IPL Kicks of 4th Aril

IPL Kicks of 4^th Aril

Date: 2^nd April 2012

A galaxy of stars, including Amitabh Bachchan and American pop star Katy Perry, will set the ball rolling for the fifth edition of Indian Premier League with a glittering opening ceremony which promises to enthrall the audience on Tuesday. High-octane Twenty20 cricket will get underway on April 4, promising excitement and entertainment for the audience in the next 54 days when nine teams will be competing featuring international heroes and unheralded players.

Having proved its success in the past four editions with growing popularity, the Indian cricket board's money spinning event will formally be launched with the IPL Opening Nite. The dazzling show will be graced by legendary Amitabh Bachchan, Bollywood stars Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor and Salman Khan among other celebrities.

The gala ceremony at the YMCA College of Physical Education would also feature all nine team captains taking the MCC Spirit of Cricket pledge.  Although very little information has been shared on the Opening Nite, whose tickets start from Rs 1,500, the evening is expected to provide a sumptuous feast of dance and music for the fans with American pop star Katy Perry set to perform for the first time in India during the show, which will also have India's dancing sensation Prabhudeva.

The tournament proper will kick off on April 4 with holders Chennai Super Kings taking on last year Champions League winners Mumbai Indians in the inaugural match at M A Chidambaram stadium aiming for a hat-trick of titles.

Mumbai captain Sachin Tendulkar will play for the first time before home fans after achieving the great feat of 100 international centuries in Asia Cup.  A total of 76 matches will be played across 12 venues across the country in the run up to the finals on May 27.

The league stage will comprise 72 ties with each team playing the other eight in a home-and-away format. The play offs would be hosted by Bangalore and Chennai, the finalists from the previous edition. The edition has been reduced to a nine-team affair after last year entrant Kochi Tuskers Kerala's franchise was terminated by the BCCI in September last for breach of terms of agreement.

Expectedly, not many are daring to hazard a guess on the favourites to win the coveted trophy though the MS Dhoni led Chennai and Mumbai are in the forefront.  Australian Doug Bollinger was candid in admitting that Mumbai and Bangalore teams were the toughest but did not rule out Kolkata Knight Riders or some other team from springing a surprise.

The run up to the fifth season saw the Sahara Group, owners of Pune Warriors India, pulling out and withdrawing its 11-year old sponsorship of the Indian team over certain grievances. However, the BCCI and Sahara Group reached a compromise after a series of hectic negotiations, enabling Pune to remain in the event.

The auction of players for the fifth season was held in February in Bangalore where all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the biggest draw for the franchises with Super Kings grabbing him for a whopping Rs 9.72 crore.

Several players have also swapped teams, notable among them is former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who has moved to Pune Warriors from Kolkata Knight Riders and Rahul Dravid, who has retired from international cricket, switching over to Rajasthan Royals from Royal Challengers Bangalore. Another veteran VVS Laxman remained unsold.

The season begins at a time when Indian cricket is at its low with disastrous tours of England and Australia resulting in the team losing top rank in Test after a stupendous performance a year ago when it annexed the World Cup title.

India also failed to enter the finals of the Asia Cup held in Bangladesh last month. The 'Men In Blue' also went all the way to Johannesburg to play a one-off Twenty20 against South Africa and the continuous cricket has once again raised the issue of fatigue.

However, India and CSK captain MS Dhoni, who went through the bad patch, has dismissed talks about too much cricket saying the players enjoyed playing the IPL.

Yet, the tournament has a fair share of injury forced dropouts and late comers.  Pune Warriors suffered a blow after South African Test skipper Graeme Smith and Australian all-rounder James Hopes were ruled out of the IPL due to injuries.

In addition, Australia captain Michael Clarke, who is the replacement for Yuvraj Singh, recuperating after treatment of a rare cancer, would join the squad only after April 27 owing to his country's tour of West Indies.

Virender Sehwag-led Delhi Daredevil will miss their key players Mahela Jayawardene, Kevin Pietersen and injury-hit Ross Taylor at least for the first few games, while CSK opener Abhinav Mukund has been advised rest for ten days after he twisted his ankle during practice. Australians Michael Hussey and Ben Hilfenhaus would also be unavailable till April 30 owing to national commitments.

Deccan Chargers will have to fight it out in the absence of its strike bowler Ishant Sharma, who underwent a surgery last month for a bone impingement on his left ankle. The outfit will also have a stand-in captain in Cameron White as Kumar Sangakkara will join the team only after the end of Sri Lanka's Test series against vesting England in the second week of this month.

All the teams have been training in the past few days preparing for the tough competition ahead. The Mumbai team arrived Sunday evening and would have nets later in the day while Dhoni will soon join his side. 

