Posts Tagged ‘Anil Kumble’
Team India’s golden run continues, as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and boys end the year (2008) on a ‘winning note’, with Dhoni’s brigade winning the Test series against England 1-nil.
Even though the final Test at Mohali ended in a draw, it was celebration time for the Indian players, as Dhoni’s boys lifted the trophy after an impressive performance against Kevin Pietersen’s side. This is just one of the many victories that Team India have scripted in the year 2008.
India outplayed England in the one day series to win 5-nil and before the ‘Winter War’ rages on, India trashed Ricky Ponting’s men to lift the ‘Border-Gavaskar’ trophy, an absolutely extra ordinary year for Indian cricket – which also saw Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble retire from international cricket.
India’s on-field performance are paying off the field following a successful 2008 season. Team India have retained the number two spot in ICC Test Rankings, this feat comes after Dhoni and boys won the Test series against England 1-nil.
Following their win the opening Test at Chennai and draw in the final Test, India surged ahead of South Africa taking a one point lead at number two slot, a position the India has held on briefly after trashing the Australians 2-nil.
Here’s a look at the ranking’s table:
Australia remains on the firing line after the defeat at Perth, and is still retaining the top spot with 130 points. Team India stands at the second place with 118 points, meanwhile South Africa fares just a point behind at 117. However the Proteas will be hoping to continue their good form ‘Down Under’ and retain the number two peg by winning the ‘Boxing Day Test’.
The former English players have again hailed Team India’s performances, and David Lloyd has gone on to declare, “India is definitely the number one Test side in world cricket, in fact the former England all-rounder believes that, India has always been a better side in the ‘Winter War’ – and at the moment, they are the best in business.”
Derek Pringle too has hailed the efforts of an united Team India but the former English paceman has especially, praised skipper MS Dhoni’ s leadership skills and his confidence, in leading a youngish team to the summit of world cricket.
According to David Lloyd, the famed former English player, “India has always been the better team in the series and in my opinion, constitutes the best team in the world in Tests at present. On the other hand, England has also played its part and can only learn from their Indian experience.”
Just as India end the year on a winning note, it’s time to cast a glance at India’s best wins of the 2008 season.
After umpires cheated India in Sydney and the ‘Monkey Gate’ saga, a spirited team India stunned the Aussies by an impressive fightback to conquer Perth. India denied Australia a record 17th straight victory by dismissing them for 340, going on to win the third Test at Perth by 72 runs.
What followed in the one-day series was phenomenal, with Dhoni leading India to script a historic win and lift the CB series. The Sachin Tendulkar being the star performer for the ‘Men in Blue, after a century in the first final, the ‘Little Master’ scored 91 to beat the Aussies on their own soil.
Again, in the home series against South Africa, India fought back from being 1-nil down to draw the series against Proteas. India also finished the Kanpur Test in 3 days, this being Dhoni’s first Test as the skipper with Kumble getting injured. Spinner Harbhajan Singh was adjudged the ‘Player of the Series’ for Team India.
It was revenge time for Team India as Australia arrived in India. India’s golden run continued, as the Aussies were demolished by Team India at Mohali, after Ganguly slammed a century and Tendulkar went on to become the ‘King of Test’ cricket by surpassing Brian Lara – as the highest run scorer in the Tests in first Test.
The final Test at Nagpur witnessed a historic Test victory by Team India, as Dhoni led India with Kumble retiring from international cricket. India reclaimed the ‘Border Gavaskar’ trophy, after 8 long years in the farewell Test of Sourav Ganguly. India humiliated the Australians and won the series 2-nil.
India’s new ball colleagues Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma struck in their first overs to reduce England to 57 for two at lunch on day three of the second and final cricket Test in Mohali today. At the lunch break, England captain Kevin Pietersen (28) and Alastair Cook (25) were in the middle, having scored runs at a brisk rate. The visitors still trail India by 396 runs in their first essay.
A thick fog hung over the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, resulting in a 90-minute delay but India didn’t have to wait for long to get the breakthrough. In fact by the time the seventh ball of the day had been bowled, England looked in a hole as the first two runs they scored cost them as many wickets.
On a high after his twin tons in the Chennai Test, Andrew Strauss was brought down to earth by a fuller Zaheer Khan delivery that rapped him in front and umpire Daryl Harper felt it would have his the stumps.
Ian Bell (1) did slightly better than his scoreless opening partner by at least opening his account. But like Strauss, his too was a three-ball knock brought to an end by Ishant Sharma’s first ball that took an inside edge before uprooting the middle stump.
