And the world cup goes to....

A post after a long time...

Rest the ideas of ODI being a competition of the past and that which is to be forgotten in the near future...
The world cup 2011 in the heart of cricket has given us more than one reason to feel so. The ODI world cup which started with a belief that this well could be the tournament which decides the fate of One-Day cricket in general..

The format which has undergone many changes after the advent of T20 and the cash rich IPL, survived one of the biggest scares that it faced.. People, fans, commentators and "big wigs" of the cricket control , each having their own reason, felt that three forms of cricket cannot stand together; whereas Test cricket being the pinnacle of cricket and no questions of replacing or fine tuning that while T20 presenting a formidable cash flow meant that the tour calendars and FTP accommodated more and more of T20 and less of test matches.. ICC stepped in with regulations on number of T20 matches to be played in a bi-lateral series ensuring the delay of the inevitable - the death of ODI.

Empty stands greets the players. Low TRP for television channels broadcasting cricket.. ODI went through a litmus test of sorts and hasn't it come out victorious at the end of it all..
To summarize what has been, an eventful start in Bangladesh leading to a series of close matches , minnows showing why they indeed deserve a place in the tournament and to top it all India going all the way through ensured that many still tuned into the channel unlike 2007.

The English angle: 
  As the pioneers of cricket and as a country who invented cricket, it was on their shoulders to ensure that ODI stayed. And thats exactly what they did.. Provided a series of close, nail biting finishes which infused life into the "dying" form of cricket.. Not a single match of England was decided before the final death overs.. Every match provided so much enthusiasm and encouraged people to watch the game more and more. Surely, a master stroke from the English to help their brainchild from dying.

Irish and Dutch:

    Questioning the presence of associates and a never ending debate on their presence in ICC tournaments could (or well atleast should) have been put to rest seeing the way Dutch and Irish performed. Dutch, an one man show riding on ten Doescharter , though less confident than what they should have been put up a brave fight in tough situations. A little bit more of experience in handling pressure situations and definitely much more help from the ICC, could have seen them upset one of the test playing nation's hope of qualifying for the Super8. Irish on the other hand, were a bunch of highly confident players who always believed that they could beat the best.. Probably, fans and critics are a bit more biased in rating them after the Kevin O'Brien blitzkrieg. What stands out in their performance more than their victories/losses in the 6 matches that they played is the confidence in the captain's eyes right from the toss and the way they carry themselves on the field. A team that should be given more and more opportunities to perform at the big stages. (Also poaching to be stopped/restricted/whatever!!!)

The top teams:
    Performances of the top teams/ the teams at the top of the ICC rankings were though convincing not authoritative. Unlike the previous editions of the world cup where we had teams whom we would pick as favorites on any given day and in the particular tournament atleast we would guess with utmost surety that they are going to win, this world cup was different. Though people would have called Aus vs Pak as an easy Aus win or a tough Pak win, nobody would have even thought of Aussies having to face their first loss in world cup history since the super8 of 1999 world cup (Phew!! That itself quite proves my point on lob-sided matches in the past). Who would have predicted India vs England to be a tie!! or England lose to Irish  and the same England win against the mighty SouthAfrica..

The hype:
    Quarter Finals was the most talked of across the nation (India).. India vs Australia.... The build up to that was humongous, monstrous.. The media hype around the match and the fan frenzy almost as though it was the world cup finals thats being played.. Calls for 2003 revenge went around... (I never understood revenges dating back to almost a decade, insane...!!!) The victory to India at the end of was hailed and talked across the length and the breadth of the nation that people started believing that nothing could get bigger than this... (On a personal note, it was a great run chase showing the character of the teams involved and worthy of being a finals!) ....
 

What next!!
   The mother of all battles !!! Border lines weakened. Visa frenzy... Name a celebrity and he would be in Mohali kind of frenzy... Govt involved.. People who would not even know cricket came to the stadium (at the cost of few thousands of tickets not being sold to the fans, a sorry tale that was re-told in the finals too).. Govts wanted to use this as an opportunity to hold peace talks... Phew!!

Lanka again..........
India and SriLanka are so used to watching these two countries play, something that calls for earth day akin to earth hour from the cricket fans, who would rather switch of the television sets than to watch these two battle it out for the nth time (n -> infinity)... Got bored of it....
And so to cut short, we shall go to the last ball... MSD whacks the ball in his trademark style and Sanga watches that from behind with his head hung down...

And so the world cup goes to................ India......

IPL Auctions

Great IPL auctions today.. Was enthralling. Auction was telecast live on set max and was difficult to miss a single minute of the entire process.
The teams as they stand today :


Chennai Super Kings : MSD, Albie Morkel, Raina, Murali Vijay (all retained).  Mike Hussey,Saha, Dwayne Bravo, Bollinger, Ashwin, Badrinath.
--- Have tried to retain the same squad by buying Hussey, Bollinger, Badri and Ashwin. Ashwin and Badri came at a very high price compared to their base price. Bravo was a cheap buy. His availability would be question though. They tried hard to retain Murali but couldn't.
---------- Strong squad. Still need Indian players and a couple of more bowlers and all rounders.

Deccan Chargers: Kevin Pieterson , White, Sangakkara, Duminy, Dhawan, Steyn, Ishanth, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra.
--- Duminy, Ojha, Mishra are cheap buys. Ojha could play a big role. Steyn is their costliest and the best pick. Bowling is good. Sangakkara may be the dark horse. White could captain the side (he is Victorian Bushrangers captain too). Ishanth may be the weaker one here. Nice mix of players.

---------- Nice mix but not still balanced. No match winners barring Steyn.

Delhi Daredevils: Viru(retained), Irfan Pathan, Warner, Naman Ojha, Hopes, Morne Morkel, Aron Finch.
--- Viru with Warner opening the innings-most destructive. Ojha the best upcoming wicketkeeper . Irfan still doing rounds as a good all rounder. Aron Finch and Hopes are smart buys.

-----------Well balanced top order. Need to have bowlers though. having 3.5Million still in the kitty they may buy a few bowlers tomorrow.

Kings XI Punjab: Gilchrist, Shaun Marsh , Dinesh Karthik, Broad, Nayar, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla and Ryan Harris.
--- The balanced side doesn't quite tell you how their auction went about. Poor bidding cost them quite a few players. Nonetheless, the names make quite a reading and seem strong.

