Team India Looking for Consistency !

The recently concluded Idea Cup has made Team India’s frontline bowlers accurate in pitching the balls on right areas and they seem to make the odd ball move away from the batsman, which speaks volumes about the attack. Zaheer Khan is without doubt making his presence felt as a senior bowler giving valuable inputs to the younger grade of internationally inexperienced bowlers while Ashish Nehra is trying to get the ball zip through the track. Ravindra Jadeja is proving to be a dependable option and Dhoni can always bank on Yuvraj Singh to get a crucial breakthrough. The turbanator has lived up to the expectations of the team doing quite a job.

The improvement in the fielding department is now beginning to show how much effort has gone into it and the quick reflexes in Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh has been an awesome sight to any Indian supporter.

Batting have always remained Team India’s good strength with Gautham Gambhir ,Virender Sehwag and now even with Kohli and Raina chipping with valuable contributions to amass a huge total on board. Dhoni has been very flexible in the batting order, getting a wonderful act together and certainly making a mark as a successful skipper after Sourav Ganguly.

Now consistency is the word, they will have to look for, which always gives a miss to Dhoni and his men. However the men in blue have made a phenomenal progress in the recent past, they are working hard on their technique and its pretty evident. Youngsters like Kohli and Jadeja are doing their bit and have shown that they can deal pressure situations with ease. With a few good knocks from Gambhir and Virender Sehwag carrying his present form forward into the next series, one can expect a fiery start from the openers and look to carry it forward with Kohli, Yuvraj or Raina. When hard work is married to consistency, the world champions in tests will certainly be eyeing for the top spot in the one-days too!!

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Team India Walking on Air

Team India are now proving their mettle as a top class team. The cup is now full and Dhoni is capably leading his team upfront. His responsible innings and the way he prepares himself as a floater in the batting order shows the flexibility in the batting. The batsmen are doing their job quite well on the top shifting gears to post a huge total on the board every game and either of Gambhir, Sehwag, Tendulkar striking it really hard and with Raina, Yuvraj and Dhoni setting up a good strength to the middle order.

Fielding is still a department to watch out for and even with the fielding coach in place, the sloppy fielding continues - maybe Michael Young still needs to spend more time with the players but dropping straight catches mean, giveaway of a game. Its quite evident that the gentleman's game is turning to be a team game. The players are now getting into a game as a team sharing ideas and it feels great to see them in their comfort zones. Its team effort all the way and at its best, i would say.

The Bowling department so far has been absolutely brilliant. Dhoni is managing a good show juggling his bowlers and mixing it up so well. Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have brought in their vast experience and bowling at death overs has been top class. Ashish Nehra now joining the party makes the block still stronger. Newcomers, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja and Murali Vijay have contributed in good proportions and it will be prodigious to see their fortitude shining in the cricketing arena winning more games for Team India.

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Team India crowned No.1 in Tests !

Team India became the number one test team on sunday after defeating SriLanka comprehensively by an innings and 24 runs in the third and final cricket test in mumbai to clinch the series 2-0. The SriLankans were completely bowled over and looked very weak in a bad shape after a big loss.

The itch for the top spot has been in the rounds for quite a time and finally the coveted top spot has come India's way for the first time in the history of the game. This is actually the official announcement of domination upon all the teams who hold a test status, I would say. It all speaks great volumes of the effort that has gone into getting all the players together rubbing shoulders and the support staff along with the selection committee has been instrumental.

Dhoni now becomes the second captain in the 132 year old history of test cricket not to have lost a test match in his first ten games. Dhoni now holds 7 on 10 under his belt. How is that for a record ? Dhoni has been clearly pussyfooted in leading the Team India getting all the expertise possible from the senior players and support staff and even in choosing his bowlers for the game along with the field they ask for. And it has completely paid off to a big measure fetching a top rank for the Indian Team in Tests.

Two innings defeat in a row against the SriLankans showcase the strength of the Indian Team with all the players coming in and playing their parts to near perfection. The batting department was exceptional and the bowlers upped the tempo pressurizing the Lankans every time they came to bat. Sehwag amassed a total of 491 runs in the series fetching a record for India against SriLanka in a Test rubber. And Dhoni stepped up for a brilliant ton even when he was playing alongside tail-enders to the likes of Ojha and Sreesanth. And the bowlers were too good scalping the Lankan batsmen on the odd foot pressing them hard under and Zaheer, Harbhajan were the pick of the Indian bowlers and the comeback Kerala fast bowler Sreesanth proved to be in a fine nick grabbing a 5 for in the first test in Ahmadabad. Its certainly team work at its best for Team India !!

Team India have unquestionably proved to be a powerhouse and they have established their place in the top and Dhoni's men now are marching towards an unassailable and they deserve to be there where they are !! .. Many congratulations to Team India and the management for fetching the rare feat !!

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Melody King - Unnikrishnan

Singing takes a preference over the gentleman's game to this man from Kerala. Reaching great heights in classical music as well as film singing speaks great volumes of his colossal singing. Indeed Iam talking about the national award singer Unnikrishnan. Playing cricket and singing is a kind of a tough balancing act. And i should say he did quite a job when he opted to go with singing. Still when you talk about cricket to him, he relishes the exciting moments in a cricketting arena.

He is one of the finest singers we have seen who is doing rounds in the industry. The feel with which he delivers the song is out of the world. His first rendition in film singing kick-started with the romantic melody "ennavale" from the film Kaadalan. The film demanded the voice and A.R.Rahman from nowhere casted a magic spell and ofcourse who would forget the honey soaked singing of Unni, One of the best ways to give a launchpad to a singer from a classical music background. The transformation from classical singing to film music was awe-inspiring and Rahman guided Unni so well making him very comfortable managing a good show definitely.

Unnikrishnan's successive songs fetched him a dream run in film singing with the latest one being a melody "vaarayo vaarayo" from the film Aadhavan. He flattered us all with his blockbuster hits with his smooth and sweet rendition. It truly swept us all, off our feet !!

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