His side in the doldrums, it was clearly an unenviable position as Pietersen walked out to bat. His Indian counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni stunned all by replacing Zaheer with Yuvraj Singh after the left-arm seamer had removed Strauss in his first over.
The ploy, apparently prompted by the fact that Yuvraj had trapped Kevin Pietersen in the second innings of the Chennai Test, didn’t pay off and Zaheer was soon back in the attack. Pietersen was not ready to allow the pressure to bog him and down and decided not to hold himself back. He clipped Ishant for his first four and then hit Zaheer for two boundaries in the same over a flick wide off the leg-slip and an on-drive to signal his intentions.
Having witnessed both the setbacks from the other end, Cook was understandably cautious and the first two boundaries flowing from his bat were immaculate straight drives. The left-hander went on to hit Zaheer for two boundaries in the same over last one being an elegant pull.
India sits pretty with 453 runs on the board at the end of day 2 of the second Test against Englant at Mohali. However, today’s (December 21) crucial play that will determine the result of the Test.
For India to ensure a white wash, captain MS Dhoni will definitely look forward to an early breakthrough to put Kevin Pietersen’s men on the backfoot. The men most likely to do so in an overcast condition will be the duo of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. They were not at their best against the top-order in Chennai, but played a vital role in the second innings. The duo will have to be at their lethal best to jolt the England line-up, which has shown spine in the face of adversity.
Moreover, India’s main spinner Harbhajan Singh needs to strike form and slip into Anil Kumble’s shoes, but the offie has flattered to decieve so far; and needs to get back into his groove, when he gets the ball at Mohali. He is bowling too fast, making it easier for the batsmen to read him. The sting is missing and he is not at his best in the series.
Harbhajan’s failures are made more stark by England’s debutante spinner Graeme Swann’s performance; and to top it Bhajji also has to guide the relatively inexperienced Amit Mishra. It is a tough task, but he has to do it to cement his place as India’s premier spinner.
Dhoni needs to be at his best as the skipper. He should look for wickets, rather than trying to strangulate the run-flow. Sitting on a 453-run cushion, Dhoni can afford to set an attacking field to induce the England batsmen into making mistakes, because nothing will matter more than wickets on a day when the visitors will look to hold forte in their attempt to salvage their reputation after the thrashing in Chennai.
Yuvraj Singh
Posted on: December 11, 2008
Cricket would score over terrorism and more than the outcome, both the teams would hope to apply balm on the wounds of India’s terror-stricken populace when they host England for the first cricket Test in Chennai today (Dec 11).
Since the November 26 Mumbai mayhem, it took umpteen hectic parleys and individual behind-the-door persuasion by both the Indian and English Boards to convince that India is safe enough to continue the tour they had abruptly abandoned after the Mumbai massacre.
To their credit, Pietersen and his teammates, including the reluctant trio of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Graeme Swann, put behind their personal apprehension and decided to board the India-bound flight after security adviser Reg Dickason had given the green signal for the series.
But now that the terror scare has been overcome, weather god poses the most serious threat to the Test with the possibility of rain hovering over the eagerly awaited Test.
Despite England returning with a full-strength team, the match on paper looks heavily tilted in favour of the Indians, who bulldozed the visitors 5-0 in the ODI series.
However all eyes will be on none other than the left-hander Yuvraj Singh, who makes a comeback into the Indian Test squad after the retirement of veteran Sourav Ganguly.
It’s time now for the Yuvraj to step in and show the world that he belongs at the International Test scenario. But filling the void created by Ganguly’s retirement won’t be an easy job.
Riding high on his rolicking form the young left-handed dasher powered his way into the Test team. Yuvraj will be hoping to translate this form into the longest format of the game. Yuvraj, who had played his last Test against South Africa at Kanpur in April, has been in sizzling form with two centuries in the recent ODI series against England before it was called off following the terror attacks in Mumbai.
So far Yuvraj has failed to establish himself as a Test cricketer having played just 23 test matches since bursting on the scene nearly eight years ago.
Skipper MS Dhoni is hoping to use the southpaw’s all round skills to good effect in the Tests. But pressure will be on Yuvraj to perform and book his berth in the Indian Test team.
Tamil Nadu batsmen S Badrinath and Murali Vijay, paceman Munaf Patel and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who are part of the 15-member squad, have been left out for the first Test beginning at the MA Chidambaram stadium today.
Yuvraj’s inclusion means that the home team will go into the game with seven batsmen and four specialist bowlers. While the in-form Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma will spearhead the pace attack, Harbhajan Singh and leg spinner Amit Mishra, who has come into the team after the retirement of former captain and ace spinner Anil Kumble, will shoulder the spin bowling responsibility.
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