Dravid to announce his Test retirement?

Unconfirmed media reports said his string of failures in Australia has prompted the Indian great to hang his boots.Dravid is currently the second-highest run scorer in Test history.Rahul Dravid may end his international career after India’s likely defeat in the Adelaide Test, unconfirmed media reports said on Friday.

PTI reported that Dravid, who has had a torrid time with the bat in Australia, may choose to announce his retirement on Saturday.

India are six-down and are certain to lose the Adelaide Test on the final day and with it, lose the series 4-0, having lost by the same margin in England.

Sections of the media reported the BCCI as saying that they were not aware of any plans Dravid may have to announce his exit. 

The 39-year-old Dravid averages 24.25 in eight innings on the tour. He’s been out bowled in six of those innings, bringing his famed technique under the scanner.

He is believed to have told some of his team-mates after another failure against Australia in the final Test that he had decided to hang his boots, PTI said.

Dravid has played 164 Test matches, making 13,288 runs. He’s the second-highest Test scorer in history with Ricky Ponting now only 88 runs behind him.

He has made big contributions to some of India's biggest Test wins, including a 180 in Kolkata against Australia in 2001 which set up an against-all-odds win for India.

His 233 and 72 in the Adelaide Test of 2003 handed Australia another famous defeat. Dravid's highest Test score of 270 — against Pakistan in the Rawalpindi Test of 2004 — helped India complete their first Test series win in that country.

Where previous generations of Indian batsmen struggled, Dravid made big runs in bowler-friendly conditions. The two innings which stand out are his 148 in the Leeds Test of 2002 and the twin knocks of 81 and 68 on a minefield of a wicket in Jamaica. Both helped India score landmark Test wins.

Dravid also has a world record 210 Test catches. In 2011, Dravid had formally announced his retirement from India's limited overs squad after a surprise recall during the England tour.

The batsman nicknamed The Wall for his hard-to-breach defense had made his Test debut in England in 1996, having made his ODI debut a few months earlier.

Dravid made 95 on Test debut at Lord's before scoring 36 Test hundreds.

source:(yahoo cricket)
27/01/2012 

VIRAT KOHLI SCORES A CENTURY

Sensational innings from the very talented virat kohli as he gets his scores his maiden century.ohhh...it looked as if he would fell short with couple of close chances.it was all messed up in the middle and australians were firing in He came to bat when india was 4 down for 87 and sachin was back in the hut, again missing the landmark. Nevertheless it was virat kohli who held the fort for india so as to salvage some pride because the way india is playing it looks india is set to lose this test by a very big margin. But virat kohli along with saha has stadied the Indian ship and delayed the defeat that looks a certainity now because of another poor show of batting. It was siddle who ran through Indian batting this time. Interestingly it is the first century by an Indian on the tour and his first as well. In the first two test matches he did not look comfortable but off late he has shown a lot of patience and has hung in the middle. He is the second Indian after sachin to have scored two 50+ scores in the series by scoring two back to back 50+ scores. Now it all depends how long india can hang in the middle to decrease the first innings deficiet and play well in second innings.

PLAYING FOR PRIDE

After a spineless performance in Perth where Indian top order was flatterd again by the miity aussie bowling attack, India will look to end their losing streak. India is already 3-0 down in the series and has lost 7 straight test matches on the foreign soil. In fact India has failed to win even a single test match abroad after the world cup triuph. The bolt from the blue has struck India as the team will be missing the services of their captain mahendra singh dhoni because he was banned for one test match for the slow over rate.

Now it’s the responsibility of viru to end the horror show down under to salvage some pride because a loss can bring the absolute shame to the team which boasts the best batting line up in the world. It could well prove blessing in disguise for India because that would give dhoni a much needed break so that he can gather his thoughts and can look ahead for the triangular series that is to follow.

 So after dhoni’s loss shewag was the only choice that the team had also he is the touring vice captain. Because many former cricketers believe that shewag is not the captaincy material and to invest in shewag might not be a fruitful to Indian cricket so shewag might prove them wrong by a scintillating performance both as a batsman as well as the captain.

So its up to viru now to end the series of abject losses and put some gutsy performance on field to end Indias losing streak. He should learn from his delhi ipl team mate David Warner. Along with him the team should lift their game to put an end to the abject losses down under. The team must go on the park all guns blazing and hope for the best.

sahil gupta
23/01/2012 

DEGRADING BOWLING STANDARDS

I wonder if I would have played just an International match and then would have been placed in Domestic cricket by the association struggling or fighting for a place in the team for a so called “COMEBACK”. This may be the best for me….as I wouldn’t starve like other sports.

This might have been the thinking of players around us, that’s why they start their carrier with a Bang-On performance but after a series or two he is Bangged-Off the team. They have speed, zeal and some talent also that makes them available to play for the country. But is it really the talent that gives them opportunity in team or?. Whatever it is we are going to discuss in our later articles. Coming back to topic I think it’s the real strategy or the right use of their real strength lacks or misses out leading to disastrous effects.

Taking the example of Irfan Pathan , he started his carrier on a high note and even he was being called as ‘Swing King’ for his commendable performances in the starting games. Because of that he was even compared with the world’s most successful all-rounders. He took a hat-trick in Test match against Pakistan and even scored 90’s in some post match while batting third. He also added many valuable runs for his side and soon he was included in the most impressive and influencial cricketers list.

But soon he was influenced by all the name and fame he got and his performance dropped severely even loosing his spot in the team. The same is true with Nehra , Munaf and other proficient bowlers of our team. Whats wrong with them, the strategy, the conditions, the team or the stardom they are getting??? Why they play comfortably at home end up winning series and matches but not abroad?

