Well done..Gilly

Adam Gilchrist has been one of the best wicketkeeper batsmen the game of cricket has ever produced. I was terribly disappointed when he was dismissed for 2 in the 2^nd CB final against India. Perhaps he should have scored a decent knock to make his last game a memorable one. He took the whole world by surprise when he announced his retirement in this controversial tour. His contribution has been immense and he will always be remembered for the quality entertainment he provided with his amazing shots. He scored 9612 runs in 287 ODIs at an average of 35.89 and made 5570 Test runs at an average of 47.60.His strike rate of 96.24 is amongst the highest in one day cricket. His batting has always been a treat to watch .This master blaster hardly gets into any controversies and walks off the field after his dismissal, irrespective of the umpire’s decision. Such kind of gestures is rare and need to be applauded. I regard him as one of the best batsmen in the world cricket .Maybe he should have played for some more time…but that’s ok…He will be entertaining us in the IPL by playing for Hyderabad. You have done a great job and made your country proud. Will miss you..Gilly

India beat Australia to win the CB series

India won the toss and elected to bat first. The conditions were ideal for bowling and Brett Lee started off the proceedings for Australia with a wide delivery.Uthappa and Tendulkar provided a solid start to the Indian innings contributing 94 for the first wicket partnership. As the records indicate, Tendulkar has never made a century on the Australian soil. He was at his best today scoring a superb 91 guiding India to a competitive total of 259.He has been dismissed in the 90’s 17 times so far. How unlucky can a man get? He treated the crowd with amazing shots.Yuvraj played well today and made a useful contribution of 38.Bracken did a terrific job picking up 3 wickets. Chasing 259 for victory the Australian played loose shots and were dismissed for 249.Praveen kumar emerges as a hero in today’s game picking up 4 for 46.His impressive performance enabled him to claim the second man of the match award in this series. He claimed 10 wickets in the last 3 matches he played and I am sure that this young man has a promising future. Praveen’s contribution has been immense in today’s match. After 3 quick dismissals the Australian’s were building a good partnership between Hayden and Symonds. The turning point in today’s match was when Hayden was run out by Yuvraj Singh. Soon after Hayden’s dismissal, bhaaji picked up the wicket of Symonds. The hopeless hope displayed a good batting performance but his efforts couldn’t help Australia win today’s match. The Australian’s were dismissed for 249 in the last over falling short of 9 runs required for victory. India beat the mighty Aussies by 9 runs to win the CB final.Dhoni has to be really complemented for this commendable win and leading the side through the CB series. This is probably one of the greatest wins in the history of Indian cricket. Australians can no longer claim to be the world champions.BCCI has announced a cash incentive of Rs 10 crore for the Indian team for the fantastic cricket they played. There is some good news for the Indian fans.Tendulkar has been ranked as the No 1 batsmen in the latest ICC ranking s.With today’s match its curtains for Adam Gilchrist, the man whom I respect a lot in the Australian cricket team. The youngsters have delivered under pressure and their impressive performances have helped to build a good team for the future keeping the world cup in mind. India is on its way to become the world champion.

India make it to the finals

India was desperate to win today’s match as it would ensure their berth in the finals. If India win today’s match they will clash against the Aussies in the final if not their hopes in the final will rely on the outcome Australia-Sri Lanka encounter. India won the toss and elected to bowl first. India decided to go in for five bowlers as the conditions were ideal for bowling .Sri Lanka started off confidently with a first ball boundary by opener Perera.But later he was bowled out by a good delivery from Ishant in the fourth over.Sangakkara came in and there was a good partnership building between Jayasuriya and Sangakkara .India got its breakthrough when Sangakkara played a reckless shot giving opportunity for Praveen Kumar to claim his first wicket in this series. Soon after his dismissal wickets kept falling quickly. Sri Lankan’s batting was pathetic with poor shot selection and playing loose shots. At one point of time Sri Lanka were 93-7 and were to struggling to get runs. Indians should have restricted Sri Lanka to 120 but with some good batting from Kapugedera (57) they managed to reach 179.Indian paceman Praveen kumar and Ishant Sharma got 4 wickets each with their impressive bowling performances. Chasing 180 wasn’t much of a challenge for India. The bowlers have done their job and now it’s the job of the batsmen to deliver.Uthappa was sent to open the Indian innings with Tendulkar and this can seen as a positive move to find the right opening pair combination.Tendulkar who wasn’t in the best of his form in the series so far played some exquisite shots and he was simply at his best. It was good for Tendulkar to regain his form before the finals. The fielders at the slips had a very bad day with both Jayawardene and Tendulkar missing catches. The so called famous doosras form Murali made little difference to India’s aggressive batting as Tendulkar continued playing his shots. Eventually Murali provide the breakthrough by dismissing Tendulkar for 63.Gambhir has been in fine form and brilliant throughout the series and his fabulous knock of 63 should keep him in the run for the Man of the series. The overall performance of the Indian team was very encouraging. Statistics point out that India has not won a ODI tournament in Australia since 1985.Now that India have won, it will face the menacing Aussies in the final on Sunday.

Gambhir's fantastic knock in vain

Today’s match was a crucial one as it will decide whether India can secure a berth in the finals. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. As Ian Chappell pointed out this pitch at SCG was a batsmen friendly one. In the Indian side Munaf Patel was replaced by Sreesanth. As usual, Gilchrist and Hayden opened the Australian innings.Gilly was looking in menacing form with three fantastic boundaries. I thought he was on his way to make the fastest hundred in this series but my hopes were altered when he was deceived by a good delivery from Sreesanth and a good one handed catch taken by Dhoni.The Australians were amassing runs at a very good run rate. They were 92/1 after 10 overs.By the way the Australians were batting I suppose they could have easily made a total of 350+.Hayden made a useful contribution of 54. The good partnership was building between Clarke and Ponting was broken when Clarke was dismissed for 31.The Australians have something to cheer about, their skipper is back to form and in style.Ponting was auctioned for a mere $400,000 in the IPL auction. He later said that he could have gone for a little more. He has been struggling in the series and today his match winning knock of 124 provide great quality entertainment. If the auction was held after today’s match Ponting could have fetched a good price. The aggressive Symonds struck six fours and two sixes and managed to score 59 from just 54 balls. With a couple of run-outs in the last over Australia managed to score 317 which is the highest total in the series. India’s run chase began badly when they lost four early wickets and at point of time they were 51/4..And I felt that the Indians were chasing a losing battle.Tendulkar was dismissed by an outstanding delivery from Lee. As per statistics Tendulkar has been Lee’s victim 9 times so far.Gambhir has been looking in a good form in the series. I guess its high time Yuvraj takes a break and concentrate on his batting skills. He was cheaply dismissed for 5 when India needed him the most.Gambhir was certainly the highlight of today’s match. The Indian scorecard was dominated by Gambhir(113) and Uthappa(51).I was surprised the way Uthappa batted today. This young man is promising and has a great future. Just look at the way he batted …amazing shots.Uthappa should be promoted up the batting order. His strike rate is just good enough for him to be in the top order. As I said in my previous article Dhoni completely lost his aggressive nature and his strike rate is very disappointing .The way he played he looked like as if he was chasing a total of 250.He needs to work on his batting else he may have to lead India only in the test matches. India was dismissed for 299 with 18 runs falling short of the target. With Australia assured a place in the finals it remains to be seen whether India can make it to the finals. India will face Sri Lanka in Hobart on Tuesday and it must win the match if they want to see themselves in the finals.

The Aussies have done it once again

If India can prove their potential against tough opponents like Australia,I am sure its on its way to emerge as one of the best cricketing teams in the world.Todays match was a close one to call and I was hoping that India would win the match.Dhoni's attacking field setup restricted Australia's total to 203.Pathan's bowling was the highlight of today's match.His flawless performance deserves a lot of appreciation.Australia's middle order continued to disappoint viewers with an exception of Clarke who made a valuable contribution of 79.India sounded confident of chasing a total of 203 in the batsmen friendly pitch.Tendulkar was dismissed initially by an exceptional delivery from Bracken .India relied its hopes on Sharma and Yuvraj after the top order collapsed with a little contribution to the scorecard. Yuvraj was looking in good touch as he enthralled the audience with a huge six.But he was dismissed at 26 by playing a casual shot.Dhoni came to India's rescue after Yuvraj departed.Dhoni's problem with his foot was a bit of concern to the Indians.Of late Dhoni is not playing the way he used to play some time back.Where have the so called Dhoni's sixes gone?The Australians had some worries too.Their fielding was not up to the mark.There were a couple of misfields and catches missed.These things prove costly as it would have made a lot of difference.Dhoni and Uthappa were playing safe rotating strike but Uthappa played a reckless shot and lost his wicket.Soon after his dismissal wickets kept falling and India was all out for 153.....The Australians have proved that they can recover and adapt to any kind of situation as it was well observed in todays game..

Yuvraj singh's poor form continues,Thanks to deepika padukone

Yuvraj's poor form continues in odi's also.He hasn't made any significant contribution in the recent months.Yuvraj, regarded as a one-day specialist, has been struggling to find peak form ever since he landed in Australia and the Indians will be hoping that the dashing batsman rediscovers his touch quickly. Experts attribute Yuvraj's failure to his new relationship with Deepika Padukone, who was in Sydney to watch the test series at Yuvraj's invitation. It’s high time for Yuvraj to focus on cricket and rediscover his form so that he can continue to entertain his fans. Let’s wait and watch his performance in the remaining one day matches if he is considered in the playing eleven. Do u guys think that he should be dropped?