--------------- Balanced , yet something missing...

Kochi : Mahela Jayawardene, VVS Laxman, Brendon McCullum, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Parthiv Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Muralitharan, Steven Smith, Ramesh Powar, Brad Hodge.
--- Smart buys happened in the second half of the day. Dunno if VVS  Laxman still fits into the T20 mode. RP, Sreesanth are messy one day, master the next. McCullum is unpredictable. Second half picks in Muralitharan, Jadeja, Steven Smith and Brad Hodge made it a decent outing for them.

---------------- Big names - yes, match winners - yes, but not right mix.

KKR:  Kallis, Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan, Eoin Morgan, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Shakib Al Hasan, Manoj Tiwary.
--- Opened brilliantly with Gambhir, Kallis and Yusuf. Kallis, Morgan, Haddin and Lee could be their foreign players in the starting line up too. Made up for absence of all rounders in the first 3 seasons. A big big name is missing from the mix of things here, Yes. Ganguly. Kolkata = Ganguly, would be difficult to imagine a side without him for both his fans and in in Eden Gardens.

---------------- Opened brilliantly, but missed out on a lot of Indian players. With just over a million to spend would be interesting to see their strategy. Very strong. need to complete the jigsaw though.

Mumbai Indians: Sachin, Malinga, Pollard , Harbhajan (retained). Rohit Sharma, Davy Jacobs, Symonds, James Franklin.
--- Too costly a price for Rohit, more than Sachin now. Dunno what they are trying now. Held back because of a smaller purse after costly buys.

----------------- Indian players needed. need a right mix.

Pune Warriors: Yuvraj, Graeme Smith, Robin Uthappa, Tim Paine, Angelo Mathews, Ashish Nehra, Nathan McCullum, Callum Fergusson.
--- Best Players in the auction. Bought/Snatched Uthappa from RCB. Fanatic bidding for Uthappa, Yuvraj, Angelo. but at the end of the day, Pune emerge the strongest at the end of the first day bidding. Impressive bidding from Sahara team.

----------------- Well Balanced. Go for the kill with still 2million left. 

Rajasthan Royals: Warne, Watson(retained). Ross Taylor, Dravid, Botha, Collingwood
--- Reduced auction purse. Ross Taylor is a good buy, but Dravid the surprise pick. Botha and Collinwood good allrounders. Never expected Botha to go for such a great price.

----------------- Far from calling themselves a team. Foundation is ok. Lets see what happens.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (retained), Dilshan , Zaheer, AB DeVilliers, Vettori, Saurabh Tiwary, Dirk Nannes, Pujara.
--- Comfortable, decisive. Knew what they wanted and bid appropriately. Should also be thanking the stars for getting Dilshan, Vettori and Nannes at that rate. Kumble played a great role in picking the team one would presume. Kohli the captain ???

----------------- Very strong on paper. Match winners all the way. Well balanced. Strong.

Lets see what is in store tomorro !!!

Can HE Replace HIM?

Happy new year Usman Khawaja !! 

A special wish as he would make his debut in the new year test as a replacement for Ricky. 

News flowing around that Ponting has already played his last, will he make a place for himself in the side ? 
Can he replace HIM? Australia's first Asian born Muslim cricketer set to "replace" one of the modern day legends ?? Big shoes to fill in.......

Passing on tricks??

First Asian born cricketer in reckoning for Australia National team. Has represented Australia U-19 National team. Has received rave reviews for his performances. And this season he has mixed patience and calm with aggression and has been among the runs for NSW. Recent being a fine century against South Australia in the Ryobi One-Day Cup.

Since Australian batsmen are struggling with their poor form if he plays well in the fifth Ashes test match, there is no doubt that he is going to be a permanent member of the Australian squad. Let’s wish all the very best for the youngster.

And for Ponting, "read the previous post"

His Trade Mark Pull/Hook, Cover-drive , cut shots, seems a long time since we saw them. Aussies have already lost a quite a lot of classy players in the recent past in Gilchrist, Hayden in the batting, Warne, McGrath in bowling, Ponting the last survivor !! :P

All the best Punter!!!!!!!

Would Ponting re-start his career?  OR

Would the qualified pilot Khawaja's international career take off ?

-- Posted By Kiran

The Comeback - Possible ?

Flashback to the infamous Ganguly-Chappell saga ( 2005-06 ). Form dips, controversy, media and other pressures, "drop dada" campaigns etc......

Dada in a pensive mood

He was dropped from the side but he proved the critics who believed that cricket in him is over. What a comeback it was.
Read "Tribute to Dada" to know more about it...

As they say history repeats itself, now in a similar situation is another cricket great Ricky Ponting. A silent beginning, rise from lower middle order to No.3 in batting. From being a tiny man, he amassed runs and stood tall for Aussies. Hailed as one of the modern greats, second only to Sachin in records. He has an impressive record as captain, most of which now being attributed to the presence of legends in the team. Ponting now a mere mortal.

Crying ?? -- Almost.

Dismal form. Cannot play the rising ball. Age catching up. Team in disarray. Calls for Ponting to quit.
Some are even predicting that he has already played his last, I do not want to imagine so. Cricket is so cruel that it more often than not doesn't let its greats script their departure from the game. The next assignment for Aussies is in next August against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and since the domestic season will come to an end before the world cup gets over, its difficult for him to improve/adjust his batting and become the man of whom he is a mere shadow now...

This brings us to the question - Is he ready for a comeback ? Are we ready to witness another comeback aka Dada ?
Ganguly showed trmendous application and concentration and improved his batting so well and played much better than he ever had in the past. If Ponting were to do anything like that or even a little lesser than that he could quit on a high or to put it - script his exit.

Or as Ian Chappel puts it - Ponting past his use-by-date...

Image of the year

Jacques Kallis tries to evade a bouncer from Sreesanth

A batsman from a country other than the one whose players cannot handle bouncers hopping to tackle a bouncer bowled by a bowler from a country which doesn't have a history of producing genuine fast bowlers.
Whatever be the result of the series, this image shall reside in the memories of all cricket fans across the globe. Hats off to the photographer who took the shot at the right time. 

End of a decade

Good bye 2009.
Welcome 2010..