Have they restricted their talent to limits or don’t want to give it a shot in order to improve? This may also arise questions about India’s most successful foreign coach Gary Kirsten. Was his also successful because we played mostly in Indian sub-continent and not outside during his reign or even won the World Cup because it was played at home? Have this side ever tried to improve? Answers are yet to find.

But we must look into the matter because the defeat in Australia made us realize that we have a lot to learn and a lot to perform. We can only wish them luck. Play hard and strike harder.

20/01/2012

sajan

ODI/T20 SQUAD FOR AUSTRALIA SERIES

Indian team for the odi and t20 has been announced by the BCCI. Chairman of the national selection committee, Krishnamachari Srikkanth said a 17-man squad had been picked since the tri-series competition is a long one. Also keeping in mind the injury scare players in order to avoid the issues that were raised in England where india failed to send fit team out in the park.

Starting February 5, Australia, India and Sri Lanka will play eight ODIs each before the best-of-three final ending on March 8. Prior to that, India and Australia will compete in two T20 Internationals. The top two teams will compete each other in best of three finals.

The players who are missing out are:

Ajinkya Rahane

He was not impressive in the last home series but was part of the test squad but he is yet to play a test down under.

Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma will take a break to seek treatment for his injured left ankle.  In all the tests he has played he had bowled well without much success and gets the break to get into shape for the next series.

The players who have made the come backs are:

Praveen Kumar

Praveen Kumar, who had missed the cut for the Australia Tests, returns to the squad.

Manoj Tiwary

Manoj Tiwary, with a hundred in the Chennai ODI against West Indies will also feature in india’s middle order in the absence of senior pro yuvraj singh who was unavailable for the selection due to fitness issues.

Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan who made his comeback against the west indies has also been given a place in the side.

Squad: MS Dhoni (C/WK), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Parthiv Patel, Rahul Sharma, Zaheer Khan.

sahil (inputs:yahoo cricket)

15/01/2012

No Dhoni For Adelaide Test

 Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been handed over a one-match ban for slow over rate in the Perth Test against Australia, which his side lost by an innings and 37 runs.

Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag is likely to be the skipper of the side in the fourth test to be played at Adelaide.
Dhoni earlier in the day put the blame on himself for his side's dismal performance in the ongoing test series.
"This is one of the worst phases of Indian cricket. We have to score 300 to 350 odd runs depending on the venue, which we have not been able to do. Somebody will have to step up and rise to the occasion. A couple of good partnerships will help us in getting rid of pressure. I am the leader of the side, I am the main culprit," Dhoni told media persons here during a post-match press conference.
"Tactics depend on execution of players, execution is very important. If the bowlers bowl consistently on one line, you have options. The Australian side has taught us to be consistent. If you bowl on good lines, you eventually force a batsman to commit mistake," he added.
To a poser on the dismal performance by the Indian battling line up, Dhoni said: "We all know that they will perform in India, but we need to find ways how to perform outside India and before a tough opposition."
Dhoni, however, earlier expressed hope that his side would bounce back and perform to its expectations in the final Test match to be played at Adelaide.
It really hurts, but they will come back strongly," he said.
The Indian skipper also praised middle-order batsman Virat Kohli, who played a fighting knock of 75 runs in the Perth Test.
"Virat played well. It's good to see him perform well. Moreover, with Raina on the bench, you have some young players who are ready to prove themselves," he said.
The Indian skipper also lauded the performance of fast-bowler Umesh Yadav, who finished with figures of five for 93.
Australia thrashed the visiting side by an innings and 37 runs on the third day of the match at the WACA ground in Perth on Sunday to clinch the four-match Test series 3-0 with the final Test to be played at Adelaide from January 24.

15/01/2012

Source: yahoo cricket

Flames down under

India has been plundered down under. It is all done and dusted, the downfall that started in England got worse in Australia where India have been outplayed by the mitty aussies that could well result in the another humiliating 4-0 whitewash . After losing in Melbourne many felt that India would surely bounce back in Sydney where Indian batsmen boosted a very good record but the manner in which Australia uprooted India was heartening to see. Neither the Indian bowlers held their line nor the batsmen showed any sort of resilience against the relatively inexperienced bowling attack. At the beginning of the tour many cricket pundits believed that India had a strong chance of beating Australia in Australia. India had the best batting line up in the world that included record over 140 test centuries among themselves. But it was soon proved that records are history and one need to play competitive cricket throughout than to rely on the past records.

Another reason for this mishap is the weak bench strength which is a result of the poor planning by the selectors. They never realized that the senior pro’s of the team are over the hill and cant except them to fire every time with the same intensity. One needs to realize that their era of greatness has ended and they must now hang up their boots and pass the torch to the youngsters. Here one feels that a senior official of the working committee must step in to ask them about their retirement plans. Player like Dravid is not in best of the form his defence has been breached many times on the tour. The magic of wrist and flicks is also missing from Laxman , Shewag looks out of sort and gambhir has been doggy outside the off stump. Tendulkar is under all sorts of pressure as he is nearing the landmark. The bowling looks totally out of sort and that zeal of passion and execution of planning is missing. Apart from zaheer all bowlers have looked below par. Be it ishant , umesh ,ashwin or now vinay kumar all of them had been plunderd for plenty by the mighty aussies and their performance was more sought of a club level not international standard where you consistently need to hunt for the wickets or stop the flow of runs. Captaincy is another important issue. The midas touch that Dhoni had is now missing. He has looked totally out of sorts throughout .Dhoni now needs to shed the image of captain cool and need to show some aggression on and off the field rather discussing about his retirement plans before the eve of the crucial test match. The best thing that India could do now is to go out on the park all guns blazing and play fearless cricket and show some positive intent .Fans need to realize that it is just a game that they had lost and its not a matter of life and death. So they must be calm and must not term their heroes of the worldcup2011 to zeros.    

sahil

14/11/2012