69) from the third over of the innings. What looked like a 300-plus total in those early overs became 260 when Suresh Raina helped them recover from their middle-order failures.

It was enough, but India's batsmen will need to improve if they want to lift the trophy on Saturday. For now, they can dream of their first World Cup in 28 years.

2011-03-26T10:50:00.002+05:30

Yuvraj dreamt of beating Australia

2011-03-25T08:44:00.000+05:30

"First time in my life there have been claps in a press conference. I am sure this is a special moment for me, guys." Yuvraj Singh made a telling opening statement. The whole media room was in splits. For the next 17 minutes Yuvraj played the role of the entertainer effortlessly. The answers were laced with wit and charm, but he did not cave to irrelevant or unjust questions.

It was difficult to imagine the man sitting there was the same one who had fought doubts, conditions, the formidable Australia fast bowlers and stood tall and strong for one-and-a-half hours to eventually take India into the semi-finals. Still, it was not entirely a surprise; Yuvraj has now carried the match-winner's baton on four occasions in the seven matches India have played so far this World Cup, so he must be getting used to it.

"I am batting really well since the England game," Yuvraj said. "The plans are working for me: trying to work till the end, trying to hit the ball down the ground into the gaps. I just kept telling myself to bat till the end, stay till the end."

With 12.3 overs left, 74 runs required and just one specialist batsman in Suresh Raina for support, Yuvraj was left to hold the Indian innings together and take it past the finish line. The Aussies were steadily closing in, having picked the wickets of Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni in quick succession.

Yuvraj had come up with an all-round performance in India's 80-run victory against West Indies last Sunday. His 113 in that match was his first century since June 2009. It was a knock of determination, as he fought hard to stay on his feet in the Chennai heat while suffering from dehydration; he even threw up a few times while batting. Later in the evening he returned to pick up two wickets to expedite the Indian victory.

Even in the earlier matches in the tournament, he had restrained his attacking instincts admirably to stay put, and brave India through tense moments in victories against Ireland and Netherlands after the main batsmen had lost their way easily. Coming into the quarter-finals, Yuvraj had run the whole gamut of experiences, which only helped him survive the high-pressure situation at Motera, which he said had drained the players both mentally and physically.

On Thursday, he turned up match-fit and was one of India's best bowlers with two top-order wickets and followed it with an unbeaten 57, an innings he described as one he had built in his dreams exactly a year ago. "The emotions, I really can't explain them, because it was tough out there. From last year I have been dreaming of playing Australia in a crucial game. I don't know why Australia; probably because they are three-time world champions. I had been thinking about this moment for the last 365 days and it actually came true. I just believed in myself, I envisioned that moment from time to time: me staying there till the end and hitting the winning runs for India. So it is a very emotional moment for me."

There were a few jitters, especially the child-like indecisiveness between him and Gambhir while going for tight singles. Gambhir fell victim to one such moment of confusion and was run out. Yuvraj accepted his role in the mix-up. "It was a bit of a mishap with Gautam. We haven't batted too much together and the running between the wickets was just out of order. And I think it was my mistake and I apologise."

It was not an isolated incident, as there was immense pressure on both teams. Experienced hands like Brett Lee failed to come through when Yuvraj and Raina began turning the screw on the Australians, at the start of the final eleven overs of the match. Lee had taken the wicket of Dhoni in his previous over, but in the 40th, the pair took him to the cleaners, with Yuvraj hitting two scorching boundaries.

In the next over, Shaun Tait was wayward and gave away 13 runs. Those two overs proved to be one of the catalysts of India's win, but Yuvraj said it was not a planned counterattack. "It was very difficult to control the emotions because the heartbeat was racing in the pressure situation. If we made one mistake in a situation like today we would be out of the World Cup. Various thoughts run through your mind, but I decided that I would only watch the ball, keep it simple and as far as possible not hit in the air. Unless the asking rate peaked to seven-and-a-half, only then I would go for the big hits; till then I would hold back."

Yuvraj revealed that there was a driving force behind his recent success. A person he will unveil if India make the final on April 2. "I am playing this tournament for a special person. That special person always comes into my mind whenever I am in a pressure situation. Hopefully it works out till the end."

Not only was he a bit secretive, he even turned philosophical about his good work against Australia. "You have a lot of thoughts [in the mind while batting] but whenever you want to desperately do it for your country and your team it somehow works out. It is great it is working at the right moment in the World Cup. It is a great victory for us."

Yuvraj had planned for every eventuality in advance. On the eve of the match, he was the last batsman to face throwdowns from coach Gary Kirsten. Yuvraj knew the Australians would fire a lot of short-pitched stuff at him to unsettle him. "I just wanted to concentrate on hitting everything down the ground while leaving out the short balls."

That planning came to fruition on Thursday. He checked his shots and emotions till the victory stroke was unleashed. Once the job was done, he came crashing and sliding down on his knees, the way football players rush to the flag after scoring a goal. Then he let out a victory roar. A little later, he cracked jokes.