Saturday, March 21, 2009

Tendulkar dedicates 42nd ton to tiger conservation

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Sachin Tendulkar dedicated his 42nd Test hundred, which put India in command against New Zealand in the first Test, to the cause of tiger conservation.
"I would very much like to dedicate this hundred to tiger conservation, because that is what, right from the start of this tour, the whole team had decided. I have given couple of messages as well in this regard. So I would dedicate this one to tiger conservation," said Tendulkar, who scored a sublime 160 in India's first innings total of 520 at the Seddon Park on Friday.
On the eve of the first Test, Tendulkar had supported the cause, expressing concern about the dwindling numbers of tigers in India.
"At the start of the century, there were nearly 40,000 tigers in India. Today that number has shrunk to 1,700 and we are losing at least one tiger a month. The rate at which the tiger is being hunted down is alarming," Tendulkar had said.
Concerned about the steep fall in tiger numbers, he said, "When I was growing up, I was told there was an animal called a dinosaur. Tomorrow, we would probably be talking about the tiger in a similar way to our future generations. Something needs to be done soon to stop the tiger from vanishing from our forests."
Tendulkar, who holds the record for the most number of centuries scored by a batsman in Tests (42) and one-day internationals (43), said, "Though I am no expert in this field, I feel the tiger should be allowed to live without disturbance in the forests. As we have our own homes and territories, the tiger has its territory. We should not disturb its habitat. That would be the best way to ensure that this magnificent survives in our forests."
Interestingly, the entire Indian team has come out in support of the tiger, which is being driven to extinction. A banner 'Extinction is Forever' has been displayed at the team marquee.

HISTORIC 1ST TEST MATCH

1.This is India first test match win after 33 years on New Zealand soil (Last win was in Auckland in 1976).


2.Sachin scored his 42nd century in the test matches.

3.Harbhajan Singh figure of 63/6 during New Zealand second inning is now his best bowling figure away from home.

4.Zaheer Khan became the seventh Indian to scalp 200 wickets in Test cricket when he dismissed NZ opener Tim McIntosh.The left-arm seamer joined an elite Indian list of Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434), Harbhajan Singh (315*), Bishan Singh Bedi (266), BS Chandrasekhar (242) and Javagal Srinath (236).

5.Rahul Dravid equals Maximum Catches Record of Mark Waugh.

6.This win has now given M.S.Dhoni a success rate of 83.33% as a Captain, now he has lead India in six matches and won 5 out of six while drawing one.


7.This was India 99th Test Win and 23rd Win away from home.

8.Indian team has now won four of its last six Tests.

INDIA'S HISTORIC 1ST TEST MATCH WIN ON NEW ZEALAND SOIL AFTER 33 YEARS



Indian team can’t think of better result than this, they have beaten New Zealand quite comprehensively in the first test match to take 1-0 lead in the three match test series.A six-wicket haul from Harbhajan Singh took India to a 10-wicket win over New Zealand on the fourth day of the first Test in Hamilton.

After bowling out New Zealand for 279 in their second inning with the help of Harbhajan Singh's brilliant bowling, India needed only 39 runs to register an emphatic win.
Indian think tank sent Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir to go for the target and saving Sehwag in the dug out (probably they don’t want to hurt his confidence right now). Since it was small target of 39 runs, it was just a matter of time for both openers to achieve the target.
India achieves the target in just 5.2 overs to wrap-up the match. The winning run is hit by left-hander Gautam Gambhir (30 runs of 18 balls). Rahul Dravid (8 runs of 14 balls) remain other not out batsman.
Earlier resuming from the overnight score of 75/3, New Zealand started the day cautiously with Ross Taylor taking his time to settle in the middle while D.Flynn tickling the scoreboard with single or double both put on 35 runs for the fourth wicket.Flynn resumed this morning on 24 and made a solid start alongside Taylor. It had taken India almost an hour to break through in the morning but once they did, wickets kept falling at regular intervals. The first success came when R.Taylor ran out of his patience and caught in the gully by Virendra Sehwag trying to play a nudge shot on the bowling of M.Patel.
But New Zealand's real threat began when Harbhajan came into the attack on Saturday morning.
After dismissing Martin Guptil before stumps on Friday ,He first removed first inning centurion J.Ryder trapping him lbw for 21 runs to register his second wicket before lunch on day4.
Flynn reached his third test half century from 118 balls. Flynn (67) also became the victim to Harbahajn's bowling, when he had a thin inside edge onto the pad allowing Gautam Gambhir to make the simple catch.
All-rounder James Franklin was out for 14 when he ballooned Harbhajan's delivery towards Munaf at point to make the easy catch.

McCullum and captain Daniel Vettori were on the crease,as their last recognised pair of batsmen for the afternoon session.
They battled for an eight-wicket stand of 38 until the Vettori's inside edge onto the pad was picked off by Mahendra Dhoni, bringing an end to the New Zealand captain's innings of 21.
There was no substantial partnership in the New Zealand's second inning except the ninth wicket partnership between B.McCullum (84 runs) and I.O’Brien (14 runs). Both put on 76 runs for the ninth wicket. However Harbhajan Singh dismissed I.O’Brien just after tea to take his sixth wicket of the innings.It was soon followed by McCullum.

Harbhajan Singh produced a magical spell, probably one of his best overseas spell of 61/6 to bowl out New Zealand on the same score of 279 as they made in their first inning.
The first test match was in the firm grip of the Indians right from the first session of day1 however New Zealand did showed some fight back with century from D.Vettori and J.Ryder in their first inning after 61/6 at lunch on day1 but it was always going to be a tough ask for New Zealand to came back from that situation.
Sachin Tendulkar was declared Man of The Match for his superb century in the Indian first inning.
Look at some stats after the result of this match:
This is India first test match win after 33 years on New Zealand soil (Last win was in Auckland in 1976)
Harbhajan Singh figure of 63/6 during New Zealand second inning is now his best bowling figure away from home
Zaheer Khan became the seventh Indian to scalp 200 wickets in Test cricket when he dismissed NZ opener Tim McIntosh.
Rahul Dravid equals Maximum Catches Record of Mark Waugh.
This win has now given M.S.Dhoni a success rate of 83.33% as a Captain, now he has lead India in six matches and won 5 out of six while drawing one
This was India 99th Test Win and 23rd Win away from home
Indian team has now won four of its last six Tests.

Match Summery:
New Zealand 1st Inning – 279/10 in 78.2 Overs
D.Vettori- 118 J.Ryder–102
I.Sharma– 19.2-4-73-4 M.Patel– 18-4-60-3
India 1st Inning – 520/10 in 152.4 Overs
S.Tendulkar- 160 G.Gambhir–72
C.Martin– 30-9-98-3 I.O’Brien– 33-7-103-3
New Zealand 2nd Inning – 279/10 in 102.3 Overs
B.McCullum- 84 D.Flynn–67
H.Singh– 28-2-63-6 M.Patel– 17-2-60-2

RESULTS:
INDIA WON THE 1ST TEST BY 10 WICKETS
INDIA LEADS THE SERIES BY 1-0

Friday, March 20, 2009

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2009-SCHEDULE

Match schedule for Season II of the DLF Indian Premier League

 

The second season of IPL will begin from 10th of April 2009. Delhi Daredevils, semi-finalists last year, will play the opening fixture against Rajasthan Royals. There will be total eight teams is involved and their will be total 59 twenty-20 matches will be played in the tournament. Each team will play twice to each other (total 56 matches) and top four teams will qualify for the semifinal round. 1st and 2nd Semi Final will be played on 21st and 22nd of May 2009. Final of IPL will be played on 24th of May 2009.