Victorious Pakistan beat Bangladesh

ASIA CUP – THE FINAL MATCH

BANGLADESH VS PAKISTAN

TOSS: BANGLADESH WON THE TOSS AND ELECTED TO FIELD

PAKISTAN – 236/9 IN 50 OVERS

BANGLADESH – 234/8 IN 50 OVERS

Date: 23th March 2012

Victorious Pakistan beat Bangladesh

An exhilarating match comes to an end between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Pakistan beating Bangladesh in a nail biting finish by 2 runs and immense effort from Bangladesh went in vain as they couldn’t create history.

The statistical highlights from the Asia Cup final between Bangladesh and Pakistan at Dhaka:

 Tamim Iqbal (60 off 68 balls) became the first batsman to register four fifties in succession at the Asia Cup - his previous three being 64 against Pakistan, 70 against India and 59 against Sri Lanka.  Tamim became the first Bangladeshi batsman to record four fifties in a row in ODIs. His fourth fifty against Pakistan is his 23rd in ODIs.

 Tamim has totalled 253 runs at an average of 63.25 in four matches - the most by a Bangladeshi batsman in the Asia Cup 2012.  Only Virat Kohli (357 at 119.00) has managed more runs than Tamim in the competition. Tamim is the first Bangladeshi batsman to amass 250 runs or more in an Asia Cup competition.

 Shakib's 25th fifty in ODIs is his third against Pakistan. His tally of 25 fifties and 30 innings of fifty-plus (5 centuries + 25 fifties) are records for Bangladesh in ODIs. Shakib's splendid 68 off 72 balls is his highest at the Asia Cup - his third fifty in the tournament.

 Shakib's 68 is the highest by a Bangladeshi batsman in a tournament final, surpassing the 60 by Tamim Iqbal in the same match.  They are the only batsmen to post fifties in a tournament final.  Shakib has got the Player of the series for the fifth time in ODIs for amassing 237 at 59.25 and claiming six wickets at 33.16 runs apiece.

 Younus Khan became the third Pakistani fielder after Imran Khan and Umar Akmal to take three catches in an ODI at the Asia Cup.

 Pakistan's thrilling two-run win over Bangladesh is the narrowest victory-margin at the Asia Cup, surpassing India's four-run win over Sri Lanka at Colombo (RPS) on July 27, 2004. Pakistan have won all eleven ODIs against Bangladesh at the Asia Cup. Overall, they have won 21 and lost 13 out of 35 played at the Asia Cup - success % 61.76 (NR 1).

 Pakistan have won the Asia Cup competition for the second time. They had first won the said competition in 2000 in Bangladesh, beating Sri Lanka by 39 runs at Dhaka. Bangladesh have lost both ODI competition finals they have qualified for - by 2 wickets to Sri Lanka in the Tri-Nation Tournament at Mirpur on January 16, 2009 and by 2 runs to Pakistan at the Asia Cup on March 22, 2012.

 Pakistan (236 for nine) have recorded their second highest total in an Asia Cup Final, behind the 277 for four against Sri Lanka at Dhaka on June 7, 2000. Bangladesh (234/8) have posted their highest total in a tournament final, eclipsing the 152 against Sri lanka at Dhaka on January 16, 2009.

 With 14 catches each, Younus Khan and Mahela Jayawardena jointly share a fielding record for most catches in the Asia Cup.  Aizaz Cheema's excellent figures of 3 for 46 are the second best by a Pakistani bowler in a Asia Cup Final, next only to Abdul Qadir's 3 for 32 against Sri Lanka at Colombo, SSC on April 6, 1986.

 Cheema's aforesaid performance is his best against Bangladesh in ODIs.  Shahid Afridi's tally of 29 Man of the Match awards is the highest by a Pakistani in ODIs, bettering Saeed Anwar's tally of 28 awards.

 Mohammad Hafeez is the leading run-scorer for Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2011-12, aggregating 245 at an average of 61.25 - the highest for Pakistan.  Hafeez's 40 off 87 balls is his highest innings in the tournament finals.  Sarfraz Ahmed (46 not out off 52 balls) has posted his career-best innings in ODIs.

 For the first time in an Asia Cup Final, not even a single fifty has been registered for Pakistan. Saeed Anwar's 82 off 115 balls against Sri Lanka at Dhaka on June 7, 2000 is the highest individual innings for Pakistan in an Asia Cup Final.

Misbah: This means a great deal for us. We were in trouble early on, but the guys performed admirably. The way Umar Akmal and Sarfraz Ahmed  played was heartening. It was a complete team effort. This wicket was slower and run-scoring was a bit difficult. If we got somewhere in between 225-230, we would have a good total to defend. The spinners, Afridi, Hafeez and Ajmal bowled well. Bangladesh gave a tough time to all the teams and they are also the winners.

Slight confusion in the Man of theMatch and Man of the series. Apparently, the wrong cheques were handed out to Shakib and Afridi.

Afridi: The guys have done very well. Bangladesh played some awesome cricket in this competition. I have not bowled or batted well in the last five games and I backed myself to bowl well. Shakib and Nasir Hossain played some good cricket. I tried my level best to perform with the bat. I was focussing on my bowling and I worked hard.

Shahid Afridi is the Man of the Match.

Shakib Al Hasan is the Man of the Series: If we look at the whole tournament, we have been good. The team have worked hard and it has been a terrific team effort. The crowd support was excellent. This has been a great positive for us and we will look to continue the good work. We need to learn from our mistakes. We came close to winning the Asia Cup and we will want to do well.

Rahim: 'Before the tournament, we prepared well. The boys executed the plans well. We played consistently. The pressure got to us. The wicket was slow, but Tamim and Shakib played well. The last over bowled by Shahadat was the crucial point in the match for us. Most of the players put their hands up and contributed. We hope to win more games from this point. We put up a fight in all the games. The wickets of Tamim and Shakib was the turning point.' (Rahim then thanks the crowd in Bengali for their support).

The Judgement Day of the Final

ASIA CUP FINAL (DHAKA)

PAKISTAN VS BANGLADESH

Date: 22^nd March 2012

The Judgement Day of the Final

With an eye on maiden major title, the host Bangladesh will play Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2012 final here at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Thursday. After thrashing World Champion Team India and Sri Lanka, a confident looking Bangladesh have been aiming to outclass Pakistan to become the new Asia Champion.

The hosts are on the verge of creating history and they will not leave any stone unturned to win the final. After losing close opening game against Pakistan, Mushfiqur Rahim’s young team is set to make another upset of the tournament amidst favourable condition. The huge crowd support and batting friendly track of Mirpur, will help Bangladesh to lift the maiden major title. However, they will have to stick to their basics and hold the nerve in critical situations.

The major disadvantage with Bangladesh side is their inconsistence performance after winning good games.  Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Nasir Islam are in good touch and they will have to carry their form in the final to help Bangladesh against solid bowling attack of Pakistan.

In the last game against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh bowlers performed brilliantly and bowled out Sri Lanka for 232 runs. The fielding was also top class. On the other hand, after humiliating defeat against arch-rival India, Pakistan will try to restore pride after winning the Asia Cup. Despite of Bangladesh’s good performance against India and Sri Lanka, Pakistan side is looking favourate for the title.

Well, it is expected to be a close game in the Asia Cup final.

India Beat Arch Rivals Pakistan

ASIA CUP – 5^TH MATCH

INDIA VS PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN (329 /6) IN 50 OVERS

INDIA (330/4) IN 47.5 OVERS

INDIA WON BY 6 WICKETS

India Beat Arch Rivals Pakistan

It was just astonishing when to see India Beating Pakistan convincingly. What a glorious match. It is quite ironical now that India will be cheering for a Sri Lanka victory when just a few weeks back in Australia the entire nation wanted Sri Lanka to lose so that India could make the final. The final berth now is open to Bangladesh and India and the tournament promises to continue to be an exciting one.

Kohli (MoM): I still can't believe what happened out there. It was a crunch game for us and to execute the plans in such a tight game is very pleasing. It was a good wicket to bat on so if you have around 130-140 runs to get and then you start picking up a few boundaries it puts on a lot of pressure on the opposition. I am a big fan of Rohit and I love watching him bat. This knock is as special as the one I played in Hobart. Pakistan have a great bowling unit and to be able to chase 330 against them feels extremely good.

Dhoni: To start off I think when they were batting I felt as a skipper I couldn't do much. We used 8 bowlers so that clearly showed that things weren't going our way. Once Gautam got out I thought Sachin and Virat batted very well. Rohit was very good as well and he can turn out to be a very good finisher for us. I think Virat didn't slog he just played some good cricketing shots. Once the target goes beyond 300 it is always very difficult to chase on any sort of wicket. But we had done it recently so we knew we had the potential to do so and that gave us confidence and we picked the right deliveries. We have talent in the batting and the bowling department. It is just about how you handle the pressure. I think they will just learn from such experiences and get better as they play.

Misbah: I think India played very well especially the way they started. Sachin played really well. I think credit goes to their batsmen, they played really well. It is really easy to bat under lights but still 329 is a good score. I would still like to praise India for the way they batted. Virat played one of the best innings that I have ever seen.

Virat Kohli is the fastest rising superstar in world cricket. He proved his mettle yet again and is becoming India's most dependable man in a chase. If his knock at Hobart helped him catch the eyes of cricket lovers all around the world then this one will definitely help him rise in stature. It could still be curtains for India if Bangladesh win against Sri Lanka but for the moment though India are very well placed to make it to the final. Pakistan are already through to the final and the win also means that Sri Lanka have been knocked out.

The man of the moment, Virat Kohli, walks onto the ground and collects a stump as a souvenir. A wide glee is a permanent fixture as he accepts the applause from the sizeable crowd. Kohli's brilliance has overshadowed some poor bowling from the Indian bowlers. Their batsmen made the chase look ridiculously easy. The only time there was any sort of concern was when Gambhir fell off just the second ball. It was Kohli all the way after that. Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma played excellent supporting roles too.  

It is quite sure that partnership is the key role for a team success no matter how the target or a chase is.

A CRUCIAL MATCH INDIA VS PAKISTAN

DATE : 17^TH MARCH 2012

A CRUCIAL MATCH

INDIA VS PAKISTAN

India’s dressing room is wavering with thoughts and plans for tomorrow match. The countdown begins.  Yes absolutely it is the math between India and their arch – rivals Pakistan. India will face  Pakistan in a crucial match where India not only has to win the game but also they need to win convincingly and wait for the Srilankans to defeat Bangladesh as Srilanka has already eliminated out of the competition. A win and a ray of hope will give India a much better chance to enter the finals.

Not only this, India has to win against their rivals Pakistan , and even if Bangladesh win against Srilanka their run rate will get compared according to the records and the deserve team will get through the finals who will face Pakistan as Pakistan has already qualified for the Asia Cup finals.

Pakistan’s comfortable victory over Sri Lanka has not only catapulted them into the final of this year’s Asia Cup but also opened up the possibility of a tempting India-Pakistan final.

India have one match remaining, against Pakistan on March 18. Sri Lanka, who gave a good account of themselves in the recently concluded CB series in Australia, have been hit badly by a spate of injuries to some of their key players. Their hopes of reaching the final have literally disappeared, although an upset by Bangladesh will keep them interested.

A year has passed since their last encounter in the semi-final of the World Cup 2011, and the possibility of these two arch rivals facing each other twice in the space of a few days surely is a mouth-watering prospect for cricket lovers. Here’s hoping India do not disappoint us tomorrow. We would be live streaming of all the remaining matches. On March 16 it would be India vs. Bangladesh and March 18 it would be India vs. Pakistan. 

Background:

MATCHES PLAYED

TEST - 59

ODI – 120

T20 – 2

India won – 9 test, 47 ODIS, 1 T20

Pakistan – 12 test, 69 ODIS, 1 T20

Minnows Bangladesh Beat Indians

ASIA CUP – MATCH 4

INDIA 289/5 IN (50 OVERS)

BANGLADESH 293/5 IN (49.2 OVERS)

DATE: 16^TH MARCH 2012

Minnows Bangladesh Beat Indians

Records, Landmarks and a shocking defeat. We saw it all in the 4th match of the Asia Cup. On one hand the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar played a n awesome innings and on the other Bangladesh had a convincing victory.

A special plaque is being presented to Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar for scoring his 100th hundred in international cricket.

Shakib: ' Very happy with the way we played, great team performance. Our batting was very sensible, we upped the ante at the right time. The top-order batted very sensibly and the later order including myself finished it off. I gave the team the belief that we could win this match and it was great that we won in the end. Nasir supported me really well and Mushfiq was superb towards the end. We do not want to depend on others, we believe that we can enter the finals by beating Sri Lanka on the 20th.' He then thanks the crowd in Bangla.

Shakib is the MoM for his all-round show

Mushfiq: It is a huge win for us. We will dedicate this match to our friend, Manjural Islam Rana who died on this day 5 years back. We bowled really well and were backed up by the fielders. The batsmen then played according to the plan. We are thankful for the crowd which kept on egging us. Shakib was really outstanding to help us pull this chase off.

Dhoni: They played better cricket throughout. We knew the wicket will get better in the second half and all their batsmen played really well. There was some dew and we did not execute our plans well. I felt that we were some runs short on this surface. It is not that we do not have a good bowling attack. The youngsters will learn from today and hopefully will do better in future. Bangladesh are one team that can surprise us. They went after the target really well and batted according to the plan. Very happy for Sachin, he deserves all the credit, it is difficult to score 100 hundreds and we are happy for him. We will hope not to make these mistakes in the crunch match against Pakistan. Winning or losing does not matter, but we need to play better cricket.

Stat Alert: Bangladesh register their highest successful chase in an ODI vs a Test playing country

Sachin Tendulkar scored his 100th hundred, but an impartial observer will question the slowness of the Indians in the middle over’s, particularly the batting PP. India have very little time to get over this disaster as they face arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday in what should be a nervy encounter. Stay tuned for the presentations..

India will ponder over the bowling which was shredded to pieces. The pace bowlers looked helpless while the spinners despite managing to keep the batsmen quiet did not get the much needed wickets for the team.

A superb chase aided by some dreadful bowling has sealed a famous win. The dew played its part, but full credit to the way the Bangladeshi batsmen applied themselves. Tamim gave them the perfect start and was well supported by Jahurul. Shakib and Rahim played some stunning cameos while Nasir was a revelation.

A crunch game still remains for India when they face their arch – rivals Pakistan in a crucial match on Sunday. A win for India will have to wait for Srilankans to beat Bangladesh which will automatically keep them alive in the finals. 

The Silence of 100 breaks up for Sachin Tendulkar

The Silence of 100 breaks up for Sachin Tendulkar

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar ended the agonizing wait for his 100^th to in Dhaka against Bangladesh today. Batting first in the fourth match of the Asia Cup at Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, India were cruising but all eyes were at Sachin Tendulkar who crossed his nineties confidentially. And he did not look nervous at all!

For over a year, for his last 33 innings, Tendulkar has kept India waiting for that rare milestone. Tendulkar enjoys a quality record against the Bangaldesh attack. Captain M S Dhoni was confident Tendulkar would do well. He had said ahead of the last tie against Sri Lanka on Tuesday: "These are small things, not a worry. He is an asset to the team," Dhoni had said dismissing Tendulkar's impending 100th century milestone has a cause of concern for the men in blue at the start of the Asia Cup.

However, the Tendulkar was dismissed cheaply by the Sri Lankans and looked visibly on the edge.

The 100th Sachin ton came against Bangladesh during the fourth match of the Asia Cup on Friday. Fittingly, or perhaps sensing that history could be made today, a huge crowd gathered at the Shere Bangla National Stadium to witness the master blaster go where no cricketer has gone before.

He took his time as everyone stopped breathing. Especially at 99. First a Suresh Raina single took him to the non-batting end as an over ended. Ten runs came off that over before Sachin got strike. He played two balls for no runs and the over changed again. No one exhaled. So it was Raina on strike again, who took a single on the third ball to give strike to Sachin. The stadium roared. Shakib Al Hasan, now a firm part of history, came in to bowl and Sachin took a single to score his ton of tons.

Then the quant essential Sachin moment. Sachin took off his helmet looked at his bat, then heavenwards.  Of his 100 international tons, Sachin has scored 51 in Tests and 49 ODIs. It took Sachin 188 Tests and 462 ODIs to get to this landmark. Sachin, who is now 38-years-old, made his debut at the age of 16 in 1989.

It has been a classic Sachin innings so far; easy strokes as he has piled on the runs. The veteran batsman took on the Bangladeshi bowling with confidence and reached the milestone using 138 balls and smashing 10 boundaries and a six en route. During the knock he also became the first batsman to hit over 2,000 boundaries in One Day Internationals.

The buzz around Sachin's record ton of tons had begun as early as the World Cup last year, but despite numerous opportunities, he was unable to reach the three-figure mark. Sachin opted to play the Asia Cup after a less than average outing in the CB Series in Australia. His last international century came during the World Cup against South Africa on March 12, 2011.  It took him 34 innings, include thirteen ODI innings, to get to his most awaited century.

Mirpur, Bangladesh got lucky that Sachin chose to play his 462nd ODI here. On Friday, he made use of both singles and the occasional boundary to pulverise the Bangladesh bowlers. The bowling was ordinary and the ground fielding was equally ordinary as the home crowd battled with mixed emotions - watching a master at work with his willow and looking at the host team suffering on the field. Shahadat Hossain was dispatched to mid-wicket fence while Mahmudullah found out bowling short to a legend in the game, even if close on the heels of a milestone, will not be spared.

Tendulkar opened the innings with Gautam Gambhir (11) and despite losing him early, the veteran batsman negotiated the attack with characteristic ease. This after Mushfiqur Rahim asked the opposition to bat again after winning his second toss of the tournament on a dry-looking pitch that was expected to aid spin.

The Master Blaster finally achieved his ton with an incredible innings and of Course he will have standing ovation for a blistering ton.