Golden Century on Centurion!!!!

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S  - Simply
A - Amazing
C - Cricketing
H - Hero of
I  - Indian
N - Native

Congratulations to the God of cricket on scoring 50th Ton of Test Cricket!! The milestone nobody has achieved in the past and very few might achieve in the future. ( Pointing is on 39, Kallis is on 38)

What can you say or write about this greatest of the great cricketer!

Some funny tweets about Laxman

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#Flash: Home Ministry has issued advisory for all people named Laxman against traveling to Australia

#I wont be surprised if Laxman is made honorary Australian citizen: better to have him on your side than a constant thorn in the flesh...

#I hereby declare that I am starting proceedings to find Laxman Janmabhoomi so we can build a Laxman temple.

#Last week belonged to Ram. This week belongs to Laxman

#Lets demolish the hospital where Laxman was born n build a bhavya Laxman mandir!

#aussies will have answer for everyone but for vvs laxman(very very special) they crumble and cry like a child .

#Sydney se 50-50 kos door gaon me jab koi cricketer rota hai..toh uski maa kehti hai beta chup hoja nahi toh laxman aa jaega

#Dear Kalmadi, if u have an extra gold medal pls give it to VVS Laxman, he deserves!! And a Silver to Ishant and a Bronze to Raina for running

#Gandhiji's last words were - 'Hey Ram', Ponting's last words would be 'Hey laxman'

#The day VVS LAXMAN retires from Test cricket, it will be a National holiday in Australia

Aashish

VVS Done it for India Again!!

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India Vs Australia Test Matches, its been always a very exciting battle since a decade, but this was the most thrilling one amongst the matches ever played and finally India won the match with 1 wicket, thanks to the brilliant innings by Very Very Special VVS Laxman on the 5th day with 73 not out in just 79 balls.

Laxman, who was injured with back pain, came to the bat when game was well balanced, but after departure of Sachin, Dhoni and Harbhajan, it looked almost impossible to win as still 92 runs were required and 2 wickets were in hand. But, Laxman shown his class again, (you remember he scored a blistering century on the 5th day against Sri Lanka to win a Match for India very recently), kept cool and batting with a runner, he put a match winning partnership of 81 runs for the 9th wicket with tail ender Ishant Sharma.

Shame shame..!!!

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What am I supposed to write over the stupid incident that happened on the field of cricket? It's a shame for entire cricketing world and rather it is a crime on the cricketing ground, if found as done deliberately. You must have understood the subject of this post. In simple terms, Sehwag was denied a hundred by Sri Lankans because of their ill-minded-game-strategy which has no essence of game spirit or rather they don't know what the game spirit is all about.

For those, who are yet surprised, and want to know what the hell has happened, I will just brief you a bit. India needed 1 run to win, Sehwag was on strike on 99 runs. But Randiv, the bowler at that time, bowled the "historical" NO BALL. The story doesn't end here. Sehwag hit that ball out of park and guess what? The final score card-the official scorecard shows Sehwag 99* (Not out) only. Questioning why? Because (as explained by many experts on TV shows etc) the no ball was bowled first before the six was hit, and that's why India won before the six was hit. And once ou score last run, you can't score in further runs obviously.

Time for Tests in flood lights?

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Consider yourself. You have bought a  Cricket Match ticket. You enter the stadium in the evening and suddenly see the players in white jersey and maybe pink ball. And suppose the score board says 3rd day of Test Match between India and Australia... You will get a shock, right??? But this will be no longer a dream!!!

The crowd for the Test Cricket is decreasing, thanks to the faster versions of the game T20 and ODIs. The  ICC and MCC and all Cricket Gurus are thinking about the invention in the Test Cricket that is Day and Night Test Cricket. The committee members like great Steve Waugh strongly advocated the idea saying, "I think it would be great," he said. "There's always resistance to change because it takes people out of their comfort zone, but I think back to World Series Cricket back when I was a kid. It ignited the spark among the spectators, and as players it's exciting. Like Twenty20 cricket, it would be something new and challenging, and as a player I'd really embrace that." The former Australian captain has hit the bull's eye.

"We should not delay in presenting day-night Test cricket as an option for those Test-playing countries that are struggling to attract an audience," John Stephenson, the MCC assistant secretary was quoted by a cricket website as saying, "We say this form of the game is viable now. We proved it in Abu Dhabi with the four-day game under lights."

As spectators, it will be even better for us. Instead of watching the very boring Saans-Baahu and stupid TV shows, Cricket Lovers can have all the time to watch the Tests in the home or at the stadium in the evening- nights. And note it down, this new format can be more exciting that the ODIs. Men in White Jersey, Pink ball and no one is in hurry to score as if he wants to bat all the night! :D

The only negatives are that this concept is new and thus out of comfort zone for many. And still, more research has to be done over the format. But considering the statistics that only 11% of cricket watched in India was Test matches- the country with the highest cricket fans..! And if one trick is not working, the management has to find out the different version to pull back the crowd, fans to the cricket field, otherwise, Test Cricket will lose its ground...

So, what's your opinion on the Day and Night Test Matches? Will you bat for D/N Tests? I will..!

By Abhijeet.

Asia won, next is World to win..!

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It took 15 years for Indian Cricket Team to claim the Asia Cup again. The last time we celebrated the Asia Cup win was way back in 1995 at Sharjah. Since then, India lost to Sri Lanka on last 3 occasions when the team reached the finals ie.- 1998, 2004, 2008. But Asia Cup 2010 is thankfully exception to the poor record of the team in the finals. This can be regarded as the most significant victory after India beat Australia in their own yard.

The rivarly

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It is more than Lights Camera and Action, this is better than any suspense story, it is raises the pressure on heart than any other live action, the contest is more thrilling than the Ashes. Yes, when it is India vs Pakistan encounter, it is more than just a game- it is war on ground with ball and bat as weapons and intensified exchanges of words as the mind games..!

The two teams had met around 10 months before in the Champions  Trophy, when Pakistan beat India. This time, Pakistan was in such a situation, that if they lose, they would go out of the tournament. So, Pakistan was playing for survival and pride. India was playing to settle the accounts of Champions Trophy.

LBW: Howzz Daat...?

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Leg Before Wicket aka LBW is one of the most complicated rules of the cricket. Normally we cannot guess whether the LBW appeal will be accepted (given out) or rejected (given not-out). One of my relatives recently asked me if I know this rule and then I decided to share it with you all as well. The rule is complicated as I told you but I have tried to make it as simple and easy to understand as possible, of course, with the help of diagrams. I will finally make you understand what should be given out and what not!

Life is like Cricket

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A few days ago, my school mate who lives in a metro city now, came back to our town. He said to me, "yaar, chotya cityt bore hotay re..." (It is boring to be in small city). I said, "pan tu tar ethech rahat hotas aani teva tula nahi bore vatale" (You were living here a few years ago, you did not feel the same then..!). The conversation then shifted to more interesting subjects as you can imagine, but the point remained in my mind... And then I realized, there is greater analogy between Life and Cricket!

WIDE BALL wide ball

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I have been following cricket for around 2 decades and I came across various rules of cricket. Few were easy to understand, few were not. But one thing, I am not able to understand is the differences  between the wide balls! That's the subject of this post, in fact a question to all of you regarding this. Why there is difference in lengths of wide balls?

Downs and downs..!

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"There are ups and downs in sports...", "That was not our day...", "It is uncertain...", "Wins and losses are part of game..."-- All this is true but up to certain extent. Though I am not a critic of Indian Cricket Team, I cannot resists myself from doing that

Super Raina!

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Suresh Super Raina will be the correct name for Raina these days. He is batting superb. Importantly, he is able to carry the form he had shown in IPL to ICC World T20.

Raina played the winning knock against the South Africa (SA). But it wasn't all easy in the start as it may look in the score card! Raina came almost in first over. The pitch was bouncy. The ball was new- hard. It was swinging. Dale Steyn was bowling in the very good areas and so were the others and hence they had already picked up Murli Vijay.

ICC T-20 World Cup: Keep your fingures crossed..!

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Guys & girls, (if this were a Test World Cup, I would have greeted you "Ladies & Gentlemen..!") get ready to experience another T-20 series. And no doubt, it is far bigger than IPL just because the nations will fight against each other...

I have already used a phrase- "The game of uncertainties" in last post. But let me today explain it a little more. MS Dhoni said in a press conference, 'India will not take Afghanistan lightly'. Captain of one mighty side is saying about a debutant squad that it is not a weak team. That must not be 'so kind of Dhoni'. There must be some X-factor in back of the minds of every captain.

What T-20 format has done is,

The game of uncertainties..!

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Well, due to my busy schedule in academics, I could not post in last week or so. But today I take this opportunity to post the happenings going on & off the cricket boundary.

The Semifinals

Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore was the first semifinal. Both the teams are my favorite teams. But as it was a war between them, I had to go with MI. And thankfully MI proved their worth & beat RCB by a convincing margin to reach at the IPL-3 Final. In the second semifinal between Chennai Super Kings & Deccan Chargers, I was expecting a very cut-throat competition. But it wasn't to be! DC was dismissed to a low total & CSK registered their second entry in the IPL finals out of the three seasons. It was all set on 25th for the Mega Final Between MI vs CSK.

Meanwhile, the match on 24th for the Number 3 position- vital for the entry in the Champion's League- was the biggest disappointment for an IPL or T-20 cricket fan. DC displayed a very poor show & RCB grabbed the situation to make sure they are not the one left out for the Champion's League.

37 years of the God's birth!

It was Sachin Tendulkar's 37th birthday on 24th April. The master is

IPL Semifilalists...

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It took to the last league match for the IPL fans to know who's gonna make it to the semifinals. Though MI was comfortably into the semifinals & KKR never looked like getting in, the remaining 3 seats for semis were really battled for. Finally, those were MI, DC, CSK & RCB who made it to the knock-out round.

The last two matches between CSK vs Kings XI Punjab and DD vs DC were the deciding games as to who will make it to the best four teams.

The first match saw the heroics of Captain Cool MS Dhoni. He finished the game for CSK and I was fortunate to see
the last two overs in which he changed the points table of IPL-3. He made 29 runs in 2 overs- in fact 10 balls.He

Pune IPL team- And the fun continues...!

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After the announcement of the two new teams in IPL from next year, the most discussed & talked team was Pune! And no doubt, Pune is that kind of excellent city! No sooner did the team Pune born- paying around 1700 Crore Rupees- thanks to SAHARA group, than the creativity of many stated to show. There are few emails which are being circulated by people these days. I am collecting them all together. Let's have fun...!

Few of the selected 'Puneri Paatyaa':-

1. आपण पुण्यासारख्या एका सुसंस्कृत शहरात एका सार्वजनिक ठिकाणी सामना पहात आहोत ह्याचे भान ठेऊन चियरलिडर्सना खाणाखुणा करु नये किंवा त्यांच्याकडे डोळे फाडुन बघुन लाज आणु नये. अश्लील चाळे कराल तर नुसतीच पोलीस कारवाई नाही तर धिंड काढण्यात येईल..!

2. मैदानात विकत मिळणार्‍या खाद्यपदार्थांची आवरणे, पिशव्या तसेच पाणी किंवा शितपेयाच्या बाटल्या मैदानात फेकु नयेत, बाटलीवरुन खेळाडु घसरुन पडुन जखमी होऊ शकतो ह्याची किमान जाण ठेवावी..!

3. अनोळखी वस्तुंना स्पर्श करु नये... व्यक्तींसह..!

4. हे पुणं आहे, शिमला नव्हे, उन्हाळ्यात गरम होणारच, पण म्हणुन

Live From the Brabourne...

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Along with many of my friends I was present on Brabourne Stadium on 20th March to watch the match between Mumbai Indians (MI) & Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Today, I will post about how the match was set up & this is how I saw the match...

"याचि देही याचि डोळा":
Have you seen the God? You must have worshiped some religion, but what about seeing the God in front of you..? Well, I must say, "YES" is my response to the above question. I SAW SACHIN TENDULKAR, THE GOD, DIRECT- IN FRONT OF ME... Of course, there were other Gods of the likes of Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Jack Kallis, Sanath Jayasurya etc whom I could see but after the divine innings of 200*, Tendulkar is the undoubted 'the God'! In all, there were many international players whom I saw playing yesterday-"याचि देही याचि डोळा". That was a dream came true...

The atmosphere before the match begun:
Outside the gate number 7, I saw huge crowd in line trying to enter in the stadium earlier than their co-supporters. Even there, crowd cheered "Sachin~~ Sachin, dhan dhan dhan; Sachin~~ Sachin, dhan dhan dhan..."

Robin Uthappa: 6 2 6 6 4 1 versus S. Srishant

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It was over number 13 in the match of Royal Challenges Bangalore (RCB) versus Kings XI Punjab (Punjab). RCB was 114 for loss of 1 wicket. They needed another 90 runs from only 48 balls.

Task was looking difficult even though they had 9 wickets in hand. Robin Uthappa was to face the 13th over, to be bowled by S. Srishant.

This over started with a SIX, bang..! M. Kaif consoled Srishant, cheered him up.
Next bowl, Uthappa got forward to drive to left of long-off for couple of runs.

3rd ball, going, going & gone...a huge SIX..! It looked like the ball was just flying and did not want to come down!!!

4th ball, Srishant tried to bowl a yorker but missed the trick completely & bowled a full-toss. Uthappa was ready to hit it out of the park for SIX for 3rd time in the over..! The crowd was loving it... The whole Chinnaswami Stadium was thoroughly enjoying the cameo of local boy- Uthappa!

5th ball, Srishant was under huge pressure, he bowled, and thwack! Ball was onto the legs of Uthappa who guided it to the square-leg for FOUR.

Meanwhile, commentator commented, "Srishant must be having sense of victory" he continued, "because he was giving runs in SIXES but now he has given 'only' a FOUR..!" Those were the most humiliating comments heard by me on anyone..! And well, Srishant deserved it.

Well, the over was not over yet... After the 5th ball was bowled, Srishant started marching towards his fielding position. That's how you feel when you are getting punished. You want to leave your place!!!

6th ball, Uthappa managed 'only' a single out of it.

The over looked like= 6 2 6 6 4 1 = total of 25 runs scored in it. It changed the equation dramatically. Before the over, Uthappa was batting on 23 from 11 balls, now he went to 47 from just 17 balls. Later he completed his 50 from just 19 balls, very fast by any standards...

Jack Kallis, who played a marvelous innings of 89 not out from 55 ball played handsome knock to finish the game & register their 1st win in IPL-3. Finally, it was Robin Uthappa's innings, according to me, which shifted the momentum in favor of RCB and made their victory look easier and 6 2 6 6 4 1 was the magical over...

Final Result:
Kings XI Punjab 203/3 (20 overs) versus Bangalore 204/2 (18.5 overs)

Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 8 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)

By Abhijeet.

Fastest Century in DLF IPL - Yousuf Pathan 100 of 37 Balls!!!

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Hi Guys,

I hope you have watched one of the most exciting knocks in the DLF IPL on Saturday, the Century of Yousuf Pathan - the dashing 'Pathan' from Rajasthan Royals from just 37 Balls against the mighty bowling attack of Mumbai Indians. Pathan, the 'Man of the Match' for the day smashed Nine Fours & Eight towering sixes which excited the whole Brabourne stadium. Finally Mumbai Indians had a lucky escape as Yousuf got run out in a very cruel manner & Mumbai won by a very thin margin of 4 runs.

Shane Warne, the Rajasthan Royals captain, has described Yousuf Pathan's 37-ball century against Mumbai Indians as the best innings he's seen in his 21-year career. The greatest Leg Spinner further said "I've played cricket for 21 years and I have seen Sachin Tendulkar as the best batsman against whom I have played as he has murdered attacks and hit bowlers all over the park. But today was the best innings I have ever seen"

What a Compliment!!! And Yousuf deserves it. There was a time when Yousuf was scoring at the strike rate of just above 100 & required run rate was mounting towards 15 runs per over, but next 11 balls which he faced changed the equation dramatically. Yousuf blasted 5 sixes & 6 fours in those 11 balls & scored 54 runs out of those 11 balls!!! What a dramatic turnaround!!! Yousuf was hitting sixes & boundaries at his will & the target of 213 in 20 overs which was looking impossible earlier, started looking probable. Even the Mumbai Indian's captain & the legend Sachin Tendulkar said " it was a treat to watch, but as I was the opposition captain, I could not enjoy it".

Certainly, the innings was very special, although Rajasthan Royals could not win, the inning will be remembered for a very long time by every cricket lover.

By-Aashish