2010 is not just starting of a new year, but also the beginning of a new decade..
An eventful decade in cricket it was, the 2000s  ..

Decade started badly-
Match fixing scandal.. Hansie Cronje held for the same and later mysteriously died in a copter crash.. But his revelation put many cricketer's life in jeopardy.. Indian bookmakers were the main culprit.. Md.Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja were banned from playing cricket..

At this time, Sachin was offered captaincy once again and he took over as he had no other option.. His absence due to injury, meant Ganguly stepped in.. That initiated a series of changes and India started winning abroad.. Fresh legs were introduced and Ganguly led the way phenomenally in the new decade ..

2000-
Sharjah was a favorite ground.. Every now and then there used to be a triangular series there.. Aussies had a indoor cricket stadium in Melbourne.. SA and AUS played 3 ODIs which had one tied match..
ICC knock out trophy- India had to beat AUS and SA to earn a spot in finals and they did just that.. Youth power, Yuvi, Zak contributing immensely. India lost the finals though to Chris Cairns's brilliant 100..

2001-
A year that Indians wont forget for their life..
Aus landed in India to continue their winning streak (15 tests), this was called final frontier.. They won in Mumbai. India were following on in Kolkata.. Enter Laxman and Dravid, they batted for more than a day.. India declared late on 5th day and a magic from Bhajji led India to a win..

India finally bid good bye to red ball 50 over game.. Sachin scored 10,000th run.. 

At around 140 for 5 , chasing 320 odd for win, India had its back to the walls. Yet another series final,(Indian team was famous for reaching finals of the tournaments they featured in and not winning the finals), yet another loss we thought.. Md.Kaif's parents went to a theatre to watch cinema, not realising what they were going to miss.. Kaif and Yuvraj steered India to a remarkable win against ENG and dada waved his shirt from the Lord's balcony..

A great West Indian fast bowler, Walsh picked up his 500th wicket as he trapped Kallis in front of the stumps..

2002-
ICC Champions trophy in Srilanka- India joint winners with Lanka..
Sachin scored 29th 100 in tests to equal Sir Don.
India's last tour before world cup, to NZ was a nightmare.. Played on green tops Indians hardly won a game..

2003-
ICC cricket world cup in SA.. India started poorly.. Fans back home pelted stones at the cricketer's homes.. Sachin appealed for calm.. From there on India performed like they had done never before.. Sachin's 98 against Pakistan is memorable, a six of Andy Caddick that went out of the stadium.. Kenya's emergence, reached semis.. Ponting 140 in the finals..

Thrilling run chase from West Indies! after lara departed no one gave Windies a chance but 100s from Chanderpaul and Sarwan (the famous heated exchange between Sarwan and McGrath was in this innings) gave them a chance. Omari Banks and Drakes set up a mammoth 418 run chase to defeat Aussies..

India went to Aus, a 100 from captain dada (141) in Brisbane set things up for the series.. India drew level 1-1 in the series.. Laxman and Dravid once again were the key players..

2004-

Windies won the ICC Champions trophy defeating England in the finals (who have no cups to their credit).. Pics of Bradshaw and Browne still etched in memory..
India resumed ties with Pakistan, and toured Pakistan.. Will be remembered for Viru's 309 in Multan.. India won on Pakistan soil after ages..
India planned a return series hosting Australia.. Biggest ever loss,  342 runs in Nagpur.. Stand in captain Gilchrist celebrated the win in the final frontier..

the year that was

2009 was an eventful year for many reasons.

ICC Champions trophy held after a long gap.
ICC T20 world cup second edition.
The "death" of ODI or the prediction of it.
Rise of India
Fall of Australia
Windies Fiasco
ASHES

The year started of with back to back SA-AUS series. SA won the edition in Australia and Australia won in SA.. 6 matches stood 3-3 at the end. Rather than saying Australia won in SA, it would not be incorrect if we say Mitchell Johnson won in SA.. He was the lone performer with ball and bat in the series and announced himself as the next all-rounder. Dale Steyn's performance with the bat will also be remembered for a long time..

There was a back to back ENG vs WI series too. Windies winning the home series and England in their home series. Windies showed no interest in the England tour that prompted the greats to withdraw them from the T20 world cup that was to follow their English summer.

Pakistan played back to back series against Lankans.. The home series in Pakistan saw the worst ever terrorist attack on the visiting Lankan team that injured many players. A torrid time to go through for those involved.. The return tour after the attacks, went Lanka's way..

New Zealand showcased an one-man show- Daniel Vettori.. He scored a test 100 in Sri Lankan soil and showed great determination. They came close to winning but never won a single match in the series.

A year of back to back series- Bangladesh and Zimbabwe competed fiercely in 5 ODI series.. The series saw Hamilton Mazakadza score heavily and create a record for highest aggregate in a 5 match series. Charles Coventry almost broke the record for the highest individual score in ODIs. 194* is rated higher than 194 out, so officially Coventry is the highest run scorer.

India won a series in Newzealand after ages.. 1-0 was the result and India completed the tour with some amazing play in the ODIs as well...

Windies lost to Bangladesh handing the latter their first ever test series win.. Windies lost a majority of their players to a ongoing contract crisis.. A 2nd string Windies side was captained by a hopeless player and they dint even look like posing a threat to Bangladesh who gleefully went away with a win..


ICC T20 was a bitter experience for India, who were bounced out.. Windies showed remarkable enthusiasm and courage and went all the way to semis.. They lost the semis- a total team effort... Lanka went to finals on the back of Dilshan's amazing knocks and good bowling.. Pakistan was immensely impressive, a dynamic leader in Younus Khan stepped up and Pak lifted the T20 world cup much deservedly..

ICC Champions trophy revived the concept of ODIs.. High TV ratings proved that if the quality of cricket is good then people do tune into ODI cricket.. Quite a lot of matches went to the wire.. The catch Younus Khan dropped made a big news and the dirty match fixing came into picture again.. Pakistan in the wrong side of things once again, unfortunately.. An exhibition of reverse swing from Rana Naved saw Aussie struggle to win and that made India exit from the Champions trophy too..

ASHES was the next big highlight this year, England won it.. Monty Panesar and James Anderson dug it out in Cardiff, the 1st match. ENG never looked back.. Johnson was not in good form and that hurt them a lot. Though, statistically Aussies were far better yet bizarre thing was they never capitulated on the big moments and Ponting had lost the Ashes twice on England soil..

40 odd tests and 250 ODIs and quite a few T20s made up this year..

Wait !! something is missing..

IPL and CL T20 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Modi never makes anything without creating sufficient noise. (sufficient??!!) General elections in India meant that IPL had to be rescheduled and revised but the govt did not seem to agree with Modi. And what does Modi do? Shift INDIAN premier league to SA.. "SA have embraced the concept of IPL and its a huge success", this was a signature statement that either prefixed or was a post fix to any answer that Modi gave to a question that did not even require him to say that. A dull IPL..

CL T20 opened avenues. Many fringe players get noticed but the response wasn't encouraging enough.. The people being unaware of the players and teams was a major reason. It meant that they couldn't associate themselves with a team apart from the IPL ones.. Trinidad and Tobago showed that cricket is still alive in Windies and it needs a professional management to improve standards..

boring draw

Draw.............. Dreaded word in test matches..

Dead Pitch, slow poison to test matches.. Why bother supporting the idea of a Test championship when you're doing your best to kill off the oldest form of the game?

DRAW is a special feature of the tests.. A team must lose all wickets to give an outright win to the opposition.. 99-9 chasing 400 for win is also a draw..

Some of the most remembered test matches have been great drawn games.. The most recent being the nail biting finish at Cardiff in Ashes.. Panesar and Anderson had batted out almost an hour to ensure a draw in the 1st test match against Aussies which was considered equal to a win with the crowd roaring when the umpires called off play at the end of the stipulated time..

As far as I can remember, in Australia India has drawn a game in Gabba 2003, Sydney 2004, Sydney 2008.. I think those are the only 3 drawn games, or SAF may have drawn a game sometime.. Such is the result oriented pitches they have been producing over the past 5-6 years..

In England and New Zealand, the draws are mostly decided by wet conditions and rains..

Astonishingly, England since Jan 01,2004 has played in 42 tests and in the same time the busiest country India has featured in 27 home tests only.. 11 of the 42 tests have been a draw in England..  7 of those have been due to time wasted by bad light or rain or wet out field.. 2 instances of close calls, when India had lost 9 wickets and MS Dhoni helped India save the Lord's test match, the famous Ashes match where Lee and McGrath saw off the final few overs..

Ironically, majority of the draws have been in the tour opener at Lord's, London - 6 ..

West Indies also have 12 draws in their home..

one due to Lara's mammoth 400*..

double centuries from chanderpaul and Hinds and rain stoppage ended a match in draw..

Gayle storm of 317, 3 more from WI; 4 centuries from SA and they still had time to play 30 overs in 2nd innings.. Ironically, for SA all 11 players bowled in the match..

last wicket was not dislodged on 2 occasions.. rain on 3 occasions.

Largely, West Indies has been a batting paradise.. Scores of 580s, 600s, 750s have been the culprits in draws.. 5 of the draws has been against England..

12 draws in INDIA too, adding the draw in Ahmedabad test against Lanka 2 days back..

7 of those have been on dead pitches.. Centuries galore.. No holding back..
2 no play possible on 2-3days due to rains in Chennai.. Dead wickets assisted by bad light in the remaining 3 cases..
These 12 draws have been among the worst games ever played, mindless batting exhibitions on surfaces where the bowlers were neutered the moment the new ball lost its shine.
The pitch looked good enough to last another week- was a common comment..  Ganguly in his article has written that another test match could be played on the Motera wicket ,Ahmedabad after Murali could do no damage on the 5th day too..

There's nothing wrong with a surface being batsman-friendly initially, as long as it deteriorates over the course of a game.. There's nothing wrong in a pitch being spinner friendly either, but the match referees take it the other way that the pitch is a minefield.. What if all wickets were taken by the faster bowlers, is the pitch to bouncy ?? Why not call off then!!

This is a series where the No. 1 ranking is at stake. You'd think that results mattered. India are content with being world leaders: at signing TV deals and producing sub-standard pitches..

shane Warne come back

ALL stars XI take on Australian XI tomorrow in an exhibition match..

Warne will join up with his old team-mates Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden when they appear in an Australian Cricketers' Association XI captained by Warne at the Gabba on Sunday.

Australian Cricketers' Association XI Shane Warne (capt), Travis Birt, Lee Carseldine, Adam Gilchrist, Daniel Harris, Matthew Hayden, Jason Krejza, Rhett Lockyear, Graham Manou (wk), Glenn McGrath, Nathan Reardon, Nathan Rimmington.

Australian XI Michael Clarke (capt), Cameron White, George Bailey, Brad Haddin (wk), David Hussey, Andrew McDonald, Clint McKay, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Shaun Tait, Adam Voges, David Warner.

LIVE on Star Cricket, 1400 hrs IST.. 

"HOME" series

Pakistan played their "HOME" ODI and T20 series in Abu Dabi and Dubai.. They play "HOME" test series in New Zealand..

Nov 24 -  Nov 28  23:00 GMT	1st Test - New Zealand v Pakistan            University Oval, Dunedin
Dec 3 - Dec 7 23:00 GMT	2nd Test - New Zealand v Pakistan               Basin Reserve, Wellington
Dec 11 -  Dec 15  23:00 GMT	3rd Test - New Zealand v Pakistan             McLean Park, Napier

Pakistan are without their regular test captain, Younis Khan. The side would be led by Mohammad Yousuf, mostly because he is a permanent feature in the side.. Will have to wait and watch if he has the skills or is just a name sake captain..


Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) will be used in the upcoming home Test series against Pakistan. The review system would also be implemented by Australia during the home Test series against West Indies and Pakistan.. Since ICC said that the cost for running this should be borne by the home team or the broadcasters, it is not used in the India-SriLanka series and the SouthAfrica England series..

The tour game has ended in a draw.. Not a great game, a 3 day game.. Fawad Alam continues to impress. Abdur Rauf bowled well and it was good to have a game for Asif.. Tim McIntosh notched up another 100 in the first class circuit..

Teams:

Pakistan:

In Younis' absence, Yousuf will lead.. He will be tested, Younis' return will also depend on the captain and the team's performance.. Aamer would be the bowler to watch out for, he swings the ball and has good pace..

The future of Misbah-ul-Haq as a Test batsman will be decided after the first Test in New Zealand as Pakistan's selectors decided to observe the team's performance.Yousuf had asked for Misbah to fill in Younis' boots, but since already a lot of players are there in NZ the management is not keen to send another one..

Mostly, Gul Aamir and Rauf will be the fast bowlers.. Asif may be considered.. Ajmal or Kaneria will be the spinner.. Kamran, keeper.. Manzoor/Farhat/Butt as openers.. Yousuf, Umar Akmal, Malik middle order.. Faisal Iqbal is making a come back of sorts.. Fawad Alam will be pushing for a slot too..

Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Salman Butt, Khurram Manzoor, Fawad Alam, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Abdur Rauf, Faisal Iqbal, Danish Kaneria, Imran Farhat, Mohammed Aamir, Mohammed Asif, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat, Shoaib Malik.. 

New Zealand:
Vettori, Shane Bond, Grant Elliot, Daniel Flynn, Peter Fulton, Martin Guptill, Tim McIntosh, Brendon Mc Cullum, Chris Martin, Ian o' Brien, Ross Taylor, Darryl Tuffey, Jeetan Patel..

Jeetan will most likely be the no.12 unless Vettori is not fit to play..
Vettori is cleared to play the 1st test.. Notable absence is Kyle Mills who is heading for a shoulder surgery and will e off for 4 months..
Grant Elliot may also sit out.. 4 quickies and Vettori would be enough, no need for another bowling option.. But if he is thought of as a replacement for Jesse Ryder, then he plays and Flynn/Fulton miss out..

New Zealand are tough side to beat at home, Pakistan will do well to win a match.. They certainly have match winners, but will they be able to play well for 5 days is a big question.. Aamir will be the player to watch out for.. Be weary of him..

windies back in action

West Indies are back in action. They have fielded a full strength side..

Windies are touring Australia, it forms the 1st half of the Aussie summer who host Pakistan as the 2nd team later this year..

Date and Time in IST	Game	Venue
NOV 18-21 26 Nov – 30 Nov 05:30 AM	Tour match vs Queensland 1st Test – Australia v West Indies	Brisbane Gabba, Brisbane
4 Dec –  8 Dec 05:30 AM	2nd Test – Australia v West Indies	Adelaide Oval
16 Dec –20 Dec 08:00 AM  Feb 4 04:30 IST	3rd Test – Australia v West  Indies Prime Minister's XI v West Indians	WACA, Perth Manuka Oval, Canberra
Sun 7 Feb (D/N) 08:45 AM	1st ODI – Australia v West Indies	MCG
Tue 9 Feb (D/N) 08:45 AM	2nd ODI – Australia v West Indies	SCG
Fri 12 Feb (D/N) 08:15 AM	3rd ODI – Australia v West Indies	Adelaide Oval
Sun 14 Feb (D/N) 08:45 AM	4th ODI – Australia v West Indies	Gabba
Fri 19 Feb (D/N) 08:45 AM	5th ODI – Australia v West Indies	MCG
Sun 21 Feb 11:30 AM	1st T20I – Australia v West Indies	Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Tue 23 Feb (D/N) 14:05 PM	2nd T20I – Australia v West Indies	SCG

The West Indians ended a difficult tour game on a high when they fought to secure a draw with a committed batting display against Queensland..

Windies were bowled out cheaply for 271. Many were playing their first match in Australia and it can be tough.. The bowling was below par, missing the likes of Jerome Taylor and Darren Powell.. Conceded 617,.. 2nd innings was better though..

With Chris Gayle a major doubt due to his mother's illness in Jamaica, Sarwan and Chanderpaul are likely to have more responsibility and it was the experienced pair who guided the side for much of the day during a 131-run stand..

Sarwan and Chanderpaul scored well in both the innings.. The one who came good was the teen aged Adrian
Barath.. He impressed all with his exploits in the Champions League recently concluded in India where his team Trinidad n Tobago had a dream run.. In the absence of the captain,Gayle,  Travis Dowlin was Barath's partner against Queensland. It is an unfamiliar position for him. He went in No.3 in his two Tests against Bangladesh but his usual slot for Guyana is No.5.

In the 2nd innings, Narsingh Deonaraine was tried out at no.3.. Travis Dowlin played well for his 50..

The real test would be how well the bowlers cope up.. In the past, recent past, they had the likes of Walsh who was economical.. If these bowlers who have no experience at the international level keep leaking runs, then there would be no pressure on the world no.4..

Even though Australia are at no.4 in ICC test rankings, they are sure to dominate the proceedings throughout the series..

Windies will do well to at-least draw a match, that would be the biggest upset..

TEAM :
Australia: Watson, Katich, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, North, Haddin, Johnson, Siddle, Bollinger, Hauritz, Hilfenhaus ..
Clarke is back and so is Haddin.. The toss would be in having a 4th seamer or a spinner.. Watson can be the 4th seamer so having Hauritz would be a good option.. Hilfenhaus may make way for Bollinger who had a great tour of India..

West Indies: Gayle, Dowlin, Barath, Sarwan, Chanderpaul, Deonaraine, Dwyane Bravo, Dinesh Ramdin, Brendon Nash, Sulieman Benn, Ravi Rampual, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor, Darren Sammy, Gavin Tonge..

Gayle has gone back home to be with his ill mother.. Sarwan and Chanderpaul are the only batting hopes.. Barath and Dowlin have to perform well and so should Nash.. Bravo will be useful with his bowling and experience, he has to be cautious in batting and not throw his wicket away.. He will be vulnerable in playing off the front foot..
Bowling is thin, Taylor is sore.. He is the lone bowler with considerable international experience.. Rampaul, Roach will probably form the back up.. Not expecting great performances from them.. Benn is a fast slow bowler, if that makes any sense.. I have never seen his turn the ball.. Sammy is too military medium to find a place in the side with bowling as criteria..
Leather hunt if windies bowl and quick wickets if they bat..

If they show the same fighting spirits as they did in the 2nd innings of the tour match, it would do the test matches a world of good.. Otherwise, test match's future and two tier system for tests will again crop up..

Biggest upset would be if a test is drawn, with no stoppage from weather..

low scoring games

VENUE : SHARJAH
YEAR: 1999


MATCH : SRI LANKA vs PAKISTAN

It was Coca Cola Champions Trophy played among Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka..

West Indies were captained by Lara, Pakistan by Wasim Akram and Sri Lanka by Jayasuriya..

Each team played every other team twice and the top 2 teams went into the finals. Played in the month of October.

The match under consideration is the 3rd match between SriLanka and Pakistan..

Sri Lanka - Atapattu, Kaluwitharana+,Jayasuriya* , Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Chamara Silva, Suresh Perera, Vaas,  Muralitharan,   Zoysa

Pakistan - Saeed Anwar, Amir Sohail ,Inzamam, Yousuf Youhana, Hasan Raja, Moin Khan+, Azhar Mahmood, Razzaq, Akram*, Shoaib Malik, Arshad Khan

Pak won the toss, chose to bat.. Amir Sohail was very slow, both the openers fell after a stand of 37.. From 38 for 2, the repair work was done by Youhana and Inzy; 48 and 42 runs respectively..
They were too slow in scoring these runs, when Inzy was out the scored read 131 for 3 in 35 overs..
From there on it was a batting collapse for Pakistanis..
Arnold ,Vaas and Murali took 2 wickets each.
Murali was miserly giving just 22 in 10 overs.. Arnold bowled well.. SRL never allowed Pakistan to dominate..

Sri Lanka came out to bat chasing just 197 from 50 overs.. The batting order was changed. Kalu opened with Atapattu.. Kalu in his typical form and style notched up a brilliant 50. The pitch seemed to behave differently when he was out there.. Arnold was sent up the order after Atapattu got out..

A match winning partnership from of 115 between them was ended by Razzaq.. De Silva walked in.. When Arnold got out, the score read 173 for 3 in 40 overs..

Kalu scored 75 and Arnold 61..

they needed just 24 from ten overs with eight wickets remaining before Arnold got out..

Sultan of swing returned, bowled the 42nd over to dismiss Jayasuriya for 1.. 174 for 4..

Akram bowled the 44th over and this time bowled de Silva for 9.. 177 for 5..

Reverse swing is something that Pakistan always are proud exponents of.. From the likes of Imran to Wasim to Waqar to Aqib Javed to Rana Naved etc...

This time the king of reverse swing was Razzaq.. Razzaq in 1999 was at the peak of his bowling career, bowled with a lot of pace and swung the ball.. He edged past Azhar Mahmood to retain his place over Azhar in the days to come..

7 overs, 1 wicket for 28 were his figures when he bowled 46th over..
45.5 Jyawardene was caught by Moin off Razzaq for 1.. 186 for 6
45.6 Perera bowled. 186 for 7

Chamara scored of the 47th over..
On the last ball of 48th over, Sri Lanka had scored 194 for 7.. Razzaq struck again getting rid of Vaas..
194 for 8..

Only batsman left was Chamara with only Murali and Zoysa left.. 3 runs to win, 2 overs..

SRL scored 2 runs of this over.. Murali was run out in the last ball of the 49th over.. 196 for 9...

Last over, 1 run needed.. 1 wicket in hand..

1st ball of the 50th over, Chamara was bowled by Razzaq..

Match ended in a tie..

In an astonishing nine-ball spell, Abdur Razzaq took four for nought to snatch a tie from what seemed a certain Sri Lankan victory.But when Razzaq returned to bowl three of the last five overs, the Sri Lankan collapse had already started. Even so, with 14 required from 30 balls and five wickets left, they still looked safe. he sliced through the lower order with unplayable reverse swing, hitting the stumps three times to complete a career-best five for 31.

sachin at 20

Today, Sachin finishes 20 years in the International circuit..


ST holds all records at stake from batting perspective.. Be it the highest run getter in tests, ODIs, maximum number of 100s in ODI and tests, highest individual score for India in ODIs etc.....................................

20-20.. Lets try listing 20 best memories of ST in these 20 years..

Sachin Tendulkar has been playing top-class cricket for 20 years and he's still producing blistering innings, still looking hungry, still demolishing attacks, still a prized wicket, still a proud competitor. He has not merely been around for two decades. From his first outing to his most recent effort, a stunning 175 in Hyderabad, he has been a great batsman. Longevity counts amongst his strengths. Twenty years! It's a heck of a long time, and it's gone in the blink of an eye.From an attacking batsman in the 90s to a class player in the 2000s, the transformation has been brilliant. The one batsman who knows his body, he changed his style of batting to suit the needs very quickly.. The 100s of late, barring the 175, has been classy.. At no point we would feel that he is scoring, yet so nonchalantly he notches up that elusive 3 figure mark..

1. FIRST SIGHT
            Sachin's 600+ stand with Vinod Kambli in the school level competition.. Playing for Sharadashram VidyaMandir, ST and Kambli each scored triple hundred.. It was apparently broken 15 years later..

2. FIRST TEST
           This day, that year.. Exactly 20yrs ago at Karachi ST making his debut had to face the likes of Akram, Waqar, Imran Khan in his first test match, getting hit on the head. Yet, that kid was ready to come onto the front foot.. He scored a 50 in his 2nd test match itself..

3.FIRST 100 IN OZ
           Everybody talks of this as his best 100.. Setting: Perth,'92 .. Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes, Mike Whitney and Paul Reiffel formed the attack on the bouncy Perth wicket.. Sachin scored 114..

4. LAST OVER- HERO CUP 1993
          I remember this, South Africa needed 6 runs of the last over and ST was handed the ball.. The game was in Calcutta, Eden Gardens.. ST tied them down to just 3 runs and India advanced to the finals.. Finals was against Windies where Kumble took 6-12 to ensure an Indian win..

5. FIRST TIME OPENING THE INNINGS
           Sachin in a recent interview spoke about this. Sidhu was injured and couldn't play.. ST was till then batting at 6. He asked the captain and coach to give him one chance to bat up the order and that he was confident of doing well. If he were to fail, he would never come back again.. He was confident of hitting over the in field in the initial field restriction overs.. Sachin scored 82 of 49 balls against New Zealand.. Opening slot was his ever since..

6. TITAN CUP BANGALORE and MUMBAI- 1996
           Sachin played amazingly for his 88 but got out at the wrong time, India needed 52 runs with 2 wickets in hand.. Srinath and Kumble, local lads set up the win.. The match went almost to midnight, ST won the man of the match award.. In Mumbai, Ind vs SA finals.. Sachin held aloft a round shield..

7. WORLD CUP -1996
           India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka hosted the 96 Wills cricket world cup.. India reached the semi finals purely on Sachin's brilliance.. With 523 runs at 87.16, is the highest scorer in the World Cup..

8. WARNE'S NIGHTMARE 
           Shane Warne had nightmares bowling to Sachin.. India vs Australia test series in 1998.. India won that series 2-1.. He employed slog sweeps and deposited Warne over mid wicket for six time and again..


9. SHARJAH 1997/98
           The one knock that no one will forget.. Two centuries back to back, 143 to ensure India is through to the finals of the Coca Cola cup.. 134 in the finals to ensure India wins it.. It was the first time a cricket tournament in Sharjah did not feature Pakistan. Both the 100s came against Australia and he single handedly won the matches for India.

10. HAILED AS/BY THE DON
            Don Bradman's 90th birthday, Sachin and Warne were invited.. Don said Sachin's batting reminded him of his own batting.. The visuals of Don and Sachin playing a straight drive were shown over and over again in all TV channels..

11. BACK STRAIN and a HEARTBREAK

            Indo-Pak series after a long time, India needed 271 to win in the Chennai test.. Sachin was battling a severe back ache but batted superbly to score 136.. The famous lap sweep came during this test match.. Chennai was witnessing yet another classic from ST.. But a heartbreak was waiting for him, India slumped to defeat.. He was awarded man of the match but did not come to receive it as he was crying in the dressing room..

12. 1999 WORLD CUP
            India were in England to play the 1999 world cup and as usual the hopes rested on Sachin's shoulders.. There was a sad news, his father passed away.. He flew back to India to do the last rites.. Surprisingly, Sachin came back to wear India colours and played for India.. That was amazing spirit.. He scored 140 against Kenya on his return..

13. 2001 SOUTH AFRICA SERIES
             It was the series where ST started playing a new shot.. Upper cut over the slips to negotiate the bouncers.. The series where the match referee was Mike Dennes.. ( Remember!) Sachin and others were called for ball tampering and faced one test ban.. The 3rd test match was an unofficial one, and the star played..

14.  STUMPED FOR THE FIRST TIME
             England and Ashley Giles adopted negative strategy bowling down the leg side to tie Sachin down.. It was their only way to get him out they thought, as they had no faith in themselves to get the master out by fair means..


15. 2003 WORLD CUP, 98 vs PAKISTAN
            2003 world cup began badly with a loss to Australia and scrapped to a win over Holland.. Indian fans were fuming, burnt effigies of the players, pelted stones at their homes in India, painted them black.. Sachin came out and addressed the media asking fans to maintain calm and giving a hope that India would do well.. Under Ganguly, India had a great time in the world cup.. Scores 673 runs at 61.18 in the World Cup, taking India to within a win of the world crown. His 98 against Pakistan in an exceptionally anticipated match is one of the best knocks by an Indian in a World Cup. Attacked the Pakistan bowlers from the 1st ball.. Hoisted Akhtar  for a six over 3rd man.. Australia are champions, but he is named Man of the Series.

16. ROBBED OF 200
            Dravid declared when Sachin was on 194. ST for the 1st time expressed his displeasure in the public.. India went on to win the series, 309 from Viru in Multan.. Ganguly axed. The series saw everything, also India's first series win in Pakistan soil..

17. CENTURIES TO REMEMBER
             A patient 241 in Sydney 2004, minimal off side shots, leading to a draw in the test match and the series..No. 35 against Sri Lanka in Delhi took him past Gavaskar.. His first century in more than two years and 19 Tests, against opposition other than Bangladesh, SCG 2008.. Coveted 100s in the finals..
CB series final, India reached finals thanks to brilliant captaincy from MSD. Ponting wrongly talked of not needing a 3rd final and Sachin obliged.. 114 in Sydney in a 240 run chase, a 91 in the 2nd final ensured India win without having to play the 3rd finals as per Ponting's desire.

18: TWIN RECORDS
            Drives Shane Warne down the ground to score a significant single signaling an entry in the 10000 club.. Celebrates it by scoring 139.. From there on every 1000 run mark, he is the first. Latest one being first one to score 17000 runs..
            Steers Peter Siddle down to third man to become the highest run getter in tests going past Lara.. Hails this as his best record as it took him 19 years to get there.. Scored 12000 in tests..

19. 100 IN CHASING
            Mumbai carnage 26/11.. England's tour was cut short and India couldn't complete a 7-0 whitewash.. It was great of England to come back to play the tests.. Chennai again.. Chennai crowd are blessed indeed.. Yet another class act from Sachin. This time it wasn't a smashing innings.. India's 387 run chase was set up by Viru's brilliance overnight and on the 5th day after quick wickets Sachin and Yuvraj's partnership saw India through.. A paddle sweep that took India to victory and Sachin to his 100..

20. 175 vs AUSTRALIA, HYDERABAD
             May be he has a record in this too.. Maximum heartbreaks after an amazing knock.. Chasing 350 runs to win isn't easy by any standards.. Sachin had not scored big for sometime and a 100 was beckoning.. He chose this stage.. Scored half of the target himself.. Scintillating performance, words will do no good to describe this knock.. Salute the master..

Sri Lanka's first

On Wednesday, February 17, 1982, Sri Lanka became cricket's eighth Test-playing country when Bob Willis bowled to Bandula Warnapura..

Warnapura won the toss and elected to bat first.. He was the first SriLankan wicket to fall too, when he got out for 2 runs giving a catch to Gower off Bob Willis..

England finished their tour of India and landed in Sri Lanka who were then granted a full member status.. 6 months after the status had been awarded to Lanka , this match was played to commemorate the entry of a new nation to the test match field..

The last team to join ICC full member status was Pakistan in 1952 ; so Lanka's entry was something special as it happened 30 years later and there were doubts of the next team getting test status any time soon was far fledged..

Warnapura was handed an un balanced side with just de Mel as a medium pace option and the rest spinners.. The test match also the debut of a young batting star in Ranatunga.. Ranatunga went on to be one of the toughest and strongest captain of the sub continent, lifted 1996 50 over world cup Sri Lanka's first ever major win..

After early loss of wickets, Ranatunga and Ranjan Madugalle notched up 50s.. The 1st day saw many firsts- first toss won, first to be hit on chest, first to get out, first catch to be dropped in an Anglo-lankan match, first boundary, first six, first 50 by a Lankan etc..

Slow left arm spin of Underwood ended Lankan first outing with the bat at 218. The English who followed batted uncharacteristically losing quick wickets to the spinners and the lone medium pacer de Mel. With the exception of Gower who made a sparkling 89, no other batsman played well and England lead Lanka by just 5 runs..

In the 2nd innings , Botham and Willis bowled very few overs and the captain handed the ball to the spinners.. Sri Lanka batted brilliantly and were on 167 for 3.. 

They however lost 7 wickets for 8 runs.. The pitch was a spinner's dream.. At last, the match became one of professionals v amateurs..

Target of 171 seemed gettable .. Tavare and Gower steadied the ship after an early loss of Cook for 0.. England cruised past the target with 7 wickets in the kitty..

The newcomers had held their own -- more -- for three days, but let it slip on the fourth.


This marked the entry of a new nation into test cricket.. They won the world over with some unique and special talent.. Each player who stepped into the fold was unique and was the talking point of the world then.. May it be Warnapura, Roy Dias, Wettimuny, Ranatunga, De Silva, Kaluwitharana, Jayasuriya, Muralitharan to the present day Malinga, Mendis each were unique..

Within no time they surprised us with a win in the 1996 world cup..

world cup 2011 fixtures

Group A -                Group B -

Australia,                    India,

Pakistan,                    South Africa,

New Zealand,            England,

Sri Lanka,                  West Indies,

Zimbabwe,                 Bangladesh,

Canada,                     Ireland,

Kenya.                       Netherlands.

FIXTURES - 

INDIA

Feb 19     1st match -   India v Bangladesh    Mirpur

Feb 27     11th match - India v England          Kolkata  

Mar 6      21st match - India v Ireland            Bangalore 

Mar 9      25th match - India v Netherlands   Delhi 

Mar 12    29th match - India v South Africa   Nagpur

Mar 20    42nd match -India v West Indies    Chennai

SRI LANKA

Feb 20      3rd match -   Sri Lanka v Canada (Hambantota)

Feb 26      10th match - Pakistan v Sri Lanka (Colombo)

Mar 1       14th match - Kenya v Sri Lanka (Colombo) 

Mar 5       20th match - Australia v Sri Lanka (Colombo)

Mar 10     26th match - Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe (Pallekele)

Mar 18     37th match - New Zealand v Sri Lanka Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

NEW ZEALAND

Feb 20   2nd match -   Kenya v New Zealand          ,Chennai 

Feb 25   8th match -    Australia v New Zealand      ,Nagpur

Mar 4    18th match -  New Zealand v Zimbabwe    ,Ahmedabad 

Mar 8    24th match -  New Zealand v Pakistan (Pallekele) 

Mar 13  30th match -  Canada v New Zealand ,Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Mar 18  37th match -  New Zealand v Sri Lanka ,Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

AUSTRALIA

Feb 21   4th match -   Australia v Zimbabwe           Ahmedabad   

Feb 25   8th match -   Australia v New Zealand      Nagpur

Mar 5   20th match -  Australia v Sri Lanka           Colombo
Mar 13  31st match - Australia v Kenya                 Bangalore 

Mar 16  35th match - Australia v Canada               Bangalore 

Mar 19 39th match -  Australia v Pakistan             Colombo

ENGLAND

Feb 22    5th match -   England v Netherlands    Nagpur 

Feb 27    11th match - India v England                Kolkata 

Mar 2     15th match - England v Ireland            Bangalore 

Mar 6     22nd match -England v South Africa   Chennai

Mar 11   28th match - Bangladesh v England    Chittagong  

Mar 17   36th match - England v West Indies   Chennai 

PAKISTAN

Feb 23    6th match -   Kenya v Pakistan                (Hambantota)
Feb 26   10th match -  Pakistan v Sri Lanka         (Colombo)
Mar 3    17th match -  Canada v Pakistan             (Colombo)
Mar 8    24th match -  New Zealand v Pakistan    (Pallekele)
Mar 14  32nd match - Pakistan v Zimbabwe       (Pallekele)
Mar 19  39th match -  Australia v Pakistan         (Colombo)

WEST INDIES

Feb 24   7th match -    South Africa v West Indies     Delhi  

Feb 28   12th match -  Netherlands v West Indies     Delhi

Mar 4    19th match -  Bangladesh v West Indies      Mirpur 

Mar 11  27th match -  Ireland v West Indies,            Chandigarh  

Mar 17  36th match -  England v West Indies            Chennai

Mar 20  42nd match - India v West Indies                 Chennai

SOUTH AFRICA 

Feb 24   7th match -    South Africa v West Indies ,     Delhi 

Mar 3    16th match -  Netherlands v South Africa      Chandigarh

Mar 6    22nd match - England v South Africa             Chennai

Mar 12  29th match -  India v South Africa  ,               Nagpur

Mar 15  34th match -  Ireland v South Africa,              Kolkata

Mar 19  40th match -  Bangladesh v South Africa,       Mirpur 

BANGLADESH

Feb 19   1st match -   Bangladesh v India                     Mirpur

Feb 25   9th match   - Bangladesh v Ireland                 Mirpur  

Mar 4    19th match - Bangladesh v West Indies         Mirpur  

Mar 11  28th match - Bangladesh v England               Chittagong  

Mar 14  33rd match - Bangladesh v Netherlands        Chittagong  

Mar 19  40th match - Bangladesh v South Africa,       Mirpur

Feb 28    13th match -  Canada v Zimbabwe,                 Nagpur  

Mar 7     23rd match - Canada v Kenya,                       Delhi

Mar 18   38th match -  Ireland v Netherlands,              Kolkata

Mar 20   41st match -  Kenya v Zimbabwe,                   Kolkata

Mar 23	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,    Mirpur
Mar 24	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC    (Colombo)
Mar 25	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,    Mirpur
Mar 26	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,   Ahmedabad

Tue Mar 29	Semi Final - TBC v TBC      (Colombo)
Wed Mar 30	Semi Final - TBC v TBC      Chandigarh

Apr 2

Final - TBC v TBC Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai