Let’s celebrate cricket!

With a lot of expectations, the third edition of the Indian Premier League is all set to take centre stage. The arrangements for the inaugural ceremony are in full swing and with the event taking place in India; IPL fans can afford a wide smile. The main news is that four new venues — Nagpur, Vishakapatnam, Ahmedabad, and Dharmasala - have been added apart from the eight home venues. Now let’s take a peek into the teams and its champion players.

The Mumbai Indians

Led by the great man Sachin Tendulkar, are expected to bounce back this time after two successive tough editions. The Caribbean flavours of Pollard and Bravo add spice to the side. They are two good players who can prove their mettle in the shortest version of the game. Abhishek Nayar should show some temperament this time and the surprise entry Shikar Dhawan is expected to be handy with the bat. All eyes will be on the man in form, Sachin Tendulkar and he will have the Sri Lankan Jayasuriya to help him open Mumbai’s account.

The Delhi Daredevils

The squad looks pretty impressive with an explosive line-up of the likes of Sehwag, De Villiers, Dilshan, Warner … the list just goes on. It’s a comeback tournament for their new skipper Gautam Gambhir and he will certainly be trying to prove a point. Expect useful contributions from Karthik and Henriques while Maharoof can get that odd boundary to ease the pressure. Nannes, Nehra and Sangwan will be the bowlers to watch and Mishra can mix it up well in the death overs. So Delhi looks a strong side with a lot of big hitters waiting to provide you the entertainment.

Chennai Super Kings

The team has a good blend of raw talents and experienced players. Everything is falling in place for this strong side, with the latest being the availability of Matt Hayden. Australia’s batting tour de force Hayden along with skipper Dhoni will be looking to strike gold. Experienced players like Hussy, Raina and Badri support them in the middle overs and crackers are always expected from South African Albie Morkel and Gony. The fast bowling department is led by Balaji and Gony while much will be expected from wily spin wizard Muralidharan and his lefty partner Jakati, who worked wonders in IPL2.

Royal Challengers

The finalists of IPL2, Royal Challengers from Bengaluru showed team spirit and outstanding talent. Dravid’s dream run fetched them a second spot last time. With Kallis and the long-time-no-see Ross Taylor to bank upon, the Royal Challengers will fight it out in the middle. Youngsters like Uthappa and Manish Pandey can use this opportunity to get into the already strong International side. New man Peter Siddle will hopefully have a look in. And with old fox Kumble’s valuable experience, they will try to land in a good spot.

Kolkata Knight Riders

With the multiple-captain approach drawing flak , the Knight Riders now come under the prince of Kolkata, Sourav Ganguly. Jamaican southpaw, Chris Gayle is expected to fire on all cylinders, with his explosive and disdainful batting style. Agarkar and Ishant Sharma look dangerous in their initial spells and Ganguly will double up as a part-time bowler to get a crucial breakthrough. However, KKR fans will be watching Shane Bond wearing the black jersey. Harpreet Singh. Shukla can chip in with some useful contributions with the bat while the hard hitting Mccullum will certainly go for the swing. The KKR will look for some good luck charm this time!

Kings XI Punjab

Preity Zinta’s Kings XI Punjab will look to make its presence felt this time. They have new skipper Sangakkara to lead, while the flamboyant Yuvraj plays as a batsman. Hopes and the ever-patient Jayawardene can anchor their middle order. Irfan’s fans get to see the handsome man back in action, but Brett Lee and Abdullah will be the men to watch in the bowling department. The young Chawla will be a useful option.

Deccan Chargers

The champions of IPL2, Deccan Chargers used failure as their stepping stone to success. The Chargers scripted an incredible turnaround in the last season clinching the trophy. All credit to its wicketkeeper-skipper Adam Gilchrist. His Australian teammate Symonds will have to deliver the goods this time and the expectations from left arm spinner Ojha will be high. Dwayne Smith has been a success with both bat and the ball last season and is expected to strike again and lefty seamer RP Singh is expected to be one of the lead runners for the purple cap.

Rajasthan Royals

Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals is a young side with fresh talents making up the 30-player squad. Big names include Graeme Smith, Mascarenhas and our own Yusuf Pathan, who can dominate a good bowling attack. Goa player Asnodkar still occupies the opening slot, Naman Ojha can prove a good competitor. The bowling looks bright with the raw pace of Shaun Tait and Munaf. Warne’s initial spells will be crucial while Yusuf can chip in as well. The young Royals side will look up to their spin legend skipper to deliver the goods.

Tune your channels to the biggest cricketing event from March 12 as Deccan Chargers take on Mumbai Indians in Mumbai at 8.pm.

Another feather to Tendulkar’s cap !!

India’s most celebrated cricketer once again occupies the centre stage, this time for a scintillating world record for being the first man in the ODI history to get a double hundred. Indeed I’m talking about the little master and India’s favorite boy wonder.. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Tendulkar achieved this rare feat in just 147 balls as he toyed with the South African bowlers with great finesse. Sachin now holds the record for the highest run getter in the 50 over format of the game. The Batting Wizard almost went on a rampaging attack after his 150, deciding where to hit the ball even before it was bowled. Tendulkar showed great temperament and brought on his experience staying there rock solid putting the ball away to the boundary with great ease and certainly every run was a master stroke. Now reeling back 22 years from now, Tendulkar was in Mumbai stitching a 400 run partnership with his best buddy Vinod Kambli in a local game in Mumbai. People close to Tendulkar did predict he will make it to the Indian team, but Sachin took it game by game performing every time he comes out to bat and unquestionably Tendulkar shot up to an iconic status in no time and in fact his is now a household name. But Tendulkar certainly deserves to be where he is today.. his hardwork and dedication to the game are absolutely phenomenal.

After so much hard played cricket, we still feel he has a lot of cricket left in him and his best is yet to come. He is probably the only cricketer whose arrival in the middle would put millions of lips into silent prayer. The fact which fascinates me is that, still at the age of 36, he runs like a leopard and he has the eye of a tiger and most importantly he still has the hungry to score tons and tons of runs. If at all Tendulkar feels its time to quit, I think the record books can close!! As hardcore Sachin Tendulkar fans, we would love to congratulate the god of cricket for the 200 run achievement and as a matter of fact, if at all there is one batting record Tendulkar dint go over, its Brian Lara’s 400 runs in an innings.. It isn’t far away, Lara beware!! In Toto, its tough being the man !

Disclaimer: Please do not try to imitate Tendulkar or try going behind his records, it may prove fatal!!

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Thrilling Win to Retain the NO.1 Slot !

There is a lot to take and cheer about if you are a hardcore Indian cricket fan as Team India claimed a thrilling win in the dying minutes of the second test to retain their top spot in the world test cricket ranking.

After the visitors almost managed prolonging the day avoiding a defeat under the lone battle waged by Hashim Amla, named man of the match and series, the Indians were not so quick to grab the final wickets which almost saw the end of the final session of the day. Amla however fought it out in the middle, despite the fact of losing able batsmen in the other end and tried hard to push his team towards a draw. Regular rains and bad climatic conditions came to the rescue of the South Africans, which made the match progress towards a draw, if not for the turbanator who claimed 5 wickets in the innings clinching a win for the men in blue.

The final overs from the Indian spinners, especially the offie who gave the much needed breakthrough and it wouldn’t have been possible without the high spirited bowling from the young Indian seamer, Ishanth Sharma who claimed two successive wickets pushing the South African tail on the back foot. Though Morkel hung on very patiently, he finally succumbed to a Harbhajan delivery that had a good bounce and which zipped through Morkel’s pads erupting the huge crowd at Eden Gardens into celebrations.

The Indian players embraced their fellow mates and showed great sportsmanship congratulating the man who stood batting throughout the day, the man in form for the South Africans who aggregated 490 runs from 3 innings, Hashim Amla.

Team India are still on a high and stay in an unassailable position after a victorious test match series against their South African counterparts and pushing the into the no.2 slot. As an Indian it feels great calling Team India, the World Champions in Test!!

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