 
IPL (Indian Premier League) 2009 Fixtures (All timing are mentioned in GMT+05:30)
Timing    Teams        
Fri 10 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils   

Sat 11 Apr
16:00 PM    Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers Hyderabad   

Sat 11 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Bangalore Royal Challengers v Chennai Super Kings   

     
Sun 12 Apr

16:00 PM    King XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils   

   
Sun 12 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals  

    
Mon 13 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Deccan Chargers Hyderabad v Chennai Super Kings   

Tue 14 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kolkata Knight Riders   

Wed 15 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    King XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians   

Thu 16 Apr
16:00 PM    Deccan Chargers Hyderabad v Delhi Daredevils   

Thu 16 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals 

Fri 17 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Mumbai Indians v Bangalore Royal Challengers   

Sat 18 Apr
16:00 PM    Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers  

Sat 18 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils        

Sun 19 Apr
16:00 PM    Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals   

Sun 19 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings   

Mon 20 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab   

Tue 21 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians   

Wed 22 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers         

Thu 23 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kings XI Punjab    

Fri 24 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders   

Sat 25 Apr
16:00 PM    Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab   

Sat 25 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Delhi Daredevils v Bangalore Royal Challengers   

Sun 26 Apr
16:00 PM    Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians   

Sun 26 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders         

Mon 27 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Kings XI Punjab v Bangalore Royal Challengers   

Tue 28 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils        

Wed 29 Apr
16:00 PM    Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders   

Wed 29 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals   

Thu 30 Apr (D/N)
20:00 PM    Deccan Chargers v Bangalore Royal Challengers   

Fri 1 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils          

Sat 2 May
16:00 PM    Mumbai Indians v Deccan Chargers   

Sat 2 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals  

Sun 3 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings   

Sun 3 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Bangalore Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils  

Mon 4 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals   

Tue 5 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings   

Wed 6 May
16:00 PM    Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians   

Wed 6 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab   

Thu 7 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Bangalore Royal Challengers v Deccan Chargers  

Fri 8 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings   

Sat 9 May
16:00 PM    Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils  

Sat 9 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians   

Sun 10 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders   

Mon 11 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals   

Tue 12 May
16:00 PM    Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab          

Tue 12 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers   

Wed 13 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Kolkata Knight Riders v Bangalore Royal Challengers   

Thu 14 May
16:00 PM    Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings         

Thu 14 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers       

Fri 15 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians   

Sat 16 May
16:00 PM    Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders         

Sat 16 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab   

Sun 17 May
16:00 PM    Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore Royal Challengers        

Sun 17 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians   

Mon 18 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders   

Tue 19 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Bangalore Royal Challengers v Chennai Super Kings   

Thu 21 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    1st Semi-Final

Fri 22 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    2nd Semi-Final

Sun 24 May (D/N)
20:00 PM    Final 

TENDULKAR'S TON GIVES INDIA FIRM CONTRL OVER 1ST TEST



Sachin Tendulkar stole the show for India as they took a firm grip on the first test against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton today.
The 35-year-old scored his 42nd test century and went on scoring 160 as India managed to build a total of 520 runs in their first innings.


Things got even better for the tourists when their bowlers took three wickets to leave New Zealand 75 for three at stumps, trailing by 166 runs in their second innings.
Daniel Flynn finished the session unbeaten on 24.

But the day undoubtedly belonged to Tendulkar.
His 260-ball innings included 26 boundaries and lasted over six hours and was largely responsible for the demanding total posted by the Indians.
By the time Tendulkar edged to Ross Taylor in the slips in the 14th over after lunch, the Little Master had gone from his lunch score of 135 to 160.
It was a superb delivery from Iain O'Brien that forced the mistake from Tendulkar and he fully deserved the wicket after an excellent spell which saw him take two wickets for 11 runs in four overs.
O'Brien struck first in his second over after lunch where he had MS Dhoni in all sorts of trouble.
His first ball was edged just millimetres short of Jesse Ryder in the slips and two balls later the Indian captain edged one to wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum to depart three runs shy of his 15th Test half-century.
That left India on 429 for six, having resumed after the interval on 384 for five.
Four overs later Tendulkar was on his way with the score on 443 for seven.

Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh took it to the New Zealand bowlers and added a further 20 runs before Harbhajan (16) slashed at one too many and found Daniel Vettori at mid-off, handing Kyle Mills his first wicket of the match.
Khan enjoyed two escapes on his way to a fine half-century that included eight boundaries.
Chris Martin missed one by a mile when the tail-ender was on 22, then Flynn dropped his second of the innings when Khan was on 34.

The Indian bowler made the most of it, hitting two successive fours to get himself into the 40s - taking 13 runs off James Franklin in the process - and brought up his third test 50 with a risky single off the same bowler a few overs later that would have resulted in a run-out had the ball not bounced over the wicket.
Ishant Sharma lasted just 13 balls before edging one to McCullum off Vettori and the innings was finally wrapped up when Munaf Patel (nine) holed out to Martin at fine leg.
New Zealand suffered a blow at the start of their second innings when Tim McIntosh was adjudged to have been caught by Tendulkar at first slip for a duck.
Debutant opener Martin Guptill and Flynn set about building the hosts' innings.
But Martin Guptill got out just two runs short of his maiden test half-century when he scooped Harbhajan's delivery and Virender Sehwag was on hand to make the easy catch.
Mills (two) got out on the final ball of the day when he was dismissed lbw by Munaf.
Match Summary (Day3 Stump)
New Zealand 1st Inning – 279/10 in 78.2 Overs
D.Vettori- 118 J.Ryder–102
I.Sharma– 19.2-4-73-4 M.Patel– 18-4-60-3
India 1st Inning – 520/10 in 152.4 Overs
S.Tendulkar- 160 G.Gambhir–72
R.Dravid- 66 M.S.Dhoni - 47
C.Martin– 30-9-98-3 I.O’Brien– 33-7-103-3
New Zealand 2nd Inning – 75/3 in 31 Overs
M.Guptill- 48 D.Flynn–24*
Z.Khan– 8-3-14-1 H.Singh– 6-1-8-1

Thursday, March 19, 2009

SACHIN TENDULKAR’S LIFE STORY



Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar born April 24, 1973 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. In 2002, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time next only to Sir Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one-day international (ODI) batsman of all time next only to Sir Viv Richards. The list was later revised to make him the greatest one-day international (ODI) batsman of all time. In September 2007, Shane Warne, the world-record breaking Australian leg spinner, rated Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest player he has played with or against. Sachin Tendulkar was the only player of the current generation to be included in Bradman's Eleven, the dream team of Sir Donald Bradman, published in his biography. He is sometimes referred to as the Little Master or the Master Blaster.

Sachin -the master blaster is not top batsman?

After Sir Don Bradman claimed Sachin to be his replica in Test Cricket, one would not make any mistakes to keep the little master out of their top-10 list of best Test batsmen ever. But it seemed that the ICC thought the other way round when it not only kept the Indian Star out of the top-10, but also the top-20 of its list of the new “ICC Best Ever Ratings”.
According to ICC, the Mumbaikar did not deserve to be placed above than the 26th rank in the new “best ever” ratings issued by the board. Whereas Kumara Sangakara, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, Kevin Pietersen and Neil Harvey could easily find a berth for themselves in the top-25.
The only Indian who could squeeze himself into the top-20 was Sunil Gavaskar who is just ahead of West Indies’ George Headley.

Sachin Tendulkar - the master blaster in IPL

Sachin Tendulkar was made the icon player and captain for his home side, the Mumbai Indians in the inaugural Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition in 2008. As an icon player, he was signed for a sum of US$1,121,250, 15% more than the second-highest paid player in the team, Sanath Jayasuriya. But despite Sachin heroic his team Mumbai Indians not qualified for the semis of the IPL tournament.

Sachin personal life

Sachin was born in Bombay. His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist, named Tendulkar after his favourite music director, Sachin Dev Burman. Tendulkar's elder brother Ajit encouraged him to play cricket. Tendulkar has two other siblings: a brother Nitin, and sister Savitai. In 1995, Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali (born November 10, 1967), a paediatrician and daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta. They have two children, Sara (born October 12, 1997), and Arjun (born September 24, 1999).

Sachin Tendulkar - the little master

Sachin Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer, widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He currently holds the records for the most cumulative runs in One-Day Internationals, and the most number of centuries scored in both One-day Internationals and Test cricket. He made his international debut against Pakistan in 1989 at the age of sixteen, becoming India's youngest Test player. Although primarily a top-order batsman, Tendulkar has often proved to be a useful and effective slow bowler. He received India's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in the year 1997-1998 and the civilian award Padma Shri in 1999. His cricketing and batting abilities are widely regarded as genius by many stalwarts of the game. For instance, Sir Donald Bradman, the Australian great said of Sachin, "He reminds me of myself". He is affectionately known as The Little Master by his adoring fans.

Sachin first to score 12,000 run
Sachin is the highest run scorer in both Test matches and ODIs, and also the batsman with the most centuries in either form of the game. Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has become the world record Test runs scorer, surpassing Brian Lara's previous best mark of 11,953. Tendulkar, 35, needed 15 runs to overtake West Indies legend Lara in the standings on the first day of the second Test against Australia in Mohali. And despite being forced to go to tea on 13 not out, the 'Little Master' came out after the interval to hit Australian debutant Peter Siddle's first ball of the session for three runs to spark wild celebrations in the ground.

On October 17, 2008, when Sachin surpassed Brian Lara's record for the most runs scored in Test Cricket, he also became the first batsman to score 12,000 runs in that form of the game, having also been the third batsman and first Indian to pass 11,000 runs in Test cricket. He was also the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals, and also the first player to cross every subsequent 1000-run mark that has been crossed in ODI cricket history. In the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, Sachin surpassed Australia's Allan Border to become the player to cross the 50-run mark the most number of times in Test cricket history, and also the second ever player to score 10 Test centuries against Australia, after only Sir Jack Hobbs of England more than 70 years back. Sachin has been honored with the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second highest civilian award, and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honor.


Sachin early years of cricket

Sachin attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School), where he began his cricketing career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. During his school days he attended the MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler, but Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, who took a world record 355 Test wickets, was unimpressed, suggesting that Tendulkar focus on his batting instead.
When he was young, Sachin would practice for hours on end in the nets. If he became exhausted, Achrekar would put a one-Rupee-coin on the top of the stumps, and the bowler who dismissed Tendulkar would get the coin. If Tendulkar passed the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin. Tendulkar now considers the 13 coins he won then as some of his most prized possessions.

While at school, he developed a reputation as a child prodigy. He had become a common conversation point in Mumbai circles, where there were suggestions already that he would become one of the greats. His season in 1988 was extraordinary, with Tendulkar scoring a century in every innings he played. He was involved in an unbroken 664-run partnership in a Lord Harris Shield inter-school game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who would also go on to represent India. The destructive pair reduced one bowler to tears and made the rest of the opposition unwilling to continue the game. Tendulkar scored 326* in this innings and scored over a thousand runs in the tournament. This was a record partnership in any form of cricket until 2006, when it was broken by two under-13 batsmen in a match held at Hyderabad in India.
When he was 14, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his own ultra light pads. "It was the greatest source of encouragement for me," he said nearly 20 years later after surpassing Gavaskar's top world record of 34 Test centuries. This was in the same year as his first-class debut. Tendulkar never played for any Under-19 teams, crossing straight into the seniors.


Sachin Domestic career
On December 11, 1988, aged just 15 years and 232 days, Sachin scored 100 not-out in his debut first-class match for Mumbai against Gujarat, making him the youngest cricketer to score a century on his first-class debut. His first double century was for Mumbai while playing against the visiting Australian team at the Brabourne Stadium in 1998.
Sachin is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts.
Sachin early International career

Sachin played his first Test match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989 under the leadership of Kris Srikkanth. According to Cricinfo's Andrew Miller and Martin Williamson, India took an unconventional approach to combating the Pakistani pace attack by calling up a "baby-faced 16-year-old with one season of first-class cricket to his name". He made just 15 runs, being bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match, but was impressive in how he handled numerous blows to his body at the hands of the Pakistani pace attack. Tendulkar followed it up with his maiden Test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad. His One Day International (ODI) debut on December 18 was disappointing. He was dismissed without scoring a run, again by Waqar Younis. The series was followed by a tour of New Zealand in which he fell for 88 in the Second Test. His maiden Test century came in the next tour, to England in August 1990 at Old Trafford. Tendulkar further enhanced his development into a world-class batsman during the 1991–1992 tour of Australia that included an unbeaten 148 in Sydney (the first of many battles against Shane Warne who made his debut in the match) and a century on the fast and bouncy track at Perth. Merv Hughes famously commented to Allan Border at the time that "This little prick's going to get more runs than you, AB."

Rise of Sachin

Sachin's performance through the years 1994–1999 coincided with his physical peak, in his early twenties. On the day of the Hindu festival Holi, Tendulkar was told to open the batting at Auckland against New Zealand in 1994. He went on to make 82 runs off 49 balls. He scored his first ODI century on September 9, 1994 against Australia in Sri Lanka at Colombo. It had taken him 79 ODIs to score a century.
Tendulkar's rise continued when he was the leading run scorer at the 1996 Cricket World Cup, topping the batting averages whilst scoring two centuries. He was the only Indian batsman to perform in the infamous semi-final of that World Cup.
This was the beginning of a period at the top of the batting world, culminating in the Australian tour of India in early 1998, with Tendulkar scoring three consecutive centuries. These were characterized by a premeditated plan to target Australian spinners Shane Warne and Gavin Robertson, to whom he regularly charged down the pitch to drive over the infield. This technique worked as India beat Australia. The test match success was followed by two scintillating knocks in Sharjah where he scored two consecutive centuries in a must-win game and then in finals against Australia tormenting Shane Warne once again. Following the series Warne ruefully joked that he was having nightmares about his Indian nemesis. He also had a role with the ball in that series, including a 5 wicket haul in an ODI. Set 310 runs to win, Australia were cruising comfortably at 3 for 203 in the 31st over when Tendulkar turned the match for India taking wickets of Michael Bevan, Steve Waugh, Darren Lehmann, Tom Moody and Damien Martyn for just 32 runs in 10 overs.

Tendulkar single-handedly won the ICC 1998 quarterfinal at Dhaka to pave way for India's entry into the semifinals, when he took 4 Australian wickets after scoring 141 runs in just 128 balls.
The worst was yet to come as Professor Ramesh Tendulkar, Tendulkar's father, died in the middle of the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Tendulkar flew back to India to attend the final rituals of his father, missing the match against Zimbabwe. However, he returned with a bang to the World cup scoring a century (unbeaten 140 off 101 balls) in his very next match against Kenya in Bristol. He dedicated this century to his father.
Tendulkar continued his good form in Test cricket in 2001 and 2002, with some pivotal performances with both bat and ball. Tendulkar took three wickets on the final day of the famous Kolkata Test against Australia in 2001. Tendulkar took the key wickets of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, centurions in the previous test.
Tendulkar made 673 runs in 11 matches in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, helping India reach the final. While Australia retained the trophy that they had won in 1999, Tendulkar was given the Man of the Tournament award. The drawn series as India toured Australia in 2003/04 saw Tendulkar making his mark in the last Test of the series, with 241* in Sydney, putting India in a virtually unbeatable position. He followed up the innings with an unbeaten 50 in the second innings of the test and then an unbeaten 194 against Pakistan at Multan in the following series. The 194 was controversial in that he was stranded prior to reaching his double century as a result of a declaration by Rahul Dravid. In meeting with the press that evening, Tendulkar responded to a question on missing 200 against Pakistan by stating that he was disappointed and that the declaration had taken him by surprise.
On December 10, 2005 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Tendulkar scored his record-breaking 35th Test century, against the Sri Lankans. On February 6, 2006, he scored his 39th ODI hundred, in a match against Pakistan. He followed with a run-a-ball 42 in the second one-day international against Pakistan on February 11, 2006, and then a 95 in hostile, seaming conditions on February 13, 2006 in Lahore, which set up an Indian victory.

Sachin as Captain
Tendulkar's two tenures as captain of the Indian cricket team were not very successful. When Tendulkar took over as Captain in 1996, it was with huge hopes and expectations. However, by 1997 the team was performing poorly. Azharuddin was credited with saying "Nahin jeetega! Chote ki naseeb main jeet nahin hai!", which translates into: "He won't win! It's not in the small one's destiny".
Tendulkar, succeeding Azharuddin as captain for his second term, then led India on a tour of Australia, where the visitors were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by the newly-crowned world champions. After another Test series defeat, this time by a 0-2 margin at home against South Africa, Tendulkar resigned, and Sourav Ganguly took over as captain in 2000.

Sachin Injuries
A chronic back problem flared up when Pakistan toured India in 1999, with India losing the historic Test at Chepauk despite a gritty century from Tendulkar himself.
Although he was in strong form in season 2004, tennis elbow then took its toll on Tendulkar, leaving him out of the side for most of the year, coming back only for the last two tests when Australia toured India in 2004. He played a part in India's victory in Mumbai in that series, though Australia took the series 2-1.
After the 2006 series against England, news of a shoulder operation raised more questions about his longevity. Tendulkar was operated upon for his injured shoulder. In July 2006, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Tendulkar had overcome his injury problem following a rehabilitation programme and was available for selection, and he was eventually selected for the next series.

Famous 2001 tour of Africa - Mike Denness incident
In the second test of India's 2001 tour of South Africa, match referee Mike Denness fined four Indian players for excessive appealing as well as the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly for not controlling his team. Tendulkar was given a suspended ban of one game in light of alleged ball tampering. Television cameras picked up images that suggested Tendulkar may have been involved in cleaning the seam of the cricket ball in the second test match between India and South Africa at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth. This can, under some conditions, amount to altering the condition of the ball. The match referee Mike Denness found Sachin Tendulkar guilty of ball tampering charges and handed him a one Test match ban. The incident escalated to include allegations of racism, and led to Mike Denness being barred from entering the venue of the third test match. After a thorough investigation, the International Cricket Council revoked the official status of the match and the ban on Tendulkar was lifted. Tendulkar's ball tampering charges and Sehwag's ban for excessive appealing triggered a massive backlash from the Indian public and even the Indian parliament.

Sachin Failures
On March 19, 2006, after scoring an unconvincing 1 off 21 balls against England in the first innings of the third Test in his home ground, Wankhede, Tendulkar was booed off the ground by a section of the crowd, the first time that he had ever faced such flak. Tendulkar was to end the three-Test series without a single half-century to his credit.
In the preparation for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Tendulkar was criticized by Greg Chappell on his attitude. As per the report, Chappell felt that Tendulkar would be more useful down the order, while the latter felt that he would be better off opening the innings, the role he had played for most of his career. Chappell also believed that Tendulkar's repeated failures were hurting the team's chances. In a rare show of emotion, Tendulkar hit out at the comments attributed to Chappell by pointing out that no coach has ever suggested his attitude towards cricket is incorrect. On April 7, 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India issued a notice to Tendulkar asking for an explanation for his comments made to the media.
At the Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies, Tendulkar and the Indian cricket team, led by Rahul Dravid had a dismal campaign. Tendulkar, who was pushed to bat lower down the order by the Greg Chappell had scores of 7 (Bangladesh), 57* (Bermuda) and 0 (Sri Lanka). As a result, former Australian captain Ian Chappell, brother of the then Indian coach Greg, called for Tendulkar to retire in his column for Mumbai's Mid Day newspaper.

Sachin comeback
In the 2007 series against Bangladesh, Tendulkar returned to his opening slot and was Man of the Series. He continued by scoring two consecutive scores of 90+ in the Future Cup against South Africa. He was the leading run scorer and was adjudged the Man of the Series.
Tendulkar upon reaching his 38th Test century against Australia in the 2nd Test at the SCG in 2008, where he finished not out on 154.
On the second day of the Nottingham Test (July 28, 2007) Tendulkar became the third cricketer to complete 11,000 Test runs. In the subsequent One day series against England, Tendulkar was the leading run scorer from India with an average of 53.42. In the ODI Series against Australia in October 2007 Tendulkar was the leading Indian run scorer with 278 runs.
Tendulkar was dismissed seven times in 2007 between 90 and 100, including three times at 99, leading some to suggest that he struggles to cope with nerves in this phase of his career. Tendulkar has got out 23 times between 90 and 100 in his international career. On November 8, 2007 he got out on 99 against Pakistan in an ODI at Mohali to the bowling of Umar Gul caught by Kamran Akmal. In the fourth ODI, he got out on 97 (off 102 balls with 16 fours) after dragging a delivery from Umar Gul on to his stumps, falling short of another century in ODIs in 2007.

In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 2007-08, Tendulkar showed exceptional form, becoming the leading run scorer with 493 runs in four Tests, despite consistently failing in the second innings. Sachin scored 62 runs in the first innings of the first Test at the MCG in Melbourne, but couldn't prevent a heavy 337-run win for Australia. In the controversial New Years Test at Sydney, Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 154 as India lost the Test. This was his third century at the SCG, earning him an average of 221.33 at the ground. In the third Test at the WACA in Perth, Sachin was instrumental in India's first innings score of 330, scoring a well compiled 71, only to be dismissed by what was later confirmed to be a questionable LBW decision. India went on to record a historic triumph at the WACA. In the fourth Test at Adelaide, which ended in a draw, he scored 153 in the first innings, involving in a crucial 126 run stand with V.V.S. Laxman for the fifth wicket to lead India to a score of 282 for 5 from 156 for 4. He secured the Player of the Match award.
In the One-Day International Commonwealth Bank Tri-Series involving Sri Lanka and Australia, Tendulkar became the first and only batsman to complete 16,000 runs in ODIs. He achieved this feat against Sri Lanka on February 5, 2008 at Brisbane. He started the CB series well notching up scores of 10, 35, 44 and 32, but could not convert the starts into bigger scores. His form dipped a bit in the middle of the tournament, but Sachin came back strongly in India's must-win game against Sri Lanka at Hobart, scoring 63 off 54 balls. He finished the series with a match winning 117 not out of 120 balls in the first final, and 91 runs in the second final.


Sachin County career

In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire (Craig White, although born in Yorkshire was the first player to be signed as an overseas player by Yorkshire. He had to be listed as an overseas player as he had already played for Victoria in Australia). Tendulkar played 16 first-class matches for the county and scored 1070 runs at an average of 46.52.


Sachin Style of play

Sachin is ambidextrous: He bats, bowls, and throws with his right hand, but writes with his left hand. He also practices left-handed throws at the nets on a regular basis. Cricinfo columnist Sambit Bal has described him as the "most wholesome batsman of his time". His batting is based on complete balance and poise while limiting unnecessary movements and flourishes. He appears to show little preference for the slow and low wickets which are typical in India, and has scored many centuries on the hard, bouncy pitches in the Caribbean Islands and Australia. He is known for his unique punch style of hitting the ball over square. He is also renowned for his picture-perfect straight drive, often completed with no follow-through. Recently, legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar, in an article he wrote in the AFP, remarked that "it is hard to imagine any player in the history of the game who combines classical technique with raw aggression like the little champion does".

Sir Donald Bradman, the greatest batsman of all time, considered Tendulkar to have a batting style similar to his. In his biography, it is stated that "Bradman was most taken by Tendulkar's technique, compactness and shot production, and had asked his wife to have a look at Tendulkar, having felt that Tendulkar played like him. Bradman's wife, Jessie, agreed that they did appear similar."

Sachin new style of playing

He was affected by a series of injuries since 2004. Since then Tendulkar's batting has tended to be less attacking. Explaining this change in his batting style, he has acknowledged that he is batting differently due to that fact that (1) No batsman can bat the same way for the entire length of a long career and (2) He is a senior member of the team now and thus has more responsibility. During the early part of his career he was a more attacking batsman and frequently scored centuries at close to a run a ball. Ian Chappell, former Australian player, recently remarked that "Tendulkar now, is nothing like the player he was when he was a young bloke". However, during the latest tour of Australia in 2008, Tendulkar displayed glimpses of his attacking style with several masterful innings, dominating attacks in a manner reminiscent of his younger days.
Sachin the good man
Sachin sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annaben Mehta. He is reluctant to speak about his charitable activities[citation needed], choosing to preserve the sanctity of his personal life despite the media interest in him.

Sachin Individual honours

* Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, 2008.
* ICC World ODI XI: 2004, 2007
* Player of the tournament in 2003 Cricket World Cup
* Wisden Cricketer of the Year: 1997
* Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, 1999.
* Arjuna Award, by the Government of India in recognition of his outstanding achievement in Cricket, 1994.
* Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports, 1997-98.
In September 2007, former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne published his list of 50 greatest cricketers ever, in which Sachin had secured the number 1 spot. In January 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suggested that Sachin should be conferred with an honorary knighthood for his contribution to international cricket.

MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI’S LIFE STORY


Mahendra Singh Dhoni, nick name Mahi, Also abbreviated as MS Dhoni, is currently Indian captain and wicketkeeper. Mahi born on July 7, 1981 in Lavali Village Almora, Uttarakhand is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian One day and Test team. Initially recognized as an profligately colorful and vicious batsman, Mahi has come to be regarded as one of the coolest heads to captain the Indian side. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, CB Series of 2007-08 and IDEA Cup India-Sri Lanka ODI Series of 2008, the first ever bilateral ODI series win of India in Sri Lanka and The Border-Gavaskar trophy 2008 in which they beat Australia 2-0 thus letting India regain its spot at No.2 in world test rankings. Dhoni currently the number 1 ODI batsman also recently captained the team that beat England in the ODI series 5-0 and In Test series 1-0. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was awarded the ODI Player of the Year award in 2008, the first Indian player to achieve this feat.

Personal life of Mahi

Mahi was born in Ranchi,Jharkhand to Pan Singh and Devaki Devi. His paternal village Lvali is in the Lamgarha block of the Almora District of Uttarachal. Mahi's parents, moved from Uttarakhand to Ranchi where Pan Singh worked in junior management positions in MECON. Mahi has a sister Jayanti and a brother Narendra.

MS Dhoni - Mahi Childhood Interest

Mahi had long hair which he has now shortened; he cut it because he wanted to look like his favourite film star John Abraham. Mahi is a fan of Adam Gilchrist, and his childhood idols were cricket teammate Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and singer Lata Mangeshkar.

MS Dhoni - Mahi in IPL

M.S.Dhoni was contracted by the Chennai Super Kings for 1.5 Million USD. This made him the most expensive player in the IPL Auctions which was closely followed by Andrew Symonds. Dhoni is the present captain of the Chennai Super Kings team. Mahi help his team to reach the inaugural DLf IPL final.

Controversies with Mahi

On the fourth day of the first test match at Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's, Antigua during India's tour of West Indies, 2006, Dhoni's flick off Dave Mohammed to the midwicket region was caught by Daren Ganga. As the batsman started to walk back, captain Dravid declared the innings when confusion started as the umpires were not certain if the fielder stepped on the ropes and Dhoni stayed for the umpire's verdict. While the replays were inconclusive, the captain of the West Indies side, Brian Lara, wanted Dhoni to walk-off based on the fielder's assertion of the catch. The impasse continued for more than 15 minutes and Lara's temper was on display with finger wagging against the umpires and snatching the ball from umpire Asad Rauf. Ultimately, Dhoni walked-off and Dravid's declaration was effected but the game was delayed, and Lara's action was criticized by the commentators and former players. Lara was called by the match referee for explanation of his actions but was not fined by the match referee.

After the loss to Bangladesh in 2007 Cricket World Cup, the house that Dhoni was constructing in his home-town Ranchi was vandalized and damaged by political activists of JMM. The local police arranged for security for his family as India exited the World cup in the first round.
Mahi is also popular for offield tuning with Film Star Deepika Padoukone. But both of them denied this. Mahi is still a most wanted bachlor of the India.

Mahi Awards and achievements

* Mahendra Singht Dhoni - Mahi have been chosen for the Padma Shri awards for year 2009.
* Mahi was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the country's highest sports honour, for his contribution to India's success in the 20-20 world championship.
* MS Dhoni has won the ODI Player of the Year 2008 award at the LG ICC Awards ceremony in Dubai,becoming the first Indian player to get this particular award.
* MS Dhoni also received nomination for the inaugural International Twenty20 Performer of the Year 2008 award, for leading his team to victory at the ICC World Twenty20 2007 in South Africa.
* Mahi was selected for the ICC World ODI Team of the Year 2008.
* MS Dhoni was voted as MTV Youth Icon 2006 and he also joins cricketers Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in winning the award.
* MS Dhoni is the amazing icon of the Pogo TV amazing kids awards.
* Mahi has been picked up by the Australian newspaper Herald Sun as a member of the world team of the year 2008 along side Sachin Tendulkar.
* MS Dhoni was selected by the Australian daily Sydney Morning Herald in its World Dream XI Test team of 2008 as the captain and wicket keeper.
* MS Dhoni has been adjudged as the player of the year 2008 along side Indian Prime MinisterDr Manmohan Singh and Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan in a poll conducted by an Indian News Channel Samay.

Mahi start career as ODI Keeper/Batsman
With Mahi making a mark in the India-A squad, he was picked in the ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour in 2004/05. Dhoni did not have a great start to his ODI career, getting run out for a duck on debut. In spite of an average series against Bangladesh, Dhoni was picked for the Pakistan ODI series. In the second match of the series, Dhoni in his fifth one-day international, scored 148 in Vishakapatnam off only 123 deliveries. Dhoni's 148 erased the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper, a record that he would re-write before the end of the year.

In Oct-Nov 2005 series, Sri Lanka had set India a target of 299 in Jaipur, after a Kumar Sangakkara century and in reply India lost Tendulkar early. Dhoni was promoted to accelerate the scoring and ended the game with an unbeaten 183 off 145 balls, winning the game for India - an innings described in Wisden as 'Uninhibited, yet anything but crude'. The innings set various records including the highest score in ODI cricket in the second innings, a record that still stands. Dhoni ended the series with the highest run aggregate (346) and was awarded the Man of the series award for his efforts. In December 2005, Dhoni was signed by BCCI to a B-grade contract, skipping the initial C-grade level due to his performance on the cricketing field.
India scored 328 in 50 overs with Dhoni contributing 68 in their first match of 2006 against Pakistan. However the team finished poorly, scoring just 43 runs in the last eight overs and lost the match due to Duckworth-Lewis method. In the third match of the series, Dhoni came in with India in a precarious situation and scored 72 runs off just 46 balls that included 13 boundaries to help India take a 2-1 lead in the series. The final match of the series had a repeat performance as Dhoni scored 77 runs off 56 balls to enable India win the series 4-1. In recognition of his consistent ODI performances, Dhoni overtook Ricky Ponting as number one in the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen on April 20, 2006. His reign lasted just a week as Adam Gilchrist's performance against Bangladesh moved him to the top spot.

Preparations for the 2007 Cricket World Cup improved as India recorded identical 3-1 victories over West Indies and Sri Lanka and Dhoni had averages in excess of 100 in both these series. However, India unexpectedly crashed out the World Cup after losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Dhoni was out for a duck in both these matches and scored 29 runs in the whole tournament. Dhoni put behind his disappointment in the World cup by scoring 91* against Bangladesh after India were left in a tight spot earlier in the run-chase. Dhoni was declared the man of the match for his performance, his fourth in ODI cricket. He was also later adjudged the man of the series after the third game of the series was washed away. Dhoni had a good Afro-Asia Cup, getting 174 runs in 3 matches at an average of 87.00, with a blitzkrieg 139 not out of 97 balls, a Man Of The Match innings, in the 3rd ODI.

Test career of Mahi

Following his good one-day form against Sri Lanka, Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in December 2005 as the Indian Test wicket-keeper. Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match that was marred by rain. Dhoni came to the crease when the team was struggling at 109/5 and as wickets kept falling around him, he played an aggressive innings and was the last man dismissed. Dhoni made his maiden half-century in the second Test and his quick scoring rate (half century came off 51 balls) aided India to set a target of 436 and the Sri Lankans were bowled out for 247.
India toured Pakistan in January/February 2006 and Mahi scored his maiden century in the second Test at Faisalabad. India were left in a tight spot as Dhoni was joined by Irfan Pathan with the team still 107 away from avoiding follow-on. Dhoni played his typical aggressive innings as he scored his maiden test century in just 93 balls after scoring his first fifty in just 34 deliveries.

Mahi become the captain of India

Dhoni was nominated as the vice-captain of the ODI team for the series against South Africa in Ireland. Dhoni was elected as captain of Indian Twenty-20 Cricket Team for the World Twenty20 in September 2007. On 2 September 2007 Mahendra Singh Dhoni equalled his idol Adam Gilchrist's international record for the most dismissals in an innings in ODI by catching 5 English players and stumping one. He led India to the ICC World Twenty 20 trophy in South Africa with a victory over arch rivals Pakistan in an intensely fought final on 24 September 2007, and became the second Indian captain to have won a World cup in any form of cricket, after Kapil Dev. Against Aus in home series 2008-09 after Anil Kumble (Jumbo) retirement from International cricket, Mahi become the Test Captain of the India side.

Mahi As Captain

Dhoni was recommended for captaincy by Sachin Tendulkar. In 2007, when Rahul Dravid resigned as Test and ODI captain, Sachin Tendulkar was offered captaincy by the board of selectors and Sharad Pawar, but Sachin politely refused and said, "Give it to someone like Dhoni". The Board agreed. In Mahi captaincy, Team India went on to win the inaugural T20 cricket World Cup 2007. In Mahi Captaincy, India manage First ever trilateral ODI series win in Australia in CB Series of 2007-08. In Dhoni Captaincy, India manage First ever bilateral ODI series win in Sri Lanka (IDEA CUP 2008). He captained Team India to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home versus Australia. India went on to win the coveted 4 match Test series(2-0).
Previous captains Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly have said that under Dhoni India will reach greater heights and even all time great Richard Hadlee said that "Under Dhoni,India will become the world no.1 team" and he also said that by this 2-0 win that the Australian dominance in the cricket world had finally come to an end.
Dhoni has already been compared to Australia's Steve Waugh for his captaincy skills. In the battle of nerves, the mental toughness accompanied with the cool temperament exhibited by Dhoni just resembles the times of Steve Waugh’s leadership.

Mahi Test records

Dhoni's maiden century against Pakistan in Faisalabad (148) is the fastest century scored by an Indian wicket keeper. Only three centuries by two players (Kamran Akmal and Adam Gilchrist - 2) were faster than Dhoni's 93 ball century.
Under Dhoni's captainship, India defeated Australia by 320 runs on 21st Oct'08, biggest ever win in terms of runs for India.

Mahi ODI records

On 31 October 2005 Dhoni scored 183* runs of just 145 balls against Sri Lanka in Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. The following is the list of records created during the innings. The score of 183* is the highest in ODI cricket in the second innings (Earlier record: 153 by Lara). During the epic Aus-SA 2006 match, Herschelle Gibbs came close to the record by scoring 175. The innings featured 10 Sixes, the most by an Indian in an Innings, and the second highest in ODI cricket (The highest is 11 by Sanath Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi)
He broke Adam Gilchrist's record of 172 for the highest score made by a wicket keeper
The innings set the record for the most number of runs scored in boundaries (120 - 15x4; 10x6) breaking the record held by Saeed Anwar. The record was broken by Herschelle Gibbs (126 runs in boundaries - 21x4; 7x6) against Australia during his knock of 175.
In the same match, Kumar Sangakkara also made a century, making it the first match in which both wicket keepers scored a century
The score of 183* equaled the record of the highest score against Sri Lanka in ODI cricket set by Ganguly during the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
Among Indian batsmen who have played more than 50 matches, Dhoni has the highest average.[65] Dhoni's batting average is also the highest amongst wicketkeepers in ODIs.
In April 2006 Dhoni was briefly ranked No.1 in the ICC one day Batsmen's ratings. He achieved the position again towards the end of 2008.
In June 2007, Dhoni(139*) and Mahela Jayawardene(107)[64] set a new world record for the sixth wicket partnership of 218 runs against Africa XI during the Afro-Asia Cup.
Dhoni erased Shaun Pollock's record for highest individual runs by a number seven batsman in one-day internationals during his unbeaten innings of 139.
Incidentally, Pollock record stood for just three days as his score of 130 came in the first match of the 2007 Afro-Asia Cup while Dhoni's century came in the third and final match of the series.
Dhoni also holds the records of the most dismissals by an Indian wicketkeeper and joint International (with Adam Gilchrist) with 6 dismissals (5 catches and one stumping) against England at Headlingly 2 September 2007.

Mahi Turn As Cricketer

Mahi studied at DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali, Ranchi,Jharkahnd where he initially excelled in badminton and football and was selected at district and club level in these sports. Mahi was a goalkeeper for his football team and was sent to play cricket for a local cricket club by his football coach. Though he had not played cricket, Mahi impressed with his wicket-keeping skills and became the regular wicketkeeper at the Commando cricket club (1995 - 1998). Based on his performance at club cricket, he was picked for the 1997/98 season Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under-16 Championship and he performed well.
Mahi Career as Junior cricket
Mahi was included in the Bihar U-19 squad for the 1998/99 season and scored 176 runs in 5 matches (7 innings) as the team finished fourth in the group of six and did not make it to the quarter finals. Bihar U-19 cricket team advanced to the finals of the 1999-2000 Cooch Behar Trophy where Dhoni made 84 to help Bihar post a total of 357. Bihar's efforts were dwarfed by Punjab U-19's 839 with Dhoni's future national squad teammate Yuvraj Singh making 358. Dhoni's contribution for the tournament included 488 runs (9 matches, 12 innings), 5 fifties, 17 catches and 7 stumpings. MS Dhoni made it to the East Zone U-19 squad for the CK Nayudu trophy but scored only 97 runs in four matches as East Zone lost all four matches and finished last in the tournament.

Mahi Domestic career

Mahi made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar in the 1999-2000 season as an eighteen year old. He made a half century in his debut match scoring 68* in the second innings against Assam cricket team. Mahi finished the season with 283 runs in 5 matches. Mahi scored his maiden first-class century against Bengal in the 2000/01 season in a losing cause. Apart from the century, his performance in the 2000/01[14] did not include another score over fifty and in 2001/02 season he scored just five fifty in each season in four Ranji matches. Dhoni's performance for the 2002/03 season in the Ranji Trophy included three half centuries in the Ranji Trophy and a couple of half-centuries in the Deodhar Trophy competition as he started winning recognition for his lower-order run contribution as well as hard hitting batting style.
In the 2003/04 season, Dhoni scored a century (128*) against Assam in the first match of the Ranji ODI trophy. He was part of the East Zone squad that won the Deodhar Trophy for the year and contributed with 244 runs in 4 matches. In the Duleep Trophy finals, Dhoni was picked over International cricketer Deep Dasgupta to represent East zone. He scored a fighting half century in the second innings in a losing cause.

Mahi Performance in India A Team
He was recognized for his efforts in the 2003/04 season, especially in the ODI format and was picked for the India A squad for a tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya. Against the Zimbabwe XI in Harare Sports Club, Dhoni had his best wicket-keeping effort with 7 catches and 4 stumpings in the match. In the tri-nation tournament involving Kenya, India 'A' and Pakistan 'A', Dhoni helped India 'A' chase their target of 223 against Pakistan 'A' with an half-century. Stressing on his performance, he scored back to back centuries - 120[21] and 119*[22] against the same squad. Dhoni scored 362 runs in 7 matches (6 innings, Ave:72.40), and his performance in the series received attention from the then captain - Sourav Ganguly amongst others.

Criticisum Against Mahi
From the start of the WI ODI series, Dhoni had played 16 matches, hit just two fifties and averaged 25.93. Dhoni received criticism on his wicket keeping technique from former wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani. Against Eng in 2006 home series, Mahi and the Indian fielders dropped too many catches and missed many dismissal chances including a key stumping opportunity of Andrew Flintoff. Mahi failed to collect the Harbhajan Singh delivery cleanly as Flintoff went on to make 36 more runs as England set a target of 313 for the home team, a target that India were never in the reckoning. A batting collapse saw the team being dismissed for 100 and Dhoni scored just 5 runs and faced criticism for his wicket-keeping lapses as well as his shot selections.
Mahi is also critisized for not going for the victory over Eng in the 4th and 5th day of the Mohali test in the 2008 home series 2nd and final match.

Mahi playing style

Mahi is an aggressive right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper. Mahi tends to play mostly from the back foot with a pronounced bottom hand grip.He has a very fast hand speed through the ball which often results in the ball racing across the ground. From this initial stance his feets do not show much movement which sometimes results in chasing balls while not coming to the pitch of the ball or inside edging a lot of balls.
As a batsman, Mahi has shown the maturity to restrain his aggressive nature and play a responsible innings when the situation requires. Apart from traditional shots, Mahi has two very unorthodox but effective cricket strokes. Since his entry into the Indian cricket team, Mahi's aggressive batting style, success on the field, personality, and long hair have made him one of the most marketable cricketers in India.

RAHUL DRAVID’S LIFE STORY


Rahul the wall of cricket

Rahul Dravid born 11 January 1973 is an Indian cricketer, and a former captain of the Indian national cricket team, of which he has been a regular member since 1986. Dravid is the third Indian batsman, after Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, to have scored 10,000 runs in test cricket. On 14 February 2007, he became the sixth player in history and the third Indian, after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, to score 10,000 runs in ODI cricket. In September 2007, he resigned as captain of India team. He is the captain as well as the Icon Player in the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the Indian Premier League.
Is Rahul Dravid not a Top batsman
According to ICC, the Wall did not deserve to be placed above than the 30th rank in the new “best ever” ratings issued by the board. Whereas Kumara Sangakara, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, Kevin Pietersen and Neil Harvey could easily find a berth for themselves in the top-29. The master blaster Sachin in also not in Top 20, even he got the rank of 26th according to ICC all time best Test batsman rankings.


Rahul Dravid Comeback in Test Team

After a barren run in Test matches in 2008, Rahul Dravid came under increasing media pressure to retire or be dropped. In the Second Test against England in Mohali, he scored 136, putting on a triple-century stand with Gautam Gambhir. This ton helps his team to draw the test and clinched the series 1-0 against England.

Rahul - The Wall Personal life

Rahul was born 11 January 1973 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh into a Maharashtrian Deshastha family living in Karnataka. His paternal ancestors were Iyers from Thanjavur. He grew up in Bangalore, Karnataka. He speaks Marathi and Kannada. He has a younger brother, Vijay. Both the brothers grew up in a serious and simple middle class atmosphere. Dravid's father worked for Kissan Products Ltd, a company known for jams and preserves and thus he earned the nickname Jammy from his teammates at St. Joseph's, Bangalore. And his mother, Pushpa, was a professor of Architecture at Bangalore University. Rahul Dravid has a degree in commerce from St Joseph's College of Commerce Bangalore, Karnataka. On 4 May 2003, Rahul married Dr. Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur and on 11 October 2005, their son, Samit, was born.

Rahul Dravid - The wall in IPL

Rahul Dravid is the Captain and Icon player of the Bangalore Royal Challengers owned by Vijay Mallya. But his team not done well in the first season of the IPL tournament and comes in the last place. For this season it is yet not confirm will Rahul Dravid lead the team or not.

Honours of Rahul Dravid - The wall

* In 2004, Rahul was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
* On 7 September, 2004, Rahul Dravid was awarded the inaugural Player of the year award and the Test player of the year by the International Cricket Council, ICC .
* In the 2005 ICC Awards Rahul Dravid was the only Indian to be named to the World one-day XI.

Rahul Personality

Rahul has been one of the main pillars of the Indian batting with his blend of technical Proficiency & stylish strokes. His strokes are so perfect technically that he is called as The "wall" of the Indian Team. His batting style was regarded slow for the ODI’s initially but with His imaginative placing of the ball & innovative strokes he made himself as an integral part of The Indian team for both Tests as well as ODI’s. His temperament for both the versions of the Game is exemplary and has earned him respect from all the other players. He was verily the batsman Of the 1999 World Cup with two hundreds and the highest aggregate. For this, he was named As Wisden cricketer of the year, one of the few Indians to receive this special accolade. His good and innocent looks make him very popular among the girls.
Ever since he burst upon the scene at Lord's in 1996, Rahul Dravid has been one of the main pillars of the Indian batting with his blend of technical proficiency and stylish strokes. In a side bristling with dashing batsmen, he has frequently played the sheet anchor role to perfection. He was verily the batsman of the 1999 World Cup with two hundreds and the highest aggregate. For this, he was named as Wisden cricketer of the year 2003, one of the few Indians to receive this special accolade.
For sheer consistency, Dravid has few equals and has maintained a Test career average of over 50. His temperament is exemplary and his concentration legendary. A batsman who revels in a crisis, Dravid, against New Zealand in January 1999, joined the ranks of Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar as one of only three Indians to have scored a century in each innings in a Test. The poor run in Australia in 1999-2000 was only a passing phase and he returned to top form the next season, including notching up his first double century in Tests. Named as ``The Wall'' for obvious reasons, the modest, unassuming and well behaved Dravid is one of the most popular and instantly recognizable players in the Cricket world.

Rahul Early years of cricket
Rahul Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented the state at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 level. Rahul's talents were first spotted by former cricketer Keki Tarapore who was coaching at a summer coaching camp at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. He went on to score a century on debut for his school team. Along with the batting, he was keeping wickets. However, he later stopped keeping wickets on advice from former Test players Gundappa Vishwanath, Roger Binny, Brijesh Patel and Tarapore.
Rahul was selected to make his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991 against Maharashtra in Pune (while still attending college at St. Joseph's College of Commerce in Bangalore), alongside future Indian teammates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath, scoring 82 in a drawn match after batting in the No. 7 position. His first full season was in 1991-92, when he scored two centuries to finish with 380 runs at an average of 63.3 , and was selected for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

International career of Dravid

Rahul Dravid had a disappointing start to his career making his debut in one-dayers against Sri Lankan cricket team in the Singer Cup in Singapore immediately after World Cup in March 1996, replacing Vinod Kambli. Subsequently, he was dropped from the team, until he was picked again for the tour of England.
He then made his debut in the Second Test against England along with Sourav Ganguly,when Sanjay Manjrekar got injured after the first Test match on that tour.
Rahul scored 95 and held his position on Manjrekar's return for the Third Test, scoring 84. After moderate performance in home series against Australia and South Africa, Dravid broke through on the 1996-97 tour of South Africa. He batted at No. 3 in the third Test in Johannesburg, scoring his maiden century with 148 and 81, the top score in each innings to claim his first man of the match award 19. He made his first half-century against Pakistan in the Sahara Cup in 1996, scoring 90 in his 10th ODI.
In the 18 months ending in mid-1998, he played in an away series against the West Indies, home and away series against Sri Lanka and a home series against Australia, he scored consistently, with 964 runs at an average of 56.7. He scored eleven half-centuries but was unable to convert them to triple figures. He scored his second century in late 1998 against Zimbabwe in a one-off Test match, top-scoring in both innings with 148 and 44, but was unable to prevent an Indian defeat. He became the third Indian batsman after Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar to score centuries in both innings of a match during the 1999 New Year's Test match against New Zealand with 190 and 103* to force a draw . He had a moderate season in the subcontinent in early 1999, scoring 269 runs at an average of 38.42 with one century before scoring 239 at an average of 39.8 including a century against New Zealand in late 1999. This was followed by a poor away series against Australia and another poor home series against South Africa, accumulating just 187 runs at an average of 18.7. He then scored 200*, his first double century, against Zimbabwe in Delhi, which along with 70* in the second innings helped India to victory. It was the first time he had passed 50 in 12 months and he followed this with a 162 in the following Test, giving him 432 runs in the two match series at an average of 432.

In the second test of a three match test series against Australia at Kolkata in 2001, Dravid joined hands with VVS Laxman to produce one of the greatest comeback victories in the history of the game. Following on, the pair put on 376 runs for the fifth wicket in the second innings of the match. Dravid scored 180 while Laxman made 281. Though Dravid ended up second-best, it remains one of his greatest performances till date. Later that year in Port Elizabeth against South Africa, he made a crucial match-saving 87 runs in the second innings to deny South Africa the win.
2002 was the year, when Dravid started to emerge out of Tendulkar's shadow and established himself as India's premier Test batsman. In the month of April, at Georgetown, West Indies in first test match of the series, he scored an unbeaten 144 in the first innings after being hit by a Mervyn Dillon delivery.

Later that year, he raked up four consecutive centuries against England and West Indies. In August 2002, against England at Headingley Stadium, Leeds in the third test match of the series, he scored a 148 in the first innings on a seamer-friendly to set up a famous Indian win. He won the man of the match award for this performance. Dravid's astonishing aggregate of 602 runs in the four match test series against England also fetched him the man of the series award. In 2003-2004 season, Dravid scored three double centuries, one each against New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan. Against Australia at Adelaide in second match of the four match series, the batting pair of Dravid and VVS Laxman proved to be Australia's nemesis again. In the first innings, India were looking down the barrel at 4 wickets down for 85 runs in reply to Australia's massive 556 when the duo joined hands. By the time their partnership was broken, the pair had put on 303 runs. Laxman was dismissed for 148 while Dravid went on make 233. At that time, this was the highest individual score by an Indian batsman overseas. By the time Dravid was done, India was only 33 short of Australia's first innings score. Dravid followed this with an unbeaten 72 under immense pressure in the second innings to set up a famous victory. Dravid scored 619 runs in that four-match series against Australia at an average of 103.16 and won the man of the series award. During the later part of the season, Dravid, in Ganguly's absence, led India to its first test victory over Pakistan in Pakistan in the first test match at Multan. In the third and the final match of the series At Rawalpindi, Dravid stroked a masterly 270 to take India to a historic test series win over Pakistan.

Rahul Career Heights

With a strong technique, he has been the backbone for the Indian cricket team. His nickname of 'The Wall' in Reebok advertisements has now become a tribute to his consistency. Dravid has scored 26 centuries in Test cricket at an average of 53.11, including 5 double centuries. In one-dayers though he has an average of 39.49, and a strike rate of 71.22. He is one of the few Indians who average more at away matches than at home, averaging over 10 more runs a match abroad than on Indian pitches. As of 9 August, 2006, Dravid's average in overseas Tests stood at 65.28 as against his overall Test average of 55.41, and his average for away ODI stands at 42.03 as against overall ODI average of 39.49. In matches that India has won, Dravid averages 78.72 in Tests and 53.40 in ODIs.
Dravid's sole Test wicket was that of Ridley Jacobs in the fourth Test against the West Indies during the 2001-2002 series. While he has no pretensions to being a bowler, Dravid often kept wicket for India in ODIs. He has since delegated the wicket-keeping gloves, first to Parthiv Patel and more recently to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dravid is now purely a batsman, one who has averaged 63.51 in matches played since 1 January, 2000.
Dravid was involved in two of the largest partnerships in ODIs: a 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly, the first pair to combine for a 300-run partnership, and then a 331-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which is the present world record. He also holds the record for the greatest number of innings since debut before being dismissed for a duck. His highest scores in ODIs and Tests are 153 and 270 respectively. Uniquely, each of his five double centuries in Tests was a higher score than his previous double century (200*, 217, 222, 233, 270).
Also, Dravid is the current world record holder for the highest percentage(%) contribution of runs scored in matches won under a single captain, where the captain has won more than 20 Tests. In the 21 Test matches India won under Sourav Ganguly's leadership, Dravid played his part in every single one of those wins, scoring at a record average of 102.84 and piling up an astonishing 2571 runs, with nine hundreds - three of them double-centuries - and ten fifties in 32 innings. He contributed nearly 23% of the total runs scored by India those 21 matches, which is almost one run out of every four runs the team scored.

Dravid downfall

After the England Series however, he stepped down as captain of India due to personal reasons. Mahendra Singh Dhoni took over as ODI captain. Anil Kumble replaced him in test matches.
In 2007, he was dropped from the Indian ODI Squad following poor series against Australia. Dravid went back to play for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy, scoring 218 against Mumbai.
In 2008, he made 93 in the first innings of the Perth test, the highest score of the match, to help India win and make the series 1-2. However, he was ignored by selectors for the subsequent one-day tri-series.

Criticism
* One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as captain for an injured Sourav Ganguly. The Indian first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 with 16 overs remaining on Day 2.
* Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests. India lost the Karachi Test in 2006, giving Pakistan the series 1-0. In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling Flintoff's men to draw the series 1-1. While the loss in Karachi could be put down to several Indian batsmen playing badly, the defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase.
* He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance since Dravid's team Bangalore Royal Challengers was the second last team in the 2008 Indian Premier League.
* After India failed to qualify for the Finals of the DLF Cup, Indian skipper Rahul Dravid